Members of the Middle Nolichucky Water Alliance met the organization's new VISTA worker last week, and heard a presentation by Doug Carver, engineer with the Greeneville Water Commission.

Paul Hayden, executive director of the Watershed Alliance, said the organization was fortunate enough to get Will Nissley, a VISTA worker, for at least a year, through the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team.

Greene County is not in the coalfields, Hayden noted, but is apparently close enough.

The purpose of the Watershed Alliance is to improve and protect water quality in the Nolichucky River, and that dovetails with some of the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team's goals, he said.

Nissley, a Vienna, Va., native, has a geology degree from Radford University. He is pleased to be able to find a place to serve VISTA not too from his home in northern Virginia.

VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America. Nissley said he is funded through Americorps, which pays a stipend for living expenses, plus a lump sum at the end of the year.

Americorps workers can choose to have $5,700 of their student loans repaid, or receive a $1,200 cash payment.

He said he plans to take the loan repayment option. He has a one-year contract with Americorps that he can renew for up to three years.

Carver told the audience at the Chuck Wagon Bar B Qrestaurant, that the Greeneville Water Commission supplies drinking water to the majority of Greene County, selling potable water to five utility districts, as well as its own customers in and near Greeneville.

The average flow of the Nolichucky River, he said, is normally about 8.3 billion gallons per day, and the Greeneville water treatment plant takes out eight to 12 million gallons daily.

Average water use in Greene County, he said, is about 10 million gallons per day.

The river's flow has peaks and lows, Carver said, with about 13 billion gallons per day being the highest recent recorded peak. When the flow gets that strong, the city stops pumping, he said, but can draw from a 35-million-gallon reservoir, essentially a huge, beautiful lake.

He said the Nolichucky River "is a very good water source" for municipal drinking water, and water bottled here with only additional reverse-osmosis filtering is sold all over the eastern United States. Some other communities have to make do with much less flow, he said.

At the worst period of the drought two years ago, Carver said, the Nolichucky's flow was down to as low as 64 million gallons per day.

"We were within hours of asking Greene County to conserve water," Carver said. "We would not have made it through the next day had it not rained, but it did."

And rained, and rained. Two days later, the river was at flood stage, he said.

Carver said there is a big difference in the quality of the river's water at Jonesborough, which is about 25 miles upstream.

The Nolichucky is formed by the Toe and Cane rivers in the mountains of North Carolina, and much of the drainage area is wooded, with much of it in the Cherokee National Forest.

The river descends considerably from North Carolina to Jonesborough, he said, but there is relatively little slope between Jonesborough and Greeneville.

In addition, the drainage area of Washington and Greene counties has a lot of agriculture, which introduces runoff and sediment into the river, and a lot of erosion from construction sites that also introduces runoff and sediment.

Typically, he said, the water in the river at Greeneville is about twice as muddy, or turbid, as it is at Jonesborough. The water at Jonesborough is also slightly more acidic than at Greeneville, he said.

Some days, when the river is crystal clear, Carver said, "it sparkles," from mica deposits washed down from North Carolina.

Carver said a good Internet site to look at to learn more about the river, especially its flows, is www.lakeinfo.tva.gov.

The engineer was asked if a plan exists to get emergency water upstream, if needed. He said no such plan exists.

Carver said an organization called the Tri-County Water Alliance did a study several years ago to determine the cost of a pipeline from Greeneville to the Holston River in Morristown, but the cost estimate was deemed too expensive.

However, he said the foresight that went into the construction of Greeneville's reservoir has helped the city system through dry periods many times. The reservoir was recently cleaned and relined at a cost of about $500,000, he said.

When the reservoir was built, he said, it held about a seven-day supply for Greeneville and the county, but the same volume now makes up about a four-day to four-and-a-half day supply.

Hayden said that Mark Odom, a TVA employee, can no longer serve as secretary, but will continue to support the organization.

Cathy Landy nominated Hayden's wife, Deanie, for the post. She was elected unanimously by the 14 people present.

Hayden then showed a short video about the Watershed Alliance's work, and noted that the address for the organization's new Internet site is www.mnwa-tn.org, which is shorter than the old address.

He also noted that Holston Home for Children has adopted Crazy Johnson Creek along the state Route 70 Bypass and Summer Street, and the Greeneville Adventist Academy has adopted Simpson Creek from the BP/Wendy's convenience store on the Asheville Highway to Hardin Park.