On Tuesday, Jackson County leadership and state lawmakers announced a renewed effort with the Tennessee Vallery Authority (TVA) to improve the recreational use of Lake Guntersville by ridding the waters of invasive plant species.
Members of the Jackson County Legislative Delegation, including State Sen. Majority Leader Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro) and Reps. Mike Kirkland (R-Scotsboro) and Ritchie Whorton (R-Owens) joined Scottsboro Mayor Jim McCamy and Jackson County Commission chairman Bill Nance in working with the TVA to improve water quality conditions by managing eelgrass and other weed growth.
“For some time, we’ve recognized that our citizens of Scottsboro, Jackson County, have not been able to use Roseberry Creek, the Tennessee River, and appropriations in the way that they needed to be,” Livingston said Tuesday at the press conference. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a severe situation, and it has been for some time.”
Kirkland said the delegation has partnered with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to draft legislation for the next legislative session regarding the licensing and regulation of eelgrass harvesting.
Whorton said he’s received calls from local homeowners unable to get their boats out on the lake due to eelgrass obstruction, and he knows from personal experience how difficult it is to fish in the area.
“We have to get this stuff out of the water,” he said.
In addition to harvesting the eelgrass and transporting it out of the lake, the TVA has spread herbicide to kill off the invasive weed.
The TVA’s Aquatic Plant Management Team has treated over 1,266 acres in more than 250 locations so far this season, and 35,000 cubic yards of eelgrass were also removed, with over 100,000 more cubic yards expected this summer.
"The Jackson County Delegation is proud to partner with the Tennessee Valley Authority to improve lake conditions in Jackson County,” Livingston said in a statement to 1819 News. “Both our team and friends at TVA are committed to fighting off invasive weeds and eelgrass to better lake experiences and water quality for boaters, fishermen, visitors, and lake homeowners.”
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