There are over 60,000 stream miles and some 540,000 lake acres within Tennessee's boundaries. Approximately 74 percent of our stream miles and 78 percent of our lake acres have excellent water quality. However, we still face significant challenges in the continued improvement of Tennessee's water quality. Tennessee sets water quality goals for each body of water, then monitors the quality of streams and lakes to see if they meet these goals.
Pollution can prevent some streams from being used for their classified purposes.
The number of stream miles assessed in 1996 increased by 38,247 miles over the 1994 assessment, giving us our best evaluation to date of statewide water quality. Water quality can be affected by point sources, such as municipal and industrial discharges, and by non-point sources, such as urban runoff, agricultural practices and some construction activities. On a regional basis, increased development threatens water quality in Middle Tennessee while agricultural runoff has a greater impact on West Tennessee waters. The effects of past mining and current re-mining tend to have the greatest impacts on water quality in the Cumberland Mountain region of East Tennessee. The TDEC works closely with federal, state and local agencies to address water pollution problems.