A step closer to saving an endangered southern river
Tennessee’s Duck River, an iconic natural resource that was recently listed as one of the nation’s most endangered rivers, now has a new layer of protection from the state’s top office.
While calling the Duck River a “scenic treasure,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order that should help protect the waterway from the increasing impacts of local overdevelopment.
If and only if we think wisely about how we conserve our natural resources will our children and our grandchildren be able to paddle, fish, and tag mussels in these rivers.
Tennessee governor bill lee
The new order, among other things, establishes the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership, which will develop water management recommendations, identify drought management opportunities, and engage with local communities and stakeholders. The partnership is directed to balance water resource management, environmental conservation, and economic growth.
“Today’s executive order sets the stage for commonsense safeguards and is a first step toward ensuring that the Duck River is better protected from intensifying development pressures and changing weather patterns,” SELC Tennessee Office Director George Nolan said. “Tennesseans should be immensely proud to have this one-of-a-kind river in their backyards, and we are thankful that Governor Lee is working on ways to protect it.”
“If and only if we think wisely about how we conserve our natural resources will our children and our grandchildren be able to paddle these rivers and fish these rivers and tag mussels in these rivers,” Governor Lee said in a video statement that accompanied the order.
The governor’s executive order comes after years of advocacy and legal action from SELC and its partners, including The Nature Conservancy, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, and the Harpeth Conservancy.
A “one-of-a-kind” river
The Duck River is one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world, supporting hundreds of types of aquatic life, including popular sport fish like smallmouth bass and rainbow trout, and a staggering 62 species of freshwater mussels.
The waterway’s incredible wildlife – along with its scenic views and thriving sport fisheries – make it the key piece of the region’s local economies. The river supports an estimated 150,000 anglers, kayakers, canoers, and boaters each year, growing the area’s booming outdoor recreation industry. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation generated more than $11 billion statewide in 2022.
The Duck River also supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people in Middle Tennessee, supporting local businesses that rely on access to clean water.
“Along with its natural beauty and incredible wealth of wildlife, the Duck River is the backbone of local economies throughout Middle Tennessee. While there is still much work to be done, this order gets us closer to ensuring that both the river and nearby communities can continue to thrive for years to come,” Nolan said.
Pressure from overdevelopment, climate change
The executive order comes as the Duck River is feeling increasing pressure from rapid local development and extreme droughts—impacts that landed it on a list of the nation’s most endangered rivers earlier this year.
Recently, local water utilities have proposed to dramatically increase the amount of water they take from the Duck River. In total, the proposals could lead to an additional 19 million gallons of water being pumped from the river each day.
At the same time, recent droughts have taken a toll on the waterway. This summer’s extreme drought conditions caused flows in the Duck River to reach record lows, imperiling aquatic wildlife and the health of the river itself.
On a visit to the Duck River in September, Don Hubbs, one of the state’s top experts on freshwater mussels, waded through the water to survey the damage that drought inflicted on the Duck’s mussel populations.
Mussels are the workhorses of our waterways, filtering pollution and sediment out of rivers and streams so fish and other types of aquatic life can thrive. But Hubbs said they are also the “canaries in the coal mines” for rivers experiencing stress—they are the first species to go when a river is struggling and the last species to come back.
Hubbs found more than 560 dead mussels that had been stranded on the Duck’s banks due to low water levels a few months earlier in July. On his September visit, as drought conditions continued, it took less than a half hour to fill up a bag with dead mussels.
“They’re left high and dry, if they can’t move to the water or they can’t burrow down to it, then they get desiccated and they’re gone,” Hubbs told local reporters at the time.
The governor’s new executive order calls on state leaders to identify opportunities for habitat conservation—including habitat for mussels—and directs them to take wildlife impacts into account when making decisions around the Duck River.
A watershed moment for Tennessee rivers
While the governor’s order focuses primarily on the Duck River, it acknowledges that actions taken on the Duck can provide a blueprint for similar conservation efforts in watersheds statewide that have been struggling with increasing water pollution problems. According to state data, more than 60 percent of Tennessee’s rivers and streams are listed as ‘impaired,’ meaning they are too polluted to support their basic functions.
From wetlands in the West to mountain streams in the East, Tennessee’s waterways are at a critical crossroads.
George Nolan, Tennessee Office Director
“If done right, this order can serve as an example that can be put in place in other watersheds, and we look forward to working with the state to identify ways this can improve and protect our waterways,” Nolan added.
The order itself lays the groundwork for these opportunities, by directing state agencies to identify other watersheds where the order could be replicated.
“The way that we conserve these rivers is crucial in the years ahead,” Governor Lee said.