The Tennessee Valley Authority is considering whether to phase out the permission of floating houses located on publicly-owned reservoirs over the next 20 years.
After months of public comment and review, TVA has released their final Environmental Impact Statement to guide policy on floating houses -- which refers to a non-navigable structure used primarily for human habitation rather than recreational boating or transportation.
TVA has allowed the private homes since 1978 so long as owners met an array of safety and environmental standards.
But TVA Public Relations Manager Jim Hopson says it's become a real concern because since then, the number of floating houses has greatly increased – last year’s count was more than 1,800 – and there are plans to develop floating subdivisions.
“What we have seen over the last five to ten years has been this proliferation of homes that have been built without these permits, so they are not permitted structures as far as TVA is concerned," said Hopson. "That is one of the reasons why we are trying to make these policy statements now so we can get a handle on this problem.”
He says it comes down to an issue of legal fair use.
“The waters and lands that TVA manages for the public are owned by the public, and if you have private owners who are taking up a large footprint on that water it doesn’t move, then that precludes others from being able to have that benefit of that same area," said Hopson.
Other safety issues include the use of electrical wires brining power from the land to the floating structures.
There is also concern over sanitation, pollution and water quality from garbage and the mishandling of solid toilet waste and septic tanks – the so-called black water.
"For those traditionally using a houseboat, those types of waste streams are very small, but if you have a 2,000 square-foot home with washer, drier, dishwasher, you have to be concerned about where that water is going," said Hopson. "In our investigation, we found that while some of these floating houses are properly maintained to have self-contained storage tanks that are pumped out, others are simply releasing that waste directly into the water which of course is not only a violation of TVA regulations but also the environmental standards for each state TVA serves."
TVA’s board of directors will now decide on a proposal to require permits for existing structures based on environmental and safety standards while prohibiting construction of new houses.
The proposal would also see all floating houses removed from TVA waters within 20 years.
Hopson says it's possible the board will take up the issue at its next scheduled meeting in May.
According to the EIS, there were around 1,836 on waters the TVA operates with 55 registered floating houses located on Kentucky Lake in 2015.
