River of Death

By: TriCities Staff | TriCities.com
Published: July 30, 2009

Popular lore is about evenly divided on the meaning of the name for the Nolichucky River.

Both sides agree that it is an anglicized Native American word. One group gives its meaning as River of Death; the other as Man Killer. Both choices are equally grim, and the river lives up to them on a regular basis.
Just last weekend, it claimed another victim.

Reports indicate that alcohol and bravado were involved in the fatality. It’s also possible that another factor came into play because it is a common feature on the Nolichucky.
Hydraulics or rollers are basically horizontal whirlpools and they can become a deadly trap for swimmers, canoeists – anyone who encounters them.

Any structure, natural or man-made, that creates a vertical or near-vertical fall of water can produce a roller. They develop when the falling water is directed downward to the stream bottom by the inertia of the water it is entering.
In the right conditions, a vortex oriented parallel to the stream bottom is formed. Anything or anyone caught in it will be held and tumbled inside.

Of course, rollers aren’t exclusively a feature of the Nolichucky or even confined to large rivers. A dangerous roller forms at the base of Laurel Fork Falls when flow conditions are right.
Almost a decade ago, a young man trying to retrieve a cap that had blown into the pool below the falls was trapped and drowned in it. It took several days for rescuers to retrieve his body from the grip of the vortex.

Before the construction of the step weir at the foot of Osceola Island, a low vertical concrete dam impounded water there for the Bristol water intake facility. When the river was off, there was no problem. The volume of water coming over the top of it was insufficient to set up a hydraulic.

It was a very different situation when the generator at the dam is turned on. During the years it claimed a few lives, primarily canoeists who failed to navigate the lip without upsetting. The present structure, known as a step weir, was installed in order to prevent the development of a roller there during generation.

Hydraulics aren’t all bad. In fact most are beneficial because most of them are relatively small and they are a major source of aeration for a stream. They trap air bubbles and hold them briefly allowing the water to dissolve oxygen.

The Labyrinth Weir constructed just upstream of the Step Weir at Holston is designed to create a small roller at its base when water flows over the top. That’s important to the health of the river because water released by generation comes from the depths of the lake and is oxygen poor.

Fly fishermen aren’t invulnerable to them. An angler who looses his footing upstream of one might be in very serious trouble.

It’s always a good idea to carefully scout the water you plan to fish before you wade right into trouble.

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