Welcome to the Clinch-Powell Clean Rivers Initiative Homepage

Imagine swimming and snorkeling in clear water and seeing a myriad of fish species, some as vividly colored as pictures you’ve seen from the tropics. As you glide along, you also see mussels, crayfish, and a variety of other creatures living among the nooks and crannies of the river. Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? Believe it or not, you can have this kind of an experience here in the Appalachians: in the Clinch and Powell rivers of Virginia and Tennessee.

Upstream from Norris Lake in Tennessee, the Clinch and Powell river systems of support one of the most special assemblages of freshwater animals in the world! The watersheds of these rivers also provide drinking water for over 100,000 people; and provide fantastic recreational opportunities Believe it or not, , these two rivers have the highest number of rare and imperiled species in North America, , according to NatureServe.

Out of 222 native fish species in the entire Tennessee River system, which stretches from the mountains of Virginia, across Tennessee, and to the Ohio River, the Clinch and Powell rivers alone are home to 118. The mussel diversity is equally impressive: at least 45 species are found in the Clinch Powell; with at least one species found nowhere else in the world! Clearly, these free-flowing rivers are important to the conservation of the Earth’s natural diversity. By caring for and enjoying these rivers, we can pass on these treasures to future generations.

Enter the Initiative

The Clinch-Powell Clean Rivers Initiative (CPCRI) protects and restores water quality in our nation’s most important river system for imperiled freshwater animals by:

• conducting cutting-edge science and river monitoring;
• using science and monitoring results to help people, communities, governments, and industries take better care of the river;
• fostering increased coordination among state and federal agencies responsible for protecting water quality in Virginia and Tennessee;
• raising awareness of the Clinch Powell River system as a national model for collaborative and effective environmental management.

The initiative unites a broad array of groups and agencies working in both Tennessee and Virginia. Working as partners with shared goals and commitments, these agencies, non-profit organizations, and business groups have an unprecedented opportunity to help conserve and connect people to these rivers.

But we need your help. Please join our effort and contribute your talents to the long-lasting conservation of the globally important diversity in our own corner of the world. For questions and more information, click here (sleab@tnc.org).

Success Stories

Freshwater Mussel Release at Cleveland Island

In September, 2010 CPCRI partners engaged local school children and others from the town of Cleveland, VA in the largest release of a federally endangered species in the eastern United States. Several varieties of freshwater mussels were carefully placed into shoal areas at the Nature Conservancy’s Cleveland Island Preserve. These mussels were reared at Virginia Tech and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries aquaculture facilities. CPCRI will monitor the success of these mussels with results informing future mussel augmentation strategies in the Clinch River system. For more information and a video of this event click here.

Oyster Mussel Restoration at Cleveland Island

Cleveland Island is a 5-acre preserve in the Clinch River near Cleveland, Virginia. Mussel populations here are stable, and many species are successfully reproducing. Some species that historically inhabited the river here, however, have disappeared.

The oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis) is one of these missing species. Biologists have found that several darter species serve as the natural hosts —host fishes the mussels depend on to reproduce— species which remain abundant at the site. The excellent habitat conditions here led US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jess Jones and partners (TNC, VDGIF, TWRA, Virginia Tech) to spearhead an effort to restore the oyster mussel to this reach of the Clinch River.

Jess and his team have released approximately 600 adult oyster mussels at Cleveland. Collected from a large population located in the lower Clinch River in Hancock County, Tennessee, the mussels were equally divided between male and female individuals.

Each mussel was measured and tagged before being released in a pre-defined habitat unit so that its growth and survival could be monitored. Mortality rates have been low, being only 5-8% of released individuals based on dead shells found at the site. Such low mortality indicates most individuals are surviving at the site. Last spring, researchers observed female oyster mussels displaying reproductive behaviors similar to oyster mussels occurring in the lower river that have never been moved.

The project is planned to continue until at least 1400 adult mussels have been placed at the site, enough to allow for successful spawning and ultimately a viable population. Researchers will continue to monitor for juvenile mussels and infested host fish, signs that would indicate the mussels are reproducing.

Researchers are also testing the effectiveness of other restoration methods. These include infesting host fish with mussel glochidia for immediate release into the river and releasing very young hatchery-produced mussels.

Photo Credits: top scenic – Byron Jorjorian; diver – Jack Looney, 2007; map – Angela Watland, TNC; lower – Jack Looney, 2007