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The Cumberland River has its beginnings in the Appalachian Mountains of
eastern Kentucky. running generally southwest through north central
Tennessee, then , at Nashville, turning northwest back into Kentucky. It
hits the Ohio River just upstream from where the Tennessee river
joins, and with the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River, and Barkley Dam
on the Cumberland, forms the "Land Between the Lakes".
According to the online Columbia Encyclopedia, the river is 687 miles
long and drains a basin of 18,500 square miles. The same source also
said that TVA markets the power produced by the dams on the Cumberland,
which is NOT true. The big dams on the Cumberland are owned and operated
by the Army Corps of Engineers, which, at least here in the southeast,
markets the power produced through the Southeastern Power
Administration, or SEPA. There is one
exception: Great Falls Dam, on the Caney Fork River (a major tributary
to the Cumberland) IS owned by TVA... go figure! On the other hand,
never second guess the government... all you will get is a headache! TVA
does have two coal plants on the river, Gallatin at Gallatin, TN, and
Cumberland at Cumberland City, TN.
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