Tennessee's only licensed hydropower project was granted another license today. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new license for ALCOA's Tapoco project on the Little Tennessee River in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Located just one hour from the Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC metropolitan areas, the Great Falls of the Catawba River has potential as a whitewater boating hotspot for the area. On October 23 and 24, a flow study conducted by Duke Power and attended by kayakers from throughout the region confirmed that Great Falls holds great promise as a highly coveted recreational boating stretch.

In late 2002, Duke Power applied to FERC to amend its license for the Catawba-Wateree project requesting modification of the project boundary to exclude two bypass reaches – stretches of riverbed where the natural water flow is diverted to generate power. One of these bypassed reaches was once the Great Falls of the Catawba, a series of high rapids neighboring a town which took the name Great Falls in regard for the local scenery.