Talk:Watauga River

Syntax
The article contains this confusing sentence: This impoundment receives two important tributaries, the Elk River and Roan Creek, whose former valley of bottom land forms a very large embayment of Watauga Lake.  I can't tell what "whose former valley..." refers to. Is it the Elk River or Roan Creek? Or something else? I'd reword it for clarity, but can't due to the ambiguity.

Also I have trouble with this bit: The original settlers of Nashville, Tennessee set out from the Watauga River area, called the Watauga Country, during the American Revolution when they realized that the British Proclamation of 1763 forbidding settlement of its colonists west of the Blue Ridge Mountains was essentially now unenforceable. I can believe the Nashville settlers came from the Watauga area (although a citation would be nice), but I'm skeptical about their motivation being the unenforceable nature of the Proclamation of 1763 during the American Revolution. The Proclamation was never enforceable, and the Watauga Country is itself west of the Blue Ridge and technically illegal under the Proclamation. I suspect the Nashville settlers motivation was the cession of the Nashville Basin by the Cherokee; probably in the 1775 Treaty of Sycamore Shoals (aka Treaty of Watauga), described on the Sycamore Shoals page. I'll come back here later and edit this section unless the Proclamation story can be referenced. Thanks! Pfly 18:40, 20 December 2006 (UTC)


 * the history reference could be a bit briefer and under a section for Sycamore Shoals. 4.129.71.185 15:41, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I think the History Section needs to be greatly expanded.Jhscarborough (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

suggested sections
I am thinking that this article would greatly benefit by fleshing out the following sections:

North Carolina

 * local communities
 * points of interest along the Watauga River (landmarks, rapid areas, river hazards).
 * Rapid areas, river hazards and anything else dealing with recreational boating needs to go in the Recreation section, not reiterated in another sub-section. Jhscarborough (talk) 20:37, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
 * put-in and take-out points for rafters and kayakers.
 * All this needs to go in Recreation. Jhscarborough (talk) 20:37, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Tennessee

 * local towns cities
 * points of interest along the Watauga River (landmarks, confluence, rapid areas, river hazards).
 * Rapid areas, river hazards and anything else dealing with recreational boating needs to go in the Recreation section, not reiterated in another sub-section. Jhscarborough (talk) 20:34, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
 * put-in (Wilbur Dam) and take-out points (Blackbottom Linear Trail) for rafters and kayakers.
 * All this needs to go in Recreation. Jhscarborough (talk) 20:34, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Sycamore Shoals

 * ‡Sycamore Shoals already has its own article. It doesn't warrant any more than brief mention and a wikilink in this article. The same is true of the sub-sections suggested for this section (below) save the Watauga Settlement which is addressed in the Watauga Association article. Jhscarborough (talk) 19:31, 23 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Fort Watauga, Watauga Settlement
 * Overmountain Men/Overmountain Victory Trial

Tennessee Valley Authority

 * ‡Tennessee Valley Authority already has its own extensive article. Any Watauga River flooding impacts should be in the History section. Watauga Dam and Wilbur Dam already have their own articles and don't need to be elaborated on farther in this article.Jhscarborough (talk) 20:23, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
 * brief history TVA
 * Watauga River flood history, especially the 1940 flood)
 * TVA Watauga Dam & reservoir (including TVA campground below Watauga Dam)
 * TVA Wilbur Dam & reservoir what year was it the flood of 1900 to 1940 flood

my dad born in 1905 said there was flood about 1915.the 1940 flood washed out all the bridges on the watauga.i do rembember that.but about one before that flood.when was it.and i don't have a sandbox !

Recreation and tourism

 * whitewater rafting and kayaking
 * river fishing
 * reservoir fishing

Rice has some really nice dphotos posted --- the TVA generating schedule during the summer season normally runs from about 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and I think that an very informative series of photos could show a "before and after" digital photo below Wilbur Dam. Also the Overmountain Victory Trail ssociation will be undertaking the 2007 reenactment in Elizabethton on approximate date of September 25, making for an excellent chance to obtain some really nice digital photos.4.129.71.185 15:41, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Please consider posting portrait dphotos at 120px width and landscape photos at 180 px (i.e., 1.5 times the width of the 120px width of portrait dphotos.4.129.71.185 15:46, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

How can the info box dphooto be made smaller (180px) and with more detail?4.129.71.185 16:23, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Geographic confusion
I'm confused by the recent edits that say that the Watauga River enters Tennessee in Carter County. Previously the article said it come through Johnson County. From this topo map, it sure appears to me that the river flows northwest from the Boone area, entering Tennessee in Johnson County.--orlady 21:07, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I am agreement with you on this matter orlady pertaining to the entry of the Watauga River into Tennessee as this phrasing is both awkward and inaccurate. I probably missed this while editing (although I do not recall this as being my original contribution) as I am a little more focused on the section of the Watauga River running from the TVA dams to Elizabethton. Would "...first entering in Tennessee at Johnson County, and then flowing into Carter County..." correct this problem? Bee Cliff River Slob 12:47, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

-- The Watauga River comes out of the ground as the Watauga River. Shanty Spring Branch and Green Ridge Branch are tributaries of the stream already formed. I'll be correcting this erroneous information if not done so by the authors. Viewing the pertinent topographic map and consulting the Geographic Names Information System will confirm these claims.

The article also erroneously stated the origin of the river as Watauga County, North Carolina. That may have been true prior to the formation of Avery County in 1911 but is just plain wrong today,

Jhscarborough (talk) 03:28, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * ✅ Jhscarborough (talk) 00:05, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Difficult river infobox map
This map was loading at one previous time,but I am now having trouble getting to display...I am also wanting to use the same map within a riverbox for the Doe River article as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image%3AWataugaDoeRiverMap.png Image:WataugaDoeRiverMap.png Anyone care to weigh in on this matter?Bee Cliff River Slob (talk) 19:47, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Watauga Lake to Boone Lake
First off, it seems like this line should be down in the Recreation section since it probably isn't about a log or some other debris. What say you, Bee Cliff? But it also seems unclear. Let's say it is about river running. Do people put in at the heel of Watauga Dam, take out, portage around Wilbur and then put back in? Is there a water slide around Wilbur Dam for boaters? Or shouldn't this sentence say "between Wilbur Dam and the head (or some definitive point) of Boone Lake"? It's 33 miles from the mouth of the Watauga to Wilbur Dam so I'm guessing what I am suggesting is correct, but that needs clarification in the article regardless of where the sentence resides. Jhscarborough (talk) 00:40, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Coordinate Error Message
The article page gets coordinates (for the river's mouth) dynamically from Wikidata and puts them in the upper right hand corner. When the Geobox template is also used and coordinates are entered for the mouth, an error is returned. If anyone knows how to make that error disappear while retaining coordinates in the Geobox, either let me know how, or go ahead and fix it. I'm pretty sure other rivers have coordinates in both places, but I will check just to be sure. Thanks. Jhscarborough (talk) 03:55, 14 February 2015 (UTC)
 * The error message doesn't appear for me now, and I've got rid of the other error message, so all seems to be well. I've removed the example error message in your post above, since it put this talk page into a maintenance category even though there was no real error on the page. Deor (talk) 12:49, 14 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Thank you for taking a look at the issue! Jhscarborough (talk) 13:07, 14 February 2015 (UTC)