Editing Elizabethton, Tennessee (section)

=== Water resources and renewable energy ===

==== Spring Water ====
While most of the Tennessee public water-supply systems withdrawing spring water for their supplies are found in East Tennessee, the Elizabethton municipal water system during 2010 extracted and distributed 5.39 Mgal/d of clean spring water from three springs owned by the city --- a unique local supply of flowing spring water that greatly exceeds the volume of spring water extracted and distributed than any other local water resource system across the entire state of Tennessee.<ref>http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri034264/PDF/PublicSupply.pdf "Public Water-Supply Systems And Associated Water Use in Tennessee, 2000. USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4264."</ref>

==== Doe River ====
[[File:The City of Power 37643.jpg|left|thumb|180px|"The City of Power" electric sign that was erected over the old Elk Avenue Bridge (circa 1912–1913).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

The [[Doe River]] forms in [[Carter County, Tennessee]], near the [[North Carolina]] line, just south of [[Roan Mountain State Park]]. The river initially flows north and is first paralleled by State Route 143; at the community of [[Roan Mountain, Tennessee]], it then turns west and is at this point paralleled by [[U.S. Route 19E]]. The Doe River flows to the east of Fork Mountain; the [[Little Doe River]] flows by Fork Mountain to the west.

Below the confluence of the Doe River and the Little Doe River at [[Hampton, Tennessee|Hampton]], the Doe River then travels roughly in a northern downstream direction through the Valley Forge community, and is rejoined by U.S. Route 19E. Pushing through a mountain gap just north of Hampton, the volume of the river is amplified by the waters flowing from McCathern Spring.

[[File:Broad Street Bridge 37643.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Broad Street Bridge]]
Further downstream, the Doe River flows by the East Side neighborhood parallel with [[Tennessee State Route 67]] and then underneath the historic [[Elizabethton Covered Bridge]], built in 1882 and located within the Elizabethton downtown business district. Connecting 3rd Street and Hattie Avenue, the covered bridge is adjacent to a city park and spans the Doe River. The covered bridge, although now closed to motor traffic, is still open for bicycles and pedestrians.

Most of Elizabethton's downtown is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] for its historical and architectural merits. The Elizabethton Historic District contains a variety of properties ranging in age from the late 18th century through the 1930s. The Elizabethton Covered Bridge is an important focal point and a well-known landmark in the state. In addition to the covered bridge, the downtown historic district contains the 1928 Elk Avenue concrete arch bridge, and just a little further downstream on the Doe River, Tennessee State Route 67 passes another similar concrete arch bridge locally known as the Broad Street Bridge.

Elizabethton celebrates in the downtown business area for one week each June with the Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days featuring country and gospel music performances, activities for children, Elk Avenue car club show, and many food and crafts vendors.

==== Watauga River ====
[[File:WataugaTheBigHole.jpg|thumb|left|[[Raft guide]] plunging whitewater rafters downstream through "The Big Hole" in the [[Bee Cliff Rapids]]]]

Two [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA) reservoirs in Carter County—impounded behind the [[Watauga Dam]] (forming [[Watauga Lake]])<ref name="tva.gov2"/> and the immediately downstream [[Wilbur Dam]]<ref name="tva.gov">[http://www.tva.gov/sites/wilbur.htm Tennessee Valley Authority – Wilbur Reservoir.]</ref>—are located southeast and upstream of Elizabethton on the [[Watauga River]]. The [[Appalachian Trail]] crosses the Watauga River and the TVA reservation in Carter County to the southeast of Elizabethton.<ref name="tva.gov2">{{cite web|url=http://www.tva.gov/sites/watauga.htm|title=TVA – Watauga|publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority|access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref><ref name="tva.gov"/>

The Watauga River flows westward past Elizabethton, which lies on the south bank of the Watauga and along either side of its principal tributary, the Doe River. The downtown business district is located approximately one-quarter mile upstream of the [[confluence]] of the Doe River and the Watauga River. The Doe River flows underneath the historic [[covered bridge|wooden covered bridge]] that is located within the Elizabethton downtown business district.

The city of Elizabethton was at one time promoted as "The City of Power", as the town is located just southeast of the Wilbur Dam hydrogeneration site spanning the Watauga River. Construction of Wilbur Dam first began during 1909, and two hydroelectric generating units were online with power production at Wilbur Dam when it was completed in 1912.<ref name="tva.gov" /> A third generating unit was added to Wilbur Dam in 1926, and a fourth hydrogeneration unit was added to Wilbur Dam after the Tennessee Valley Authority acquired the power production facility in 1945.<ref name="tva.gov" />

The [[Bee Cliff (Tennessee)|Bee Cliff Rapids]]—a popular summer destination on the Watauga River for [[rafting|whitewater rafters]] during the summer months—are located southeast of Elizabethton and downstream of the TVA Wilbur Dam.

The Watauga River downstream of the western side of Elizabethton has one of the only two sections of trophy trout streams in Tennessee.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}