ABSTRACT
Assessment of stream fish community condition was derived from an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) developed for small, warmwater streams in the early 1980s. Tailwater fish surveys were made Douglas and Cherokee dams, two impoundments of the French Broad River and Holston River, respectively. These two rivers converge in East Tennessee to form the Tennessee River at Knoxville. Warm Tailwater Fish Index (TFI) criteria are based primarily on Douglas Tailwater fish surveys conducted between 1987 and 1994, as minimum flows and reaeration techniques at Douglas Dam were developed and made operational. Coupled with increased TFI scoring criteria for the percentage omnivore/generalist metric were decreased scoring criteria for the percentage specialist insectivore metric. Tailwater fish communities are subjected to a series of habitat-altering events associated with the operation of hydroelectric dams that diminish biotic integrity. TFI metrics and scoring criteria compensate for habitat impairment and provide alternative expectations for assessing the ecological health of tailwaters.
