On a normal day the Cheoah River is just a shallow meandering stream trickling out of Santeetlah Lake. That’s because Alcoa Power takes the water out of the river and runs it overland through big pipes to their powerhouse to generate electricity.

When Alcoa’s 40-year permit to operate the dam and hydropower network expired this year, the company had to start providing public benefits in exchange for harnessing the public’s river. One of those benefits was putting water back into a nine-mile stretch of the Cheoah River for recreational paddling on select days. There will be a total of 19 releases a year.

Hundreds of kayakers flocked to the river on Sept. 17 for the inaugural recreational release. There will be another on Oct. 1 and one on Nov. 2.

Other benefits provided by Alcoa include a conservation easement on 10,000 acres adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and $12 million in environmental and recreational benefits.