The Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) recently released its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting the state’s efforts to ensure economic prosperity while safeguarding environmental resources amid rapid growth. Over the past year, the department funded 14 new state parks, piloted innovative accessibility improvements, and hosted its first “Outdoors Day on the Hill” to celebrate the economic impact of environmental tourism and encourage outdoor engagement, among other accomplishments.
Water resource management was a central focus of TDEC’s 2025 agenda, including major efforts to conserve the Duck River, encourage regional collaboration among drinking water systems, invest in infrastructure upgrades using American Rescue Plan funds, and restore drinking water service in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The Duck River, which supplies water to over 250,000 Tennesseans and is one of the nation’s most biologically diverse waterways, is now supported by a 19-member partnership working to balance ecological protection, water supply, and economic growth.
In addition, TDEC partnered with U.S. EPA to clean up two large rural brownfield sites, enabling their redevelopment as businesses and greenspace. In 2025, Tennessee also became the first state to establish a regulatory framework for nuclear fusion power, supporting innovation and allowing a Tennessee company to pursue development of the world’s first private commercial fusion power plant.
