Old Hickory Lake’s dam sits in Sumner and Davidson counties, and its Resource Manager’s Office is in Hendersonville. J. Percy Priest Lake spans Davidson, Rutherford and Wilson counties. The jurisdictions around the two lakes include Hendersonville and Gallatin, Mt. Juliet, Smyrna and La Vergne, and, inside Metro Nashville, Hermitage, the Old Hickory community and Antioch. The team’s Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet and Murfreesboro pages cover the wider Sumner, Wilson and Rutherford County markets. This guide is for the seller preparing a lake property and the buyer pricing one.

Two lakes, two different Corps projects

Both are Nashville District reservoirs, operated for different purposes. Old Hickory Lock and Dam sits at Cumberland River mile 216.2, 25 river miles above Nashville. It is a run-of-the-river project, and the Corps’ 2016 master plan says it was not designed with flood control storage. J. Percy Priest Dam sits between miles six and seven of the Stones River, about ten miles east of downtown, and impounds a 42-mile lake that the Nashville District classes as a flood storage project. J. Percy Priest figures below come from the Corps’ 2022 master plan, which the Corps’ digital library carries as a draft for public review.

Where the private lot ends: the government property line

On both lakes the private land often stops short of the water. Old Hickory’s land was bought under a minimum acquisition policy, which is why the Corps, not the homeowner, owns the strip behind many lots. J. Percy Priest’s perimeter was acquired under the 1962 Joint Acquisition Policy of the Departments of the Army and the Interior, which left significant perimeter land in public ownership.

Those guidelines explain how the line was drawn, not where it falls on a particular lot. The line that governs is the one the Corps marked on the ground. At Old Hickory, the Nashville District no longer accepts challenges to the marked boundary, and resolving a dispute by survey is the landowner’s responsibility. At J. Percy Priest, the 2022 draft plan calls the marked boundary the definitive line, says it is re-marked on an annual rotation, and says project staff can help identify it.

Between that line and the water is public land. Public pedestrian access to the shoreline must be preserved, and a shoreline use permit conveys no real estate and no exclusive use, even on the land beside a permitted dock.

The flowage easement: a Corps right on private land

The government line tells you what the Corps owns. The flowage easement tells you what the Corps controls on land it does not own. The 2022 J. Percy Priest draft plan defines it as the Corps’ right to inundate private land during flood risk management operations to store flood water. The Old Hickory master plan calls these easements right-to-flood agreements: the landowner keeps full use of the land, subject to restrictions that protect flood capacity and hold the government harmless for flood damage.

At J. Percy Priest the easement runs from at least 504.5 feet up to 508 or 510 feet. The Corps monitors and marks elevations so owners do not build habitable structures or place fill there, and activity in the easement is reviewed under the Nashville District Cut and Fill Policy of December 2002. At Old Hickory, the 2020 plan adds two rules:

• Written Corps approval is required before any fill is placed in a flowage easement. Minor landscaping fill is considered case by case and capped at one vertical foot or ten cubic yards; anything larger needs an engineer-certified flood storage offset plan.
• Some structures not for human habitation may be allowed through a Consent to Easement instrument from the Corps Real Estate Office, if the work does not impact or restrict the easement rights.

Shoreline allocation decides whether a private dock is possible

The shoreline class next to a lot decides what an owner can apply for. At Old Hickory, the 2020 plan allocates the shoreline as follows, and the official three-part Shoreline Allocation Map is kept at the Resource Manager’s Office.

Even next to a Private Docks and Mowing area, the plan says the designation does not guarantee a dock permit at a specific location. An individual dock also requires property that qualifies for a residential building permit and directly adjoins Corps land at the dock location, with no public road or driveway, right-of-way, subdivision common area or leased property between; proof of ownership and a plat by a licensed surveyor; at least 65 feet of allocated shoreline; and 50 feet between docks. In overcrowded areas where docks already sit closer than 50 feet apart, no new docks or expansions are permitted.

Size limits are 700 square feet for the dock and moored boats, including slips; 40 feet for a slip dock; 160 square feet for a new platform dock; and 6 feet for walkways. A dock may extend no more than 50 feet from the start of the walkway, or, in a narrow cove, 50 feet or one-third of the cove width, whichever is less. It must float at the 445-foot normal pool. Plans must be certified by a licensed engineer, architect or general contractor, fixed docks are prohibited, and larger existing docks are grandfathered.

J. Percy Priest: confirm before relying on anything

The Old Hickory rules do not carry over. No current J. Percy Priest Shoreline Management Plan could be located as of September 2026, J. Percy Priest is not among the five lakes in the Nashville District’s 2021 release on its roughly 2,800 shoreline licenses, and claims online about private docks there, either way, could not be verified from a primary source. Ask the Resource Manager’s Office at 615-889-1975 what private use is allowed next to the lot, and get the answer in writing.

Mowing, paths, trees and structures on Corps land

The land-side rules are the ones an owner can break without noticing. Federally, private vegetation modification is allowed only in Limited Development or Protected Shoreline areas, and an unauthorized structure on Corps land or water is subject to summary removal. At J. Percy Priest, the draft plan calls damaging vegetation on Corps land, including to open a lake view, a federal crime. At Old Hickory, the 2020 plan sets these limits:

• Mowing generally may not exceed 100 feet wide or one-half acre, whichever is less, and trees more than one inch in diameter at the base may not be cut.
• The Resource Manager may authorize a meandering path up to four feet wide. No trees may be cut for it, and it stays open to the public.
• Patios, decks, fences, invisible dog barriers, sheds, grills, playground equipment, sand beaches and gravel parking are prohibited on Corps land.
• Electrical and water lines, stairs, walkways and marine railways need a real estate license, priced at the administrative cost of processing plus the fair market value of the property.
• Dock and mowing privileges are privileges, not rights. Violating one permit can lead to cancellation of the others, including the dock permit.
• Severe destruction of Corps land or vegetation can bring a moratorium of up to 15 years or longer on new permits at that location, and it can bind a future owner.

Permit terms and fees, as the Corps publishes them

Old Hickory shoreline use permits normally run five years, and fees are paid before issuance. The 2020 plan does not print fees; the current schedule comes from the Resource Manager. Two published figures need context. 36 CFR 327.31 reads $10 for each new permit and $5 a year for inspection of floating facilities, which is regulation text, not a price quote. In a February 2021 release, the Nashville District raised license fees, effective March 1, 2021, for improved access, freshwater, electric and water withdrawal lines from $125 to $150 per license term, and for marine railways from $725 to $825, with fees reviewed every five years. Treat both as dated.

The plan itself is under review. The Corps held public workshops in Mt. Juliet on January 13, 2026 and in Gallatin on January 14, 2026, and written comments closed February 13, 2026. As of September 12, 2026 the adopted plan is the November 2020 edition, approved November 17, 2020. Proposed changes are proposals, not rules.

Why the dock permit does not come with the house

A dock is easy to price into a house, and a Corps permit cannot be sold with one. Under 36 CFR 327.30(g), shoreline use permits are non-transferable and become null and void on sale or transfer of the permitted facility. The federal permit conditions then set a clock: the seller or the new owner notifies the Resource Manager before the sale is final, and the new owner applies for a new permit within 14 days or removes the facility and restores the area within 30 days of the transfer. The Old Hickory plan adds conditions that follow the property.

A seller should present the dock as a facility under a permit the buyer must obtain in their own name. A buyer should know, before the inspection period ends, whether the Corps will issue that permit and what the 180-day window will require.

Flood mapping on a lake lot: a separate check

The Corps lines do not tell you whether the house is in a FEMA flood zone, which drives flood insurance and local building rules. FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Area is the 1-percent-annual-chance flood area, Zones A and V; shaded Zone X is moderate hazard and unshaded Zone X minimal. The official map is at msc.fema.gov. FEMA’s Community Status Book for Tennessee lists each jurisdiction’s NFIP number and effective map date; re-confirm the date at msc.fema.gov.

Local rules differ. Gallatin requires a Floodplain Development Permit before a building permit on a lot in a designated Flood Hazard Area. Metro Nashville requires new or substantially improved residential lowest floors to be at least four feet above the base flood elevation. Metro Water Services adds that structures in a Special Flood Hazard Area have a 26 percent chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage, that properties outside it are not guaranteed to be free of flooding, that a standard homeowner’s policy does not cover flooding, and that NFIP coverage has a 30-day waiting period.

On disclosure, Tennessee’s statutory form under Tenn. Code 66-5-210 asks whether the seller knows of flooding, drainage or grading problems and of any requirement that flood insurance be maintained on the property.

What a seller should gather before listing

• A Realtor Letter, at Old Hickory. It is valid for 90 days and generally issued within 14 days of a completed application, so time it to the listing, and use it to correct permit deficiencies before a buyer finds them.
• Every current permit and license tied to the lot, with its term and expiration date, and proof that any non-compliance has been resolved.
• A survey showing the marked government boundary. Before any new Old Hickory permit is issued the line must be clearly identified, or the new owner must provide a stake survey by a licensed surveyor.
• Dock dimensions, flotation type and grandfathered status, and the electrical inspection certificate for any dock wiring.
• Any Consent to Easement instrument or written Corps approval for structures or fill in a flowage easement.
• The FEMA zone for the address and, where one exists, an elevation certificate.

Pricing, costs and disclosure for any sale are covered in Selling a Home in Nashville: The Complete 2026 Guide to Pricing, Costs, and Timing, including the realty transfer tax, which Tenn. Code 67-4-409(a)(1)(F) places on the grantee, meaning the buyer. For estate-tier lake property, see Nashville Luxury Real Estate: The Estate and Penthouse Guide 2026.

Step by step: verifying one lake property

The sequence is the same for a buyer and a seller, and every step is about one parcel.

1. Call the right office: Old Hickory Lake, 615-822-4846; J. Percy Priest Lake, 615-889-1975.
2. Have a licensed surveyor stake the marked government boundary.
3. Get the shoreline classification in writing: a Realtor Letter at Old Hickory, or a written answer from the J. Percy Priest office.
4. If a dock matters to the price, test it against the lake’s own rules: at Old Hickory, direct adjacency to Corps land, 65 feet of allocated shoreline, 50-foot spacing and no overcrowding; at J. Percy Priest, the Resource Manager’s written answer from step 3.
5. Collect the existing permits and licenses, and confirm there is no open non-compliance or moratorium tied to the location.
6. Compare the house and any planned improvement with the easement elevations, and ask whoever is examining title to identify any Corps easement on the parcel.
7. Check the FEMA zone at msc.fema.gov, then call the local floodplain office for the base flood elevation and any elevation certificate.
8. Quote flood insurance early, before the inspection period ends, so the premium is known before the buyer is committed.
9. Build the Corps timeline into the contract: notice before closing, the 14-day application and, at Old Hickory, the 180-day window to meet permit requirements.

Frequently asked questions