"It's hot, so we went tubing," said West High School student Justin Ludwig, as he and his three buddies just wrapped up a day tubing along the Little River.
It was almost all they expected.
"It's a little hot out here and the water is pretty low," Ludwig added.
Levels along the Little River, and other smaller waterways have fallen in the last few weeks. TVA, who monitors these rivers and streams, said this trend started since the beginning of June.
With a possible heat wave coming to East Tennessee, and no soaking rain in sight, those levels are expected to get worse.
"We shut down the lower section," Travis Grant with River Rage said. It makes it difficult for families with really small children that are scared of the water. We usually send them on the lower section of the river."
The dry spell isn't just affecting tubers; Little River Outfitters' David Drake said fly fishermen may also have trouble with lower water levels.
"When water levels go down, the rivers get clear and the fish get skiddish with less places to hide," Drake said. "They tend to get a little harder to catch as the fish get low."
As businesses wait to see what mother nature brings this week, these tubers learned what could happen when the water gets too low.
"As you go on, the water gets lower and lower. At the end, you have to walk it and swim," Ludwig said.
TVA said they're seeing the decrease in smaller rivers and streams. As for lakes, a TVA spokesperson said earlier this month that Cherokee and Norris were the only reservoirs that were still below average.