Sluice Gate Repair Work Appreciated

June 14, 2024

Editor, The News-Gazette:

An email from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service last month reminded us that May 31 marked Dam Safety Awareness Day. The message provides an appropriate opening to congratulate the team responsible for the recent engineering, repair and replacement activity that led to the successful operational tests of the sluice gate in the dam at Lake Merriweather. (The test period spanned about 8 hours beginning at 8 p.m. on May 29.)

At the same time we offer thanks to the Rockbridge County administrator and the county’s director of emergency management for their roles in coordinating the testing, and to the folks from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Conservation and Recreation for their presence at the dam as official observers.

Those who attended the Maury River Alliance public forum in April should be well aware of the importance of getting that emergency drain back to reliable operational status. We encourage continued progress by the National Capital Area Council BSA toward effective lake management and reduction of sediment pollution in the Little Calfpasture and Maury rivers.

As I understand it, the Total Maximum Daily Load for sediment in Little Calf that was calculated in 2010 remains the official goal. I urge all parties to the original TMDL implementation plan (2018) to engage now in facilitated discussion, achieve consensus on the way forward, and get on with it. GEORGE KOSOVIC Member, Maury River Alliance