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Last night I attended a public hearing held by WSSC regarding the Tridelphia dredging project. Their original plan had been to close down the lake in the late spring, and conduct the project over the summer. However, they have experienced a number of delays in the permitting process with DNR, and mother nature hasn't helped by refilling the reservoir twice in the last month with heavy rains. They believe they are now close to getting the final permits, and if all goes according to plan will be closing down the reservoir in mid-July to begin the work which is estimated to take 4-5 months. If there are further delays in the permitting process, they will probably have to delay all the work until next summer, in which case the lake will remain open for the rest of this year.
The area they are planning to dredge is largely around the dam where 80 years of sedimentation have added up. They are looking to remove about 6-7 feet of sediments from the area around the dam, and to do so will have to lower the lake level by 30 feet. This is comparable to the draw down they did for the work on the dam. Most of the people in attendance were local residents who were primarily concerned about all the dump truck traffic that would be required to haul the dredged material from Greenbridge to Pigtail where it will be spread out to dry. The sediment has tested free of chemicals, so the plan is to sell it off as topsoil because that is what it mostly is.
Once the work begins, the Greenbridge and Pigtail areas will be closed to the public as that is where most of the equipment will be kept. Big Branch and Tridelphia Recreation Area will still be open to the public for recreation, including bank fishing. The launches themselves will be closed because the water will not be accessible from them once the draw down has been completed. If the work goes forward this year, it is hard to say whether the lake will be at full pool again by next spring given how steep of a draw down is required. It will all depend on how wet of a winter and spring we have. Last time they began refilling the reservoir in the early spring, and it took until the following spring for the reservoir to reach full pool, although it was high enough by that summer to allow boats and kayaks back on the lake again.
The area they are planning to dredge is largely around the dam where 80 years of sedimentation have added up. They are looking to remove about 6-7 feet of sediments from the area around the dam, and to do so will have to lower the lake level by 30 feet. This is comparable to the draw down they did for the work on the dam. Most of the people in attendance were local residents who were primarily concerned about all the dump truck traffic that would be required to haul the dredged material from Greenbridge to Pigtail where it will be spread out to dry. The sediment has tested free of chemicals, so the plan is to sell it off as topsoil because that is what it mostly is.
Once the work begins, the Greenbridge and Pigtail areas will be closed to the public as that is where most of the equipment will be kept. Big Branch and Tridelphia Recreation Area will still be open to the public for recreation, including bank fishing. The launches themselves will be closed because the water will not be accessible from them once the draw down has been completed. If the work goes forward this year, it is hard to say whether the lake will be at full pool again by next spring given how steep of a draw down is required. It will all depend on how wet of a winter and spring we have. Last time they began refilling the reservoir in the early spring, and it took until the following spring for the reservoir to reach full pool, although it was high enough by that summer to allow boats and kayaks back on the lake again.
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