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A turtle suns itself on a fallen tree in Abel Lake. Human activities at the Stafford reservoir have raised worries. |
Reservoirs supply drinking water to tens of thousands of Fredericksburg-area residents.
Though water supply is their primary function, reservoirs offer other benefits: recreation, and great locations for those lucky enough to live near their shores.
How waterfront resources are managed differs from locality to locality. Generally, few--if any--shoreline structures are allowed, large buffer areas protect shorelines, and tree clearing is prohibited.
The rules vary across the state, according to a spot check by The Free Lance-Star. In some localities, such as Stafford and Culpeper counties, boat docks and piers are allowed, with the proper permits. Spotsylvania County does not allow them.
On Virginia's 35,000-acre portion of Kerr Reservoir, which stretches into North Carolina, permanent piers, floating docks and boathouses are common. That's also the case in the Hampton Roads area, which has 18 water-supply lakes.
There are seven reservoirs in the immediate Fredericksburg area--Abel and Smith lakes in Stafford; Ni, Motts Run and Hunting Run reservoirs in Spotsylvania; and Mountain Run and Pelham lakes in Culpeper. There are other lakes that supply water for private water systems in the area.
On Ni Reservoir there's a water treatment plant and a small county-maintained park on a cove off Gordon Road. Johnboats with electric motors are available for rent. There's a picnic area and parking.
Once a nearly continuous swath of farmland and forest, Ni Reservoir is now ringed with houses.
But the shoreline is green and uncluttered.
"The intent is no construction along the shoreline," Bruce Boyer, the county's water resources engineer, said in a recent interview.
Like many localities across the state, Spotsylvania has several tiers of protection written into its reservoir protection overlay district, which restricts land uses around its water supplies.
The districts extend 2,000 feet from the shore; any construction must be at least 250 feet from the water, and no clearing is allowed within 150 feet.
Builders and homeowners not familiar with the county's reservoir protection ordinances sometimes illegally clear trees and brush along the shore. Or a small dock or floating pier will appear.
When neighbors complain, or when county officials learn of such infractions, the property owner is notified.
Infractions are referred to the Code Compliance Department.
"In most cases, the people didn't know," Boyer said.
The homeowner then has to remove the structure, replant a buffer area, or plant trees if necessary. The county maintains a 150-foot buffer zone around the impoundment--50 feet more than required by the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act.
Localities typically own some or all of the lake bottom and a strip of land around the reservoir, or have easements on the buffer zone.
Prohibited on Ni Reservoir are: any construction, docks, piers, floating piers or ramps, duck blinds or other platforms, hunting, fireworks, camping, and all water-contact sports, including swimming and wading. No commercial activities are allowed, and no septic tanks in the buffer zone.
Spotsylvania also gets its water from the Rappahannock River and the Motts Run Reservoir it shares with Fredericksburg.
"No one lives on Motts Run, and the land buffer gives us a certain advantage," said Erik Nelson, Fredericksburg's senior planner.
As with all reservoirs, though, he said there are issues with potential runoff from adjacent land uses.
In deciding what's acceptable on and along reservoirs, "I think you need to be very cautious," Nelson said. The city recently signed a permanent conservation easement to protect thousands of acres it owns along the Rappahannock from encroachment, clearing and unauthorized building.
Spotsylvania can now draw from its newest reservoir--Hunting Run.
There are houses around that impoundment, which is nearly full. County officials will soon begin drafting the rules for that impoundment. Boyer says they'll probably be very similar to what's in effect at Ni Reservoir.
Public access has become an issue there--the reservoir has been stocked with fish, but the county has not yet built a boat ramp or parking lot. Fishing and public use are not permitted until that's done and a water-protection ordinance is in place.
County officials have said temporary facilities might be added in the interim.
Culpeper County and the town of Culpeper allow piers and boat docks, but only after landowners apply for permits, which include a review of building plans, materials and the potential impact on the water.
Sam McLearen, the county's zoning administrator, says that much of the land around the lakes remains agricultural, and there are relatively few houses.
But that's changing with some subdivisions in the works, including Three Flags on Pelham Lake.
Culpeper, too, has enacted a watershed management district to protect its water supplies. Part of that plan requires larger lot sizes, thus reducing the number of lake-area lots that can be developed, buffers and setbacks for building.
"Clearing is our biggest issue, and that can be just as detrimental" to water quality as unauthorized structures, McLearen said.
"We have to protect the water supply, and we're making sure water is the quality we need. It's not just a fishing pond."
Besides county oversight, drinking water in Virginia is regulated by the state Health Department and Department of Environmental Quality, which report to the Environmental Protection Agency. Their focus is water quality.
"Our responsibility begins at the intake structure," said Hugh Eggborn, the Health Department's engineering field director in Culpeper. "Our interest is directed at the finished water from the treatment plant."
The state also has the responsibility for dam inspections.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security got into the act, requiring states to draw up plans to protect drinking-water sources from deliberate contamination.
Ron Wisniewski, district conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fredericksburg service office, said more growing localities are taking a closer look at their reservoir regulations these days.
"As the land gets developed and more houses start coming in, you get into these different issues," he said. "As counties become more crowded and there is less and less land, the common thing becomes everyone wants to be by the water."
Staff Writer Meghann Cotter contributed to this report.
To reach RUSTY DENNEN:
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
