Task force to examine need for dredging study

By Rachana Dixit

Published: June 30, 2008

Four heads of local governments and boards decided Monday to form an eight- to 10-member task force to examine the need for and scope of a dredging study on the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir.

“We love our task forces in Charlottesville,” Mayor Dave Norris quipped after the decision had been made to study the study.

The task force’s members will represent 12 area groups, including local governments, property owners and various nature-based organizations.

One task force member can represent multiple groups.

“I think it’s better to be inclusive than exclusive,” said Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority Chairman Mike Gaffney, referring to the task force’s composition. Each group will individually nominate one person to serve on the task force.

The task force will be formed in the coming months and its findings will be reported to the four authorities — the Charlottesville City Council, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, the Albemarle County Service Authority and the RWSA — at a joint meeting in November. That meeting, along with one of the task force’s initial ones, will most likely allow public comment.

“I think it makes sense to get public input before we begin any work on the plan,” said Kenneth Boyd, chairman of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

He added the foremost issue the task force needs to examine is whether dredging is necessary.

“That’s really what we’re asking them to do: Should we dredge, and if so, why, and where are we going to get the money from?” Boyd asked. The task force will then determine the reservoir’s public resources and identify potential studies for the outside consultant to complete.

The dredging study is being considered in addition to the area’s $142.8 million long-term water supply plan, which entails construction of a dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir to increase water storage from 464 million to 2.19 billion gallons. To fill the reservoir to its new capacity, a pipeline from the South Fork Reservoir is to be built.

Both the city and county have said a separate study on the South Fork Reservoir needs to be completed, but most believe the study will not affect the 50-year plan.

Norris, a proponent of dredging, said he doesn’t think it will undermine the approved long-term water supply fundamentals.

“If we end up doing some maintenance dredging for whatever reason, it is going to free up water supply,” he said.

Advocates of dredging the silt-filled reservoir say it could have many possible benefits, including improving and boosting the water supply, increasing recreational opportunities and improving the habitat for indigenous species. Norris said the reservoir’s other uses — exclusive of long-term water supply needs — are also important to examine when taking dredging into account.

“We have to consider other reservoir uses and how dredging or not dredging will affect the recreational and aesthetic aspects of the reservoir,” he said.

But Donald Wagner, chairman of the county’s service authority board, said taxpayers’ needs must not be forgotten, especially if the dredging study’s purpose goes beyond water-supply needs.

The four heads agreed that the study’s scope needs to be determined before soliciting proposals from outside consultants. RWSA Executive Director Thomas L. Frederick Jr. said the original plan was to send consultants requests for proposals in July and, at the same time, create the task force to speed along the process.

Frederick added that the new dam design at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir would be complete by early 2009, with bids for construction going out in about a year.