Posted on November 28, 2018
Waterfront residents at Timber Lake are hoping for good news Tuesday when they make their case before Campbell County Circuit Court Judge John Cook for creation of a local watershed improvement district.
DD Gillett, president of the Timberlake Homeowner’s Association, said creation of the watershed improvement district is a necessary step before residents can dredge Timber Lake next fall. She said the Aug. 2 flood event compounded years of sedimentation into the lake and has necessitated dredging it in shallower areas. Residents will spend $500,000 in private funds for the process.
Gillett came before the Campbell County Board of Supervisors earlier this month to share growing concerns from the community about the impact of urbanization on the lake, which was created in 1926.
“Ninety-two years of development around us has caused irreversible damage to our lake,” Gillett told supervisors during a Nov. 8 meeting. “Every new road, every new development, every new parking lot associated with a new business in any one of the three sub-basins that surround Timber Lake have all caused erosion and massive amounts of sedimentation to find its way downstream to our lake.”
Waterlick Creek, Buffalo Creek and Browns Creek all drain into Timber Lake. The lake originally comprised 80 acres, but now covers 60 acres and contains about 200 million gallons of water when full because sedimentation has shrunk the shoreline. There are 174 waterfront homes and 111 non-waterfront homes in the community.
Developers created the lake by building a dam on Buffalo Creek west of U.S. 460. In 1995, heavy summer storms caused the dam to collapse.
“The lake was lost, two lives were lost and the Timberlake community at that point was changed forever,” Gillett said. “…The dam was replaced, the community was renewed and a new level of dedication to the lake had been established.”
Homeowners around Timber Lake funded construction of a new dam through Small Business Administration loans, and they became the owners of a high-hazard dam.
Timberlake dam is regulated by the state and categorized as high-hazard because of its size, the size of the lake, the structures in its downstream inundation zone and the fact that its history includes a loss of life. This requires the Timberlake community to have an Emergency Action Plan to address different storm scenarios and potential breaching of the dam, take corrective actions for the impounding structure when necessary and complete regular inspections.
“We are a dedicated, responsible dam owner,” Gillett said. “We take the safety of our dam and the safety of the lives downstream as an extremely serious matter. It is our responsibility.”
She said the Timberlake community represents $44.6 million of total assessed property values in Campbell County, which would diminish by two-thirds with the loss of the lake. This lost property value affects not only residents, but the county as a whole because it would lessen the amount of property taxes collected in the area.
So, Gillett asked supervisors to hold local developers accountable for stormwater management and erosion control when building new businesses, homes and apartment complexes.
“We ask that you address the complacent approach to stormwater issues in the county and the blatant disregard for our lake,” she said. “We ask that you hear us when we ask for all contractors to be held to the highest standards of stormwater control, not just the minimum standards.”
County Administrator Frank Rogers said Campbell County’s erosion and sediment control ordinances are the same as the state standard, and it would be up to supervisors to approve stricter regulations. Gillett is asking that Campbell County raise the bar for developers to protect the watershed.
Gillett showed photos of the lake throughout the years as visual evidence of sedimentation. She highlighted Browns Cove, an area of the lake significantly affected by sedimentation, and said residents in that area can no longer use the lake because the water is only a foot deep.
This is one area that residents hope to dredge next fall. They already have spent $10,000 for a survey to identify the most shallow areas of the lake, according to Gillett. She said the location of sedimentation changes over the years as it moves in from feeder streams, builds up, and rolls forward.
“It’s just like College Lake,” she told supervisors, referring to the lake at the University of Lynchburg. “They are a shining example of what happens when you don’t maintain a lake.”
Gillett said she has encouraged local developers to build grass culverts, instead of using blacktop or concrete. This allows the ground to absorb some stormwater runoff rather than directing it onto fast-moving paved pathways that eventually dump it in Timber Lake.
She also said she has asked them to build retention ponds that are appropriately sized for developments, not just the minimum size required by state regulations.
In addition to the impact from private development in the Timberlake area, Gillett said riprap and trees from a stormwater runoff basin near Timberlake Road and U.S. 460 has migrated into the lake. The Virginia Department of Transportation installed the basin in 1988 to manage stormwater runoff from newly-created exits to U.S. 460 from Timberlake Road.
“Now, that basin has eroded to the point that all the initial erosion control measures are gone, they have collapsed, so we just have raw dirt that continues to be destabilized every time it rains,” she said.
Gillett said she has been in conversation with the VDOT about how to solve the issue over the past few months. She said homeowners offered to purchase new riprap for the basin if VDOT employees could install it, but agency representatives said that was not possible. VDOT could not be reached for comment.
Now, Gillett has suggested completing erosion impact control studies, including velocity and turbidity, to show how much erosion is taking place with high levels of water. This suggestion also was turned down, according to Gillett.
During the Nov. 8 board of supervisors meeting, Timberlake Supervisor Susan Hogg and Concord Supervisor Eddie Gunter said they supported the study. Rogers said county staff would continue to advocate with VDOT to reconsider the study. He said he plans to present an informational item during the January board of supervisors meeting about the county’s erosion and sediment control ordinances, with a possible work session discussion later next year.
Gillett said if the referendum for creation of the watershed improvement district passes today, residents must go before a judge again for a second referendum to give the Timberlake community the right to vote to incur indebtedness. Then, they will be able to dredge the lake.
“I have to look into the eyes of the people who have lived on that lake for 60 years and convince them I am going to do everything I can to save the lake they have lived on all this time,” Gillett said during a Monday phone interview. “It’s a commitment to a lot of people and to a historical part of Lynchburg. It’s 92 years old and we can’t keep letting it fill in. We’ve got to act now.”
Source: The News & Advance
