TCRC won’t appeal decision on Smith Mountain Project

The Tri-County Relicensing Committee will not appeal a state water control board decision that approved a new lake discharge permit for the Smith Mountain Project.

After much deliberation, the water board voted 6-0 last month to approve the permit, which includes a new release plan based on lake levels and time of year.

TCRC had recommended that the water board delay its decision until concerns for lake users could be ironed out, said Bedford County Supervisor Chuck Neudorfer, who represented the group at the October hearing.

About 2,000 citizens flooded Gretna High School in August for a contentious public hearing over a new permit that would alter how much water was released from the Smith Mountain Project downstream into the Staunton River.

Those above the dam felt the release plan, called HL8, could allow lake levels to fall too low, creating safety problems. Downstream users felt the plan created the best possible compromise by allowing more water to flow downstream.

Since the August hearing, many technical changes were made to the draft permit. A major recommendation that came from citizen comment was that the permit should require water to be released from the dam continuously.

Because of that, the board voted to require APCo to conduct a continuous flow study, said Joe Hassell, Department of Environmental Quality program manager. “(APCo) might have to go constant flow or they might have to do stream bank restoration depending on the results of the study.”

Downstream users have long complained that the old permit that requires an average 650 cubic feet per second to be released unless there is a special drought variance has kept the river too low during dry spells or drought. In response, several state agencies and APCo worked on the compromise plan that would create a more natural river flow and keep the lake closer, but not necessarily at, full pond.

Representatives for those living below the dam said they were pleased with the permit’s final outcome. Staunton River Watch chairman Cole Poindexter said he would have liked for the board to approve a permit that made release triggers stricter, “but sometimes you just can’t get everything.”

“The people upstream were complaining, but they got a whole lot better permit than the current permit, so we feel they should be happy with what they got.”

Those above the Leesville Lake dam were concerned that allowing Smith Mountain Lake levels to drop below a certain point would create navigation hazards for recreation and fire and rescue boats. Some said at the August public hearing that a permit allowing the lake to stay below full pond would lower property values.

Neudorfer said he was frustrated with the board’s decision. “I don’t think they took into account anything from us. They didn’t discuss it, they didn’t question it. Our conversation with them didn’t change their opinion.”

“We still are concerned about the water release protocol,” Neudorfer said. “In our opinion the required release is artificially high because all the studies have been misrepresented, in our opinion.”

Neudorfer said TCRC consulted with three attorneys and learned an appeal would cost between $50,000 and $100,000, he said. The attorneys also said that the chances of winning were not very good, Neudorfer said. “Our decision was not to pursue it.”

Watson can be reached at or at (434) 385-5543. Faulconer can be reached at or at (434) 385-5556.