What is up — in this case, upstream — doesn’t always all come down.
And that creates the potential for tension as dry conditions and increased demand sap water levels in areas served by reservoirs, such as the Pedlar in Amherst County.
Federal and state law requires that most waterways keep a minimum flow to protect wildlife, but some rivers that are water sources for humans don’t always meet that.
In the Southeast, prolonged drought has severely taxed water supplies in some areas, which has led to feuds over water quantity for people vs. the impact on the environment.
Florida and Alabama have been waging a battle against Georgia for years, claiming those drawing water from the Chattahoochee River upstream are reducing the flow downstream so much that it is causing environmental damage in Apalachicola Bay.
In the Lynchburg area, a similar argument is growing between some Amherst County residents and the City of Lynchburg.
The city’s main water source, Pedlar Reservoir, is a dammed section of the Pedlar River. When the reservoir level falls below the spillway, the river below the dam all but dries up in places.
That bothers some Amherst County residents who live along the lower sections of the river.
“Their concern is with the amount of water that’s being used by the city that the lack of flow in the Pedlar is creating issues,” for the environment and for farmers using the river for water, County Administrator Rodney Taylor said.
Pedlar’s dam was built in 1908 and raised several times, reaching its current height in 1963, city utilities director Tim Mitchell said. Because of the dam’s age, the city was grandfathered in to regulations so it doesn’t have a minimum flow requirement, Mitchell said.
Judy Strang, project manager for the Pedlar Institute, an environmental education group focusing on the Pedlar watershed, sees a growing feeling that the city’s drinking water is more important than the environment.
“There’s a direct effect of, ‘let’s take away from the Amherst County watershed health to sell to the city of Lynchburg,’” Strang said. “It’s a clear case of human water supply versus habitat.”
The county recently began discussions with the city over a possible solution, Taylor said. Most notably, the county wants the city to stop pumping water from a small creek just below the Pedlar dam to keep some water flowing during periods of drought, Taylor said.
“From a regulation standpoint, we feel pretty confident that we’re grandfathered as far as the regulation issues surrounding this,” Mitchell said. “But we are looking into it.”
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