PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) — After years of planning and preparation, major projects in dam rehabilitation in Mercer County are on a faster track now, with the first possibly starting next year.
Mercer County Commissioner Bill Archer said the three projects — Dan Hale Reservoir, Glenwood Park and James P. Bailey Lake — will include draining the lakes, installing high tech equipment at the bottom to monitor levels and modernizing all aspects of the dam to bring it up to current standards.
“They are on a 50-year cycle,” Archer said, referring to when the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) steps in to start the process that is required. “Planning is extensive.”
Although this is a federal project, the county is involved every step of the way, he said, and that includes monthly meetings for updates.
A lot of work has already been done in preparation, including divers examining things like the lake’s flow pipes and overflows, teams coming in to do some seismic evaluations of existing structures, as well as surveying, permits and property rights.
The lakes were built primarily to prevent flooding, which in the mid-1950s inundated the Stafford Drive area of Princeton and where the high school, Hunnicutt Field, Princeton Community Hospital and many businesses are now located.
“The primary purpose was flood control,” he said, and it has been a big economic stimulus for the city.
Another purpose is to provide water for the Green Valley-Glenwood Public Service District.
Archer said Dan Hale Reservoir, which was built in the late 1960s, will be the first one to see work and draining it will be required.
How long that will take has not been determined.
“The water will flow into Brush Creek (within the banks of the existing drainage system) and on to the Bluestone, New and Greenbrier rivers,” he said, adding that the fish in the lake will flow out with the water.”
Archer said that should help anglers on the Bluestone.
After the rehab work is done, the lake will then be refilled and restocked.
Glenwood Park, the largest and also built during the late 1960s, will be next. Since it is a shallow lake, sediment has been a problem for years and the lake has needed dredging.
Archer said one of the jobs after the lake drains will be to remove the mud that has accumulated.
“You get in there and you may sink up in the mud waste deep,” he said.
The entire process for all three lakes will take years, he said, but no exact timetable has yet been developed.
A cost estimate is also uncertain.
During a meeting on the projects, Derrick Crane, with the NRCS, said the federal government will cover up to 65 percent of the cost and in some cases 100 percent.
But the local match could include “in-kind” work, even meetings held over the last several years.
Crane gave one estimate for the Dan Hale work at $6.2 million, which would mean a $2.3 million local share.
However, Archer said any cost estimate now is premature because of how volatile prices are, especially with the supply chain issues.
Crane said as the project gets closer to be put out for bid, commissioners should assess the impact of the work, “how the project will impact your world, what you will have to deal with.”
Dan Hale and James P. Bailey are lakes primarily used for fishing, but Glenwood Recreation Park, which is on the lake, has many amenities for the public, including fishing, boating, hiking, mountain biking, miniature golf, disc golf, picnicking, geocaching, tennis, pickle ball, basketball, playgrounds, with more planned in the future.
“This is a complicated process,” Archer said, but it is one that is meticulously done.
“They are very cautious every step of the way,” he said of those from the NRSC as well as another partner, Southern Soil and Conservation, and they are on the “front line of environmental protection.”
“They take this very seriously,” he said. “It is a real treat to talk with them. They don’t back away from making decisions in favor of the environment.”
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