Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993                   TAG: 9311210088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CARLOS SANTOS RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
DATELINE: WHITE HALL (AP)                                LENGTH: Medium

RIVER SCENIC, BUT DRY AS A BONE

For five months, long stretches of the river below the Sugar Hollow dam have had little or no water flow. The river, which is home to native brook trout in its upper reaches, appears to be bone dry in places.

Little flow in the lower Moormans is not unusual, because the Sugar Hollow reservoir is meant to provide water for the city of Charlottesville.

When the reservoir level drops as low as 5 feet, no water goes over the Sugar Hollow dam and into the lower Moormans. The 1940s reservoir, hit hard by the summer drought, is down more than 36 feet.

But residents around Sugar Hollow and a county environmental group are raising questions about the lack of water flowing down a river considered one of the state's finest.

"There are Albemarle citizens concerned about this, and many residents in Sugar Hollow," said Donna Bennett, who lives in Sugar Hollow. "The nature of my concern is the health of the river, the well-being of the river."

"It certainly is the kind of thing we're concerned about," said Tom Olivier, president of Citizens for Albemarle, an environmental group with about 400 members. "It's possible we'll be talking to people about the policies of maintaining the flow of water on the Moormans."

A conflict exists between maintaining in-stream flow and satisfying people's water-supply needs, said Gene Potter, director of operations for the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.

The Moormans is considered one of Virginia's finest rivers. In 1988, the General Assembly designated it a scenic river from below the dam to its junction with the Mechums River.

The designation essentially declares that the river has been found to have historic, environmental and scenic value. It also bars the building of a dam on the river without approval by the General Assembly.

The Southern Environmental Law Center of Charlottesville recently nominated the river for the exceptional waters program to protect it. The designation would prohibit dumping additional sewage, industrial waste or other pollution in the river. The designation would include the Moormans from its headwaters in the Shenandoah National Park to its confluence with the Mechums.

But even with the scenic river designation and its exceptional waters nomination, little may change about the flow.

"The process itself will not bear directly on the way the water supply is operated," Potter said.

Ultimately, the board of directors of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, which operates the reservoir, and the City Council would have to make any decisions regarding a change in the Moormans' water flow.

"But I don't think either will give it up as a water supply," Potter said.

And that touchy question may even be raised by environmentalists.

"I feel ultimately it's important to raise citizen consciousness," said Bennett, who is writing a booklet on the history and geology of the river. "I'm tenacious. I'm going to pursue this."

Olivier speculated that it might be possible to install special equipment on the dam which could be used to maintain water flow.

"We want to look carefully . . . at devices or policies that might help maintain a flow over time," he said. "Turning a flowing river into something that dries up . . . raises concerns."

Meanwhile, the river's supporters are still eager for it to receive exceptional waters status. Public hearings on the designation will be held early next year.

"It never hurts to have more protection," said David Carr of the law center. "It's even more important to get the protection because of its low flow."