DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090485

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   56 lines

DISMAL SWAMP CANAL TO CLOSE; BOATERS MUST USE ALTERNATE ROUTE

Water levels in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge have dropped so low that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided Wednesday to close the Dismal Swamp Canal.

The locks at Deep Creek and South Mills, N.C., will be open through the weekend but will close indefinitely at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The drought has decreased the water level in the swamp's Lake Drummond to 3.88 feet, said Corps spokeswoman Amy Goebelbecker. The Corps is not permitted to drain the lake to recharge the canal when the water level drops below 3.6 feet, according to an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Corps won't reopen the canal until water levels reach five feet, Goebelbecker said.

Draining Lake Drummond any further now could damage the swamp's ecosystem.

The swamp already faces a ``moderate danger'' of fire due to dry conditions, said deputy refuge manager Cindy Britton.

Earlier this year, the Corps of Engineers cut the number of lock openings by half. But even that wasn't enough to replenish water levels, said Corps district engineer Robert H. Reardon.

``We tried to avoid closure by reducing the boat locking from four to two per day,'' Reardon said. ``Unfortunately, we still didn't get enough rain to keep it open. It did buy us enough time to avoid closure until after the Columbus Day holiday weekend.''

This month is the peak season for the locks, said project manager Thomas Friburg.

Pleasure boaters traveling up and down the East Coast pass through the locks most frequently in spring and fall, Friburg said. ``We have a seasonal migration just like the birds,'' Friburg said.

Closing the Dismal Swamp Canal - known as Route 2 of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway - won't leave boaters stranded. They can pass through the Great Bridge Locks - Route 1 of the waterway - instead.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway extends from New York to Miami.

Yachts and other small vessels often sail to Key West and the Bahamas through the waterway, rather than the Atlantic Ocean, to avoid storms and dangerous waves, Friburg said.

Closing the locks is not unusual. The Corps last closed the locks in 1995 during a more severe drought, Friburg said. So far this year, rainfall in Hampton Roads is 10 inches below normal, a decrease of about 25 percent, said Chesapeake agricultural extension agent David Vandergriff, with the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

The Great Bridge Locks will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Goebelbecker said. Operators will monitor marine channel 13. MEMO: More information is available by calling 441-7643. ILLUSTRATION: ANOTHER ROUTE

Closing the Dismal Swamp Canal - known as Route 2 of the Atlantic

Intracoastal Waterway - won't leave boaters stranded. They can pass

through the Great Bridge Locks - Route 1 of the waterway - instead.

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