Lynchburg, Amherst conflict bubbling about river

Staff reports
Published: July 30, 2008

An argument is emerging between some Amherst County residents and the City of Lynchburg.

The city’s main water source, Pedlar Reservoir, is in Amherst County. When the reservoir level falls below the spillway, the Pedlar 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. Because of the dam’s age, the city was grandfathered in to federal regulations, so it doesn’t have a minimum flow requirement, said Tim Mitchell, city utilities director.

Judy Strang, project manager for the Pedlar Institute, an environmental education group focusing on the Pedlar watershed, said, “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 dam.

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.”