Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I would hope this is positive...don't know their attitude towards the use of the reservoir for recreation. Everything in print just says it's about the water.

We need to voice our concerns and get Beaverdam Reservoir reopened for our use!

Please contact Mark Peterson (mpeterson@loudounwater.org), Executive Director of Stakeholder Relations, Loudoun Water. Telephone 571.291.7942.

They gave the rowers a bye, why not others? Certainly, they can close off the area where they are working but tat leaves a lot of water that we can fish.

Mr. Peterson needs to hear from a whole bunch of us!!

I am thinking of a 2nd email to him......time for some pressure. Please send info to other fishing buddies.

I'm scouting it out tonight.  Will report back if any signs are posted

Brian- how did the water look?

Interesting.  Congrats on the chunk!  That place rarely gets super muddy.

drxfish wrote:

Interesting.  Congrats on the chunk!  That place rarely gets super muddy.

I'd imagine it was pretty dirty on the south end in the three arms.  The dam end is usually good clarity... But that's expected almost anywhere.  I guess with all the rock, hard bottom and stalk grass the lake filters itself very efficiently.

BillyBigMouth wrote:

I wonder if they are putting their foot down on boats launching instead?

What "they" have said is only what has been printed. One site (VGDIF) says only authorized users (rowers) and workers. It's all vague. I want the HS crew teams to continue to have access. But I also want the same for yaks, canoes, jons etc. If they want to have "off limit" areas while in construction, we can abide by that. I am sure they will be doing NO work in the southern end and there is some pretty good fishing in those fingers.

Another great letter written by a friend of mine:

I was greatly dismayed when I read in the press recently that Loudoun County has suspended all public access to Beaverdam reservoir for four years, while improvements are made to the dam and unspecified studies are done. http://m.leesburgtoday.com/news/loudoun … l?mode=jqm

While I certainly am in strong favor of improvements to critical local infrastructure and agree the lands around the reservoir could benefit from study and resource management, a blanket restriction on all public access to enjoy the reservoir seems very overblown and unnecessary.

I am an angler, for example, who has enjoyed the fishing in Beaverdam. I typically put a canoe in at the lot used by the high school rowing team, fish for a few hours, and return. I fail to see any new safety issues from such activity, or other ways in which small boat recreation, or fishing, would interfere with improvements to the dam.

I would ask that you and Loudoun County please consider reasonable ways to mitigate any risk or conflicts of interests as work progresses, and allow anglers and other Virginians to continue enjoying activities at the reservoir. Word about this is spreading in several locally based conservation and fishing organizations of which I am a member (Izaak Walton League, Trout Unlimited, Potomac River Smallmouth Club, Tidal Potomac  Fly Rodders, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership) and I know I'm not the only person interested in a more fair and reasonable decision.

I wish you well, and thank you for your attention and service to the public.

If you can attend, the Loudoun Water Board of Directors monthly meeting is on Thursday, May 8 at 3:00 pm at their Admin. Bldg. - 44865 Loudoun Water Way, Ashburn.

Hello all,

I just got back from my Ashburn Rotary meeting where the speaker was Micah Vieux with Loudoun Water Authority.  I asked about the reason behind cutting off public access and the answer was liability.  According to him Fairfax City was exempt from liability exposure but Loudoun Water is not.  As part of the process to acquire they agreed to honor the arrangement with Loudoun Rowing Club as they have signed off on liability.  Loudoun Water explored liability insurance, as well as other options, but decided to close public access instead.  What i found very interesting was that draining Beaverdam Res is in the ultimate plans and the time frame appears to be within 2 years.  My guess is it made no sense the them to purchase liability insurance for the short term if they intend to drain it anyway.  They plan to refill the reservoir at some point in the future but who knows when that would be.

Micah was just the messenger and a very nice guy and outdoorsman.  The message however sucked.