Potomac River basin reservoir projects

The Potomac River basin reservoir projects were U.S. Army Corps of Engineers programs that sought to regulate the flow of the Potomac River to control flooding, to assure a reliable water supply for Washington, D.C., and to provide recreational opportunities. Beginning in 1921 the Corps studied a variety of proposals for an ambitious program of dam construction on the Potomac and its tributaries, which proposed as many as sixteen major dam and reservoir projects. The most ambitious proposals would have created a nearly continuous chain of reservoirs from tidewater to Cumberland, Maryland. The 1938 program was focused on flood control, on the heels of a major flood in 1936. The reformulated 1963 program focused on water supply and quality, mitigating upstream pollution from sewage and coal mine waste.

While several projects came to fruition in one form or another, most were never pursued or were abandoned after significant public opposition. Savage River was the only project from the 1938 program to be built. The largest project was Seneca Dam on the Potomac just above Washington, D.C.. Seneca was abandoned in 1969 after the creation of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, which preserved much of the area Seneca Dam would have flooded. The Verona and Sixes Bridge projects survived into the 1970s. Only the Bloomington project was built approximately as originally proposed, creating Jennings Randolph Reservoir.

In 1968 the landmark study The Nation's River was published by the Department of the Interior, examining strategies for the appropriate use and clean-up of the Potomac. It disputed the strategy of dilution and noted that flood control projects could not be economically justified on their own.The report documented absent or inadequate wastewater treatment, discharge from combined sanitary and stormwater sewers, and agricultural runoff.[1] This document became the basis for Potomac study, development and management.[2] The widespread implementation of pollution controls as a result of the Clean Water Act reduced upstream pollution. Water conservation measures meant that water use did not follow the trend expected by the Corps of Engineers, and reservoirs were not required to meet demand.

Early Potomac development

The river's potential for transportation and hydropower was explored from the beginning of the United States, with George Washington[]'s Potomac Company one of the first consortia to try to exploit the Potomac's route through the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. The failure of the Potomac Company led to the formation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1825 to use the river's route to build a still-water canal to Cumberland. Starting in 1799 the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers were used to power the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. A variety of industries grew up in the area, powered by river waters.

The earliest proposals for exploitation of hydropower on the Potomac were made in the 1880s. By the 1920s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviewed the possibilities for hydroelectric power at Great Falls.[3] Power generation capacity was planned at 105 MW[4] and total cost was projected at $18,616,000 in 1921.[5]

1938 Corps of Engineers program

Dams proposed in the Potomac River basin in 1945

As a result of the catastrophic flood of 1936, Congress mandated a study by the Corps of Engineers on flood control on the Potomac. The Corps report published in 1938 proposed a series of dams on the main stem of the Potomac and on several tributaries. The reservoirs were to start at tidewater at Chain Bridge.

Proposed dams on the Potomac included (unbuilt projects in italics):

The Shenandoah would have been dammed at two places:

Other reservoirs would have included:

With the intervention of World War II none of these projects were pursued, but they were revived in 1945 as a basis for further study.[8]

Potomac River Basin Report

In 1958 the Corps again was directed by Congress to study dams, this time to improve water quality in addition to flood control. Upstream sewage discharge and the effects of coal mine drainage on the Potomac headwaters caused the new focus, in which the assured flow of reservoirs would combine to dilute pollution to an acceptable level for drinking water treatment.[9] A further interest was the creation of recreational opportunities on the new lakes. The new study was published in 1963 as the Potomac River Basin Report. The new plan involved 16 major reservoir projects and 418 small headwater reservoirs. The plan also recommended the use of more effective wastewater treatment strategies.The cost of the entire program was estimated at $498 million in 1963 dollars.[10]

The major projects included (unbuilt projects in italics):

Jennings Randolph Lake

Of all of these projects, only Bloomington was constructed.

References

  1. "II: The Cleansing of the Waters". The Nation's River. U.S. Department of the Interior. October 1, 1968.
  2. Jaworski, Norbert; Romano, Bill; Buchanan, Claire (2007). "CH. 1: Introduction". The Potomac River Basin and its Estuary: Landscape Loadings and Water Quality Trends 1895-2005 (PDF).
  3. Tyler, M.C. (February 14, 1921). Development of Great Falls for Water Power and Increase of Water Supply for the District of Columbia. Government Printing Office. p. 110.
  4. Corps of Engineers 1921, p. 49
  5. Corps of Engineers 1921, p. 50
  6. Seltzer, Yosefi (October 13, 1994). "Environmentalists Push for Overhaul of Little Falls Dam". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  7. Peck, Garrett. The Potomac River: A History and Guide. The History Press. ISBN 978-1609496005.
  8. 1 2 3 Mackintosh, Barry (1991). "4: The Parkway Proposition". Chesapeake and Ohio Canal: The Making of a Park. National Park Service.
  9. "Vol. 1 - Report". Potomac River Basin Report. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. February 1963. pp. 92–94.
  10. USACE 1963, Vol. 1, pp. 21-28
  11. 1 2 3 4 "II: Toward a More Useful River". The Nation's River. U.S. Department of the Interior. October 1, 1968.
  12. "Vol. 2 - Major Reservoir Project Descriptions". Potomac River Basin Report. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. February 1963. pp. 75–85.
  13. "Jennings Randolph Lake". Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 15-26
  15. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 39-50
  16. Public Law 93-251, Water Resources Development Act of 1974
  17. "Dalton: Pump water from Shenandoah". Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. AP. September 9, 1977. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  18. Rosenfeld, Megan; McAllister, Bill (September 9, 1977). "Dalton Plan Would Give Area Water". Washington Post.
  19. "Funding for dam temporarily blocked". Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. AP. May 7, 1977.
  20. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 51-61
  21. "Public Law 97-128" (PDF). Government Printing Office.
  22. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 63-73
  23. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 75-85
  24. "Byrd Statement On Proposed Dams". Charles Town Farmers Advocate. March 30, 1945. p. 6.
  25. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 87-97
  26. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 113-123
  27. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 125-133
  28. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 135-143
  29. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 147-157
  30. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 159-167
  31. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 169-178
  32. USACE 1963, Vol. 2, pp. 179-189

External links

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