The PWCA blog has information about an opportunity to open Lake Manassas to the public. After being closed for years and years, it’s about time!
The Manassas City Council is considering opening Lake Manassas to the public for fishing, paddling and wildlife watching. They’re discussing options to provide public access to Lake Manassas at a special work session on Monday, Dec. 7, at City Hall. Read more here and attend the meeting if you can so that the Council knows people want public access to Lake Manassas.
Why would the Manassas City Council care what county people thought as individuals?
What are our own BOCS doing along these lines? Is someone from our board going to speak at their board? Isn’t it in John Stirrup’s district? Where is he going to be?
The lake although situated in Prince William County and surrounded by homes of cititzens of the County, the lake is physically owned by the Town of Manassas. The lake use to have electric and paddle boats and had a ramp years ago. I was told that a number of years ago that the City pulled the ability to have anything in the lake as a result of the invasive mussels in the region that threatened the water intake supply located at the dam. Apparently that body of water serves as the public water system for most of Manassas City and other locations.
The city of Manassas does indeed get its water from Lake Manassas.
I thought the lake wasn’t accessible because of all the homes they built around there. Where would the entry point be?
– Lake Manassas is a source of safe, reliable water to over 100,000 people in
the City of Manassas, PWC and MP. The facility was built and is maintained
and constantly improved, at no small cost to the citizens of Manassas, for
that crucial primary purpose. Any recreational use is secondary and
must be considered as such. (Lake Brittle, less than ten miles away, was
built by the Va. Dept. of Inland Fisheries for purely recreational use and is
open for fishing and boating.)
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There is also Silver Lake which is less than 10 miles north of Lake Manassas.
Is Lake Brittle a water source for anyone? (or is that what you said?)
Lake Brittle and Silver Lake are not sources of drinking water.
Where would access to Lake Manassas be? How much of a stink would that ritzy housing development make if the commoners were allowed to use the lake?
Remember all the land around Lake Manassas is in Prince William County and
any marina would have to have the approval of PWC planners, not easy to
work with on anything, the PWC Planning Commission and, finally, the
PW BOCS. Since the ritzy folks are PWC residents, imagine most of that
potential “stink” would drift towards PWC leaders.
(And don’t forget the exclusive golf club — they might want a
voice in this. Imagine the lake would have to be cleared if key
government VIP’s wanted to shoot a few rounds.)
PR, in other words, it isn’t going to happen.
You mean that golf club that still excludes women?
There was a private marina that operated on Lake Manassas in the early 90’s. There was some kind of dispute, and the marina closed. Sometime after 9/11, the City of Manassas decided to ban all boating on Lake Manassas. I would think they could open up boating without the involvement of PWC.
Pat.Herve,
Any marina at Lake Manassas would involve PWC. That is a fact.
Also, may want to Google – Lake Manassas zebra mussels – for another
dynamic in this issue.
Yo, Poor Dick, if the Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries is truly involved and will potential operate any marina, there is precious little the McCoart Crew (BOCS or Planning Staff) can do other than watch.
So who is pushing to have Lake Manassas open to the public?
The City of Manassas can provide public access to Lake Manassas without the approval of PWC. The City owns the Lake and they also own the surrounding land, a buffer area around the Lake, except in the area previously operated as Camp Glenkirk and now owned by Brookfield Homes (Saranac development). This is easy to see on the County Mapper.
Years ago a private landowner operated a concession and access area to Lake Manassas under contract with the City. When it was closed, the City tried to open a new access point near the dam but PWC denied the Special Use Permit needed for a marina and the opportunity was lost.
However, the easiest and cheapest way to provide public access is through the current proposed partnership with the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries, which would allow unrestricted access for fishing, boating (no gas engines) and wildlife watchers.
In the past the City has expressed concerns about zebra mussels and terrorist attacks. However, many Virginia reservoirs have successfully allowed unrestricted access to reservoirs for recreation uses for many years.
For just one example close to home, the Fairfax Water Authority allows unrestricted access to the Occoquan Reservoir, the public drinking water supply for approximately 1.2 million people including some City of Manassas residents.
Population increases are outpacing outdoor recreation opportunities locally and throughout Northern Virginia. Access to water resources is a top priority in both state and local citizen surveys.
Check out the 2007 Virginia Outdoor Plan for Northern Virginia, which specifically promotes cooperative agreements between state and local agencies “to meet the increasing need for public access to recreational waters.”
Currently Brookfield Homes, is proposing to deed 25 acres to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The Game Dept. would provide a low-impact parking area, boat ramp, assume law enforcement responsibilities and restore public access to Lake Manassas at virtually no cost to the City.
The City of Manassas 2009 Strategic Plan prioritizes the opening of Lake Manassas to boating and fishing. This is a great opportunity to accomplish that goal.
Thank for clarifying Kim, as ususal, your input is integral to understanding issues like this one! 🙂
Rebecca,
I think the real question is why is the lake PREVENTED from being open. It is an 800 acre lake.
An open Lake Manassas has some comparatively modest upsides for Citizens of
of the City of Manassas, who built and paid for the lake, dam and water
treatment plant, but they must be weighed against the massive potential
downside of having a key critical resource of the City placed in jeopardy.
Sure, it would nice to have ANOTHER lake for fishing and boating, but the
benefit would go primarily to residents of jurisdictions outside Manassas
while the risks, financial and health, would be placed primarily on the
Citizens Manassas City. Once again, it is the source of safe, reliable
water for over an estimated 100,000 people in our area.
Plus, I really question a marina will ever be built “at virtually no cost
to the City” – not to mention the cost of maintaining it ,including liability
related responsibilities and expenses.
And as to PWC’s role – I wouldn’t discount that so quickly.
Note: It is my understanding that the Manassas City Council work session
on Lake Manassas access slated for December 7th at 5:30 has been
moved from City Hall to the Public Works Facility Meeting Room.
MCPW is located at 8500 Public Works Drive.
@Kim Hosen
Thanks for your information, Kim!
Terrorists? Couldn’t terrorists poison anything they want without having legal access?
If there is legal assess, they don’t stand out as much as if there is no access.
Right after 9-11 water supplies were being watched very carefully. I am not so sure they still shouldn’t be.
Thanks for this post, Moon, and the link to Your Piece of the Planet, which I’ve added to my favorites already. I’ve learned more in the past five minutes than I have in 28 years living here!
I live in the City, so I vote for safe drinking water and a protected dam. How you do that and open the lake up to recreation, I don’t know. We can’t even keep trash and cigarette butts out of our storm drains to save the Chesapeake Bay.
Elena did it, not me, Cindy, but you are welcome from Elena.
You make some excellent points about safe drinking water an a protected dam. I am still having apoplexy over there being no trash receptacals at Silver Lake. It just seems so obvious.
Thanks Elena.
Can’t have receptacles at Silver Lake because of the bears.
Most parks have bear proof receptacles. The ones up at Dickey Ridge on the Skyline Drive could keep out Godzilla.
Any parks that don’t have a place for trash are doomed from the start.
I also appreciate the link to Your Piece of the Planet – I was not aware of that and have read through a lot of it and it is a very interesting site.
There must be a way to have bear proof trash receptacles at Silver Lake. Otherwise, it does seem like there will be trash all over the place.
On the issue of Lake Manassas – it seems to me Silver Lake and Lake Brittle are close enough to serve fishing needs, since neither are drinking water supplies. Do we really need a third fishing place in the area?
These are all good questions regarding the need to open Lake Manassas, I think it’s great to have these types of debates, civil and interesting.
Gainesville,
Prince William Conservation Alliance is an incredible organization. Glad you like the link! Kim Hosen, personally, does more to ensure saving our precious resources than any one person I know in this county.
I agree, we use bear proof trash cans in our community. Seems like a pretty simple fix to ensure people dispose of their trash in the proper place.
I might not mind Lake Manassas being opened if it weren’t for Silver Lake and Lake Brittle not too far away. Also, nothing comes for free – and as still owning property in City of Manassas, I find it hard to believe there won’t be some cost for this. And, it being a drinking water source, whereas the other two aren’t, is a factor too in my opinion.
As to the trash cans and Silver Lake, it would be ashame to see it ruined with trash as it isn’t hard to figure out – if there aren’t trash cans some people are just going to litter rather than taking their trash out of the park with them. I was up at Silver Lake 2 weeks ago and it looks very nice, and at that time just a few people were there. Once the spring hits and the picnic areas get used, without trash cans I see it becoming a mess.
Are you advocating for Bears Without Borders?
Bears Without Borders? Guess they can to the same as Mexicans Without Borders.
Shop at Barnes&Noble.
FYI: The agenda for Monday’s meeting has been posted on the
City of Manassas website.
Poor Richard, what’s with the plug for Barnes&Noble? I heard one in Woodbridge was having a book drive for Marumsco Elem today.
Snicker. RE: Bears without Borders
I just got the Barnes and Noble reference. LOL. I am a little slow on the uptake.
I just got it too, Poor Richard. How very clever of you. 🙂
FYI: There is an article in today’s WaPo PW section on this subject.
Councilman Harrover has posted some comments on the lake in his
blog – My Side Of The Fence .
I am a native of PW County (40), and fished Lake Manassas most of my life until it closed. This lake was fished and utilized for years without any problems, and things were working fine until the City decided it wanted more control over things. The dispute with Mr. Ryan was pure silliness on the City’s part, and it is really what started this mess.
Access can be managed to limit potential impacts by limiting bank fishing from the site and not offering a rental or concession facility. It is similar to what the City of Culpeper did with Lake Pelham. The area consists of a gravel parking area and a launch point, which is easily patrolled by law enforcement. It is easy to maintain and is not an eye sore. Lake Manassas never allowed gas motors (as does Occoquan Reservoir) and shouldn’t in the future. This will keep pollution and noise to a minimum. All you will see is a bunch of happy people quietly fishing from their boats or happily paddling their canoes.
I have spent more time fishing on this lake than any other in my life. Most of that time was spent with my father before he passed away. It is ridiculous that a handful of people would deny future generations that enjoyment without a good reason. Reservoirs all over the country are open to fishing and recreation, and this one should be as well. Whether through threat of legal action or a change of heart it appears that this wrong may finally be righted.