Neabsco Creek Possible Shutdown

Neabsco Creek & Leesylvania State Park

Last month, the United States Coast Guard refused to place navigational buoys in Neabsco Creek after they determined that the creek had silted in to the point that it is not safe.  They went on to put up "Danger Shoaling" signs at the entrance to the creek.  The marinas served by the creek dispute those measurements and believe that the creek is still to navigate.

This will cause numerous problems:

• There are three marinas with 50 jobs that could be threatened - E.Z. Cruz Marina, Hamptons Landing Marina, and Pilot House Marina.
• There are 1,000 boats in slips in the three marinas served by the creek.
• The Prince William County Fire/Police response boat is housed there on a lift.  Moving the boat will cost taxpayers $120,000 for new docking facilities and if no lift is available, it will cost $18,000 per year in bottom paint and a reduction of 4 knots per hour in response time.
• Lost access to the only 24 hour gas dock in Prince William County
• Lost access to the boat sewage pumping out facility
• Lost tax revenues
• Put massive pressure on Leesylvania State Park which is already overwhelmed with users.

The Army Corps of Engineers last dredged the creek in 1998 but has not conducted further dredging due to budget limitations.  This is also a statewide problem all over the tidal Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Leesylvania State Park Under Big Pressure

The Potomac Local reports that Leesylvania State Park has now closed its gates six times this summer due to over capacity problems.

Potomac Local, Popular Leesylvania State Park Turns Away Visitors (Aug. 16, 2017)

This has been a problem for years and only underscores the urgency of getting Widewater State Park in Stafford County open for business.

Stafford County has no public water access.  Two years ago, funding for all three phases of Widewater State Park's buildout was funded in the state budget, but was removed after private campground operators complained about damage to their business.

Free Lance Star, Widewater State Park's State Funding Is Up In the Air (Feb. 18, 2016)

We did get Phase I of three funded and held a groundbreaking last March on a canoe launch and other amenities but no public bathrooms.  

Free Lance Star, Stafford Celebrates Widewater State Park Groundbreaking (Dec. 17, 2016)

Next year we need to fight to get all three ohases funded.  There is clearly demand for more parks on the Potomac River and we need to get this funded as soon as possible so Virginians can enjoy their River.

Weekly Column: Summer Is Here: Time to Visit Your State Parks!

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and The Potomac-Stafford Local in the week of July 4, 2016.

Eighty years ago this month, Virginia created the first state park system in the United States.   With 35 miles of Potomac River frontage in the 36^th Senate district, our community is lucky to have access to many natural resources, including our state parks. 

 

Our state park system has its origins in the Great Depression.  In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built numerous park and recreational areas throughout the nation, as well as in Virginia. My grandfather grew up in Franklin County, Virginia, a county with no public high school so he had an eighth grade education and when he turned 22 in 1933, no job.

 

He enrolled in the CCC and was directed to report to the Arlington County “countryside” (yes, countryside).  Every day, he walked through farm fields to construct trails and plant trees on Analostan Island in the Potomac River, which had recently been renamed Teddy Roosevelt Island next to Rosslyn.  The CCC also helped build the George Washington Memorial Parkway.