Drained lake in Montgomery County raises concern with nearby residents
MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. (FOX 5 D.C) - A well-known lake in a Montgomery County neighborhood with barely any water in it, is concerning some people who live near or around it.
Residents began posting and discussing the draining of Lake Whetstone on social media just within the last week, curious to know about what was happening.
FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan contacted the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and learned that the county is currently doing a structural maintenance repair project which requires them to drain the lake four feet for safety reasons.
MORE FROM FOX 5: Virginia's Loudoun County school board takes Tanner Cross appeal to state Supreme Court
According to the Montgomery Village website:
"Modern earth embankment dams, like the Lake Whetstone Dam, are designed with internal drainage features, or toe drains. Toe drains collect normal water seepage passing through the dam. DEP’s routine maintenance inspection of Lake Whetstone discovered that the corrugated metal toe drain pipes are corroded and in need of replacement. New toe drain pipes will be installed that safely discharge seepage water to the pond outfall downstream. New toe drain pipes will be installed that safely discharge seepage water to the pond outfall downstream."
According to Christy Ciarametaro, planner of the Watershed Project for the county, just over this past Fourth of the July weekend, the valve that was draining the lake, was accidentally left open, causing the levels to be much lower than they should be currently, which is why the lake looks the way it does right now.
Some residents told Khan they understand what the county has to do in order to keep up with necessary maintenance at the lake but because the work is going to last for several months, it’s a long time not to have any water which some people believe is going to harm the wildlife.
Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather
"There is also the trash you can see involved here, while they are draining over there, they could have done this while picking up the metal boxes, the orange cones and tires that were dumped on the other side, it’s going to take six months and nothing is going to be left here," Ronny Flores.
Ciarametaro said the valve was closed on Tuesday morning and they are hoping that lake levels will get back up to where they are supposed to be during the continuous maintenance work, with rain the area might get see this week.
"We actually didn’t see any dead fish or any turtles out there either but we know they safely crawled to a different habitat right now so we are keeping an eye on that and we were happy to not see any damages," said Ciarametaro.
Khan also inquired about the trash that has floated to the surface as a result of the draining and learned that The Montgomery Village Foundation is responsible for the trash pickup at and that they are scheduling a maintenance crew to clean it up.