July 2024 Newsletter

From the President – 



Summer is here and the lake is calling, especially with the hot temperatures

we’ve been experiencing. It’s time to bring families and friends together and

enjoy outdoor activities on and around Leesville Lake.Your volunteer board has been working hard to ensure our lake is a safe and beautiful environment for you and your family to recreate on. The debris, safety, water quality committees and all that keep the association operating are working to ensure Leesville Lake is a place we can all be proud to call our lake home.

Of course, your participation and support as a Leesville Lake Association

member is very much appreciated. Our recent Beautification Day (read more

below) had a great turnout for volunteers and we so appreciate it. We look

forward to thanking you in person at the Beautification Day appreciation picnic/Annual Membership Meeting on Saturday July 13 at the Leesville Lake Marina. Hors d’oeuvres will start at 11:30, lunch at 12:00 and updates from our committee chairs will follow.

We will also provide details on new plans to build the Pigg River Debris

Diversion Collection Device. You won’t want to miss this event. Lots of free

giveaways, T-shirts for sale, and much more. We look forward to seeing you

there.

Roy Kelley

Beautification Day

Roy Kelley

Many thanks to all who participated and contributed to our 2024 Leesville Lake Beautification Day. What a great event! We had 76 volunteers sign up and many more show up. This year’s lake cleanup day was incredibly successful, thanks to your efforts.

AEP raised the water level to ensure debris was loosened from the shorelines. They provided their barge with its crew, and, along with our volunteers with boats, front loaders and chainsaws, pulled over 55 tons of debris from the lake. It was an amazing

transformation to see the difference from the start of the day to the end.

Each year we have successfully increased the total tonnage of debris

removed when compared to the year before. For 2022, we pulled a total of

46.92 tons and in 2023 we increased that number to 52.87 tons and this year we have done it again. We pulled so much we had to get a third dumpster at

the Leesville Lake Marina.

Again, thank you to all who participated. If we weren’t able to give you your T-

shirt on Beautification Day, please stop by the booth at our July 13th picnic and

get it then. If you want to buy additional T-shirts, they will be for sale as well.

See you at the picnic!

Safety Committee

Jeff Markiewicz

With the completion on Beautification Day, Leesville Lake is in great shape (from a water safety perspective) to support your summer boating activities! A review of the last three years of water incident reports from the Virginia Department of Water Resources (DWR) (2021-2023) shows that Leesville Lake has not had any fatalities or incidents reported to DWR. Continued vigilance while on the water is still warranted as debris may still be present especially after water level increases or rainfall.

The Water Safety Committee will be performing Vessel Safety Checks at the Membership

Appreciation Picnic on July 13 at the Leesville Lake Marina. The Safety Checks are a voluntary check to ensure that you have the required safety equipment on your boat, a decal can be attached to your craft so that others know you are a safe boater. If any required equipment is not present or not operational you will be notified of the issue and have an opportunity to correct it and have your craft be rechecked. The checks are independent of Law Enforcement, conducted by Local US Power Squadron vessel safety examiners. Not passing a Vessel Safety Check is not reported to DWR or any other law enforcement agency.

If you cannot make it to the membership picnic or it is inconvenient to bring your boat there, reach out to the Safety committee by email at safety@leesvillelake.org

If you have not had a chance to take a boater safety class or just want a refresher, there are still a few classes being offered by DWR and the local US power squadron/America’s boating club in July and August. The DWR administers registration for their class in addition to power squadron and coast guard auxiliary. The link to class registration is available on the Lake Association’s website in the boating safety tab under Resources. If you have any questions or need help finding a class please contact the safety committee by email at safety@leesvillelake.org

Thanks to our teammates at Smith Mountain Sail and Power Squadron, Virginia DWR, the local US Coast Guard Auxiliary and Gerry Caprario for all their efforts to improve boater safety and education on Leesville Lake.

Be Safe and I Hope to see you on the water!

Treasurer’s Report

Edwin Hanson



I am so looking forward to the picnic. Mostly to have a chance to get to know a few more faces. It doesn’t hurt that some of you give me money when you see me! As we enter the last quarter of our fiscal year, the Association is in great health financially. This past year, like everyone else, we saw several increases in costs for goods and services, so our budget is going to have to increase next year to reflect these new rates. The good news is that our donations from members and sponsors have also increased and there is no need to adjust our membership fee. Our membership fee remains at $25.00 a year. Several members have already renewed for the coming year. You can renew online or in person

at the picnic. The board, the committee chairs and myself are working on the budget and hope to have it ready for presentation during the membership meeting.

Leanne and I look forward to seeing you on and around the lake this summer, especially at the picnic!

Membership Report

Cynthia Coleman

ANNUAL PICNIC, Leesville Lake Marina

Saturday, July 13, 12:00 to 2:00 PM

1. Please sign up for the LLA Annual Picnic at the link below. Please provide the number

attending and all names for a head count for the marina and for the name tags.

https://leesvillelake.org/annual-meeting-and-picnic/leesville-lakes-july-annual-meeting/

2. In lieu of a guest speaker, the Debris Committee will discuss Appalachian’s proposed log boom containment device for the Pigg River and Leesville Lake confluence. There will be a question and answer period after the presentation. Our speaker system will have an upgrade from last year and the pool will be closed during the meeting so we should all be able to hear a little better.  

3. Jeff Markiewicz, LLA Water Safety Chair, has been certified to inspect boats, and can do so before the meeting and afterwards. He will also make house calls. Please contact Jeff at this email: safety@leesvillelake.org

4. Annual Membership: Invoices for LLA annual dues—still only $25! —will be available at

the picnic at the Treasurer’s table, cash or check only. You can pay online if you wish to do so with a card: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/LeesvilleLakeAssociation/general

5. Membership Giveaways: There will be two giveaways available: floating key fobs and

waterproof floating cellphone holders. There will be a free raffle for several LLA Beautification Day T-shirts, your choice of design and size. Past years shirts will be sold for $3.00 for one or two for $5.00. Plus, a raffle for a framed Antique Altavista, Virginia 1951 US Geological Survey Topographic Map depicting the Roanoke River before the Smith Mountain and Leesville Lake dams were created and the area flooded. It is in mint condition!

6. Artist Bob Rankin designed another beautiful scene for this year and these will be available for purchase at his table. Bob will be in attendance to personally sign his numbered prints (for framing) at the cost of $15.00 each. Cash or checks only, please.

7. Bring your appetite! Once again Lisa and Chip Zimmerman will be catering a tasty

appetizer hour starting at 11:30 a.m,. followed by a delicious buffet lunch including a variety of soft drinks and water during the meeting. We ask members to please bring a dessert to share.

As of June 15, 2024, Leesville Lake Association has 216 household members.

Debris Committee

Pam McMillan



Happy summertime everyone! As of this writing (mid June), we have had very little rain, and the last significant high flow event was back in January which brought over a thousand tons of debris into the lake. Between AEP crew, some assistance from the contractor and fantastic Beautification Day volunteers (thank you!!), the lake is pleasantly navigable. However there still remains hidden and not-so-hidden dangers of debris still lurking that will relocate at any given time according to dam operations. We need to continue being alert to these safety hazards as we travel on our merry ways. 

What we could really use more efficiently about now is the new skimmer that we are hoping will be delivered and operational in the near future. This equipment will make a great difference in collecting the mid-to-smaller pieces of wood that seem to scatter or form in areas of concentration.  

We have some hopeful news! In late April at the Annual Technical Review Committee meeting, Appalachian presented the results of our long-awaited engineering study on the Pigg River diversion/collection device that our committee recommended back in 2016. Appalachian gave a detailed power point presentation of this device choice which is also referred to as the “Log-Boom Project”.  According to David Agee, AEP’s Senior Plant Support Supervisor, this project is considered a “one of a kind”. To his knowledge and research, this device has never been done before. Along with his other responsibilities, David has been working on this project for several years and LLA is very appreciative of his diligence and those who’ve assisted him to pull this project together. Although

phase 1 of the engineering portion is complete, it is now considered a proposal and must move into phase 2, -the permitting application process involving three government agencies. And, like all governmental departments, this will take some time for their reviews and hopefully, approvals. The Boom-Project design is on our website and will be presented in more detail by our committee, and questions from members taken at the Annual Membership Meeting/Picnic on July 13th. Please show your support by signing up and attending this positive step towards our goal for a safer, cleaner and more beautiful lake we all love to look at and recreate on. Hope to see you all there and in the meantime,

keep sending in those debris reports!

Safe Boating!

debris@leesvillelake.org

Water Quality Report

Charlie Hamilton



Leesville Lake is in great shape (from a water quality perspective) to support your summer

activities! Water sampling by both the LLA WQ Committee and University of Lynchburg team show that current water quality of Leesville Lake is very good. A combination of laboratory analyses and a water quality monitoring probe are used to assess these water quality parameters: oxygen, temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, oxidation,

phosphorous, fluorescence, chlorophyll a, and E. Coli. Leesville Lake is currently meeting all state standards.

Areas of continued WQ Committee focus are dissolved oxygen levels and nutrient/sediment outflows from the Pigg River.

Members of the LLA WQ Committee have, and will continue to, participated in multiple public meetings on a Water Quality Cleanup Plan Development for The Pigg River, Poplar Branch, Fryingpan Creek, and Beaverdam Creek in Franklin, Pittsylvania and Bedford Counties.

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) is seeking input to restore water quality in Franklin, Pittsylvania and Bedford Counties’ watersheds.

APCo will be submitting their Virginia Water Protection Permit renewal to VDEQ on July 3,

2024. VDEQ has a 15 day review period, after which the application goes to various agencies for comment. Those comments are assessed, then the VDEQ’s modeling team models the releases and sends them out for public comment. LLA WQ Committee will be active in the public comment period concerning dissolved oxygen levels in the Smith Mountain Lake dam tailwater, particularly July through October annually.

A special thanks to our teammates at University of Lynchburg, and our Water Quality Committee (Debbie Oliver, Kathleen Giangi, Dave Waterman, Tony Capucco, Leanne Hanson) for all that they do each summer to keep Leesville Lake ready for your enjoyment.

Looking forward to seeing you on the lake this season!

Nominating and Calendar Committees

Teri Thomas



Nominating Committee

Happy Summer to all our LLA members! The Nominating Committee would love to speak with any member who may be interested in volunteering on our Board. We have several director positions open and hope to fill them at the Annual Picnic General Meeting. The board meets monthly in Altavista, where we discuss our lake and what can be done to make it even better.  If interested, please call Teri Thomas at 703-895-0256 to discuss.

Calendar Subcommittee Photos for our 2025 Leesville Lake Association calendar are trickling in. We would love to see your seasonal photos from around the lake. Photos should be at least 1MB in size and can be uploaded here  Cut off for photo collection for the 2025 calendar is August 31^st.  

Navigation Committee

Glenn Coleman

In late January this year, we experienced an unusual high-water event on Leesville Lake. We are accustomed to the ebb and flow of the lake lifting debris and logs from the shore and carrying them back and forth as the dams discharge water to generate electricity. However, the event in late January was unusual in that the volume of water carried a lot of water-logged debris that flowed just beneath the surface. The force of water coming down the Pigg River piled logs and debris against a bridge, closing that road for some time.

Following that high water event, I received notification that one of our hazard buoys near mile marker 9 was missing. I decided to take my canoe to check on the buoy. As I traveled the lake from mile marker 7.5, I was shocked at the number of logs that were floating just beneath the surface. Just looking at the surface of the water, it seemed that the water was clear of debris, but during this event much of the debris was just under the surface. When I reached the hazardous rock at mile marker 9, it was clear that the debris had somehow dragged the buoy beneath the surface.

Since that time, Joe Humphrey and I found that the buoy was damaged and that the chain tether had been tangled in something that remains deep beneath the surface. We ordered a new buoy and expect to install it late in June. We have also found that other buoys had been displaced or otherwise affected by debris and high-water flow. We have reset one of those and continue to monitor others.

High water events and debris are common on our lake, but I have learned that these events can vary considerably in the amount of surface and sub-surface logs and debris. I urge all boaters to be aware in the aftermath of high-water events to use extra caution and proceed slowly. Having a spotter in the front of your craft will be very helpful to safely navigate the lake following any high-water event.

Your Navigation Committee hopes that you and your family will have a safe and

happy summer enjoying all that Leesville Lake has to offer.

FISHING REPORT

John Kese