The Roanoke Times | File 2006

Several groups have yet to agree on rules for Smith Mountain Lake's water level.

The discussion between leaders at Smith Mountain Lake and those downstream on the Staunton River continued Friday -- in a closed meeting that took on a much quieter tone than last month's overflow public hearing in Gretna yet still had emotions running high.

Two downstream representatives who attended the meeting said in interviews afterward that they were stunned by a new model proposed by lake-area representatives, which contrasts with the initial proposal the two sides have worked more than two years to draft.

"Switch and surprise is how I would sum it up," said J.T. Davis, president of the Friends of the Staunton River.

The main issue of contention: A permit being proposed by Appalachian Power Co. through its federal relicensing process. Under the current license there is a set minimum average daily volume of water mandated to be released from Leesville Lake -- the lower of the two-reservoir Smith Mountain project -- into the Staunton River downstream. The proposal being floated by Appalachian would create a more flexible protocol to manage the inflows and outflows -- using such factors as drought and historical trends -- instead of the fixed minimum average used now.

Some residents at Smith Mountain Lake argue that model is not suitable during the drought conditions the lake is now facing with water elevations down more than three feet. The lack of rain has caused grass to grow where the edges of coves used to be and has created safety hazards for the water's recreational users. Red clay and riprap are exposed in areas once covered by the lake.

On Friday, officials representing Smith Mountain Lake brought a third option to the table, complete with a $1,200 simulation prepared by HydroLogics, a North Carolina consulting firm, and paid for by the Tri-County Relicensing Commission.

The model proposed by TCRC addresses four areas Johnson said were not covered by the previous release models: drinking water withdrawals, public safety, fish habitat and augmenting recreation upstream and downstream while protecting access to Smith Mountain Lake. The model would more tightly restrict the amount of water that could be released daily from the lake in order to maintain a lake elevation as close as possible to 792 feet. The lake's full pond is 795 feet.

Under the TCRC model and Appalachian's proposal, those upstream benefit more than the current release protocol, Davis said.

"Upstream gains, downstream loses, and asking us to give more is not acceptable," he said.

Russ Johnson, TCRC chairman and a member of Franklin County's board of supervisors who attended Friday's meeting, said the model was not intended to catch downstream interests off guard.

He said it was filed with the state Department of Environmental Quality, the agency handling the public hearing process for the permit.

"And we filed it on the FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's] network for anyone who is interested to see," Johnson said.

But Davis said the group's presentation was not included on the agenda he received in advance of the invitation-only meeting. He said he learned of it minutes before Friday's meeting was to begin.

"We feel like we got blindsided with a new agenda," said Cole Poindexter, chairman and founder of the Staunton River Watch.

Johnson said leaving the new proposal off the agenda was done at the discretion of the moderator, a representative from the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

"Rather than put it on the agenda and surprise them, he [the moderator] thought it would better to evolve when we got into the area of other issues," Johnson said.

Following Friday's meeting DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said the two-and-a-half hour meeting echoed the previous discussions of recent months.

"DEQ did not hear anything new," he said. "The basic conclusion of the meeting is DEQ will propose the permit to the State Water Control Board and the board will decide how to proceed."

The state board, which consists of seven members appointed by the governor, will decide on the permit Oct. 16, Hayden said.

In the meantime, the DEQ will consider TCRC's proposal --along with hundreds of other written comments received -- and prepare a summary, which is expected to be released early next month.