New No Boat Zone Approved At Lake Anna
The Lake Anna Advisory Committee (LAAC) has approved a request by the Louisa County Water Authority to create a No Boats Zone around the wastewater discharge line from the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant just up lake from the Rt. 208 Bridge. On May 1, 2023, the Louisa County Water Authority began operations and maintenance of the plant, including the effluent line which discharges into Lake Anna.
The buoy request was the result of an incident June 9, when a boater‘s anchor snagged the line and pulled it from the bottom of the lake. Emergency measures were taken to identify the discharge line which was floating 4 – 6” from the surface of the lake.
On June 28, 2023, additional emergency measures were taken to attach the line back to the bottom of the lake, in time for the July 4th holiday weekend. Additional securing measures took place the week of July 10, 2023, along with a complete inspection of the entire line.
The previous operators of this facility had boating encounters with the pipe on several occasions and in fact the pipe showed signs of either boat strikes or impeller strikes.
According to Pamela S. Bauman, Louisa County Water Authority General Manager, the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant will be upgraded in the next three to five years.
“It is our understanding from the Department of Environmental Quality that once the construction upgrade is completed the discharge line will be removed. We would propose at that time that the buoys could be removed if that was the determination of the Department of Wildlife Resources,”
wrote Bauman in the application.
