Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-06-16
36,OOO-Acre
Lake 10 Form
from Project
Most of Inundution
Would Be in Lower
Reservoir Reaches

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Washington areas future water
supply, want to find out what
use is being made now Of the
land which would 60 under
water if a dam with q sprawling
reservoir were built two miles
above Great Falls.
Property owners In the area,
stressing preservation of the
character Of the river valley
want to know what the dam
project would do to their land.
New Fight in Making
The Engineers proposal has a
long and controversial history
behind 1t. All the indications are
sthat new fight Is In the making.
Meanwhile, this is generally
and with all figures approxima-
.tions, what the situation would
be if the proposed dam were
built.
The dam would be at River
Bend, where the Potomac mar
rows and high banks offer an
engineering advantage for such
a dam. lis miles above the
Washington city limits.
1t would form a 36,000-acre
lake with some $40 miles Of
winding shore line.
/ 1t would back water up the
Potomac River a. miles, and
up the Monocacy River IS miles.
/ Most Of the land which would
be covered is comparatively free
of buildings. The village Of
Seneca, at the mouth Of Seneca
Greek. however, would be in
undated. as would lower por-
lions Of Point of Rocks, Md,
further up the river.
VIII Create Mud Flats
! 1t would. in the drier summer
months, create a strip Of mud
mats around the reservoir as
the water level dropped.
1t would inundate about IS
miles Of the 185-mile Chesapeake
d Ohio Canal. Most Of the
canal section which would be
under water has not been res
tored by the Park Service.
Most Of the inundation would
be in the lower reaches Of the
reservoir, particularly in Lou.
doun County, Va. and Montgom-
cry County, Md. Upstream,
where the river banks rise more
sharply, the effect would be less.
Many Of the Potomac,s islands
above Great Falls would vanish
under water.
Some roads would need to be
relocated. The principal ones
would be Route Z in Loudoun
County. a small segment Of which
would be relocated in the Beaver
dam Run area. and Route 1l2
In Montgomery County, reio-
Gated in the Seneca Greek area.
Would Cover Big Tracts
The dam would be approx
mately 85-feet high at the top
of its lowest floodgates. This
would bring the surface level Of
the reservoir to 235 feet above
sea level. At times Of big floods,
1t could 60 to 246 feet-the high
est ever recorded at fioodtime in
this area.
The reservoir at its lower
reaches would touch on much Of
the rich Potomac Hunt area. A
major part Of the land use sur
vey being made by the engineers
is to determine how much 1t
would cost the Government to
buy the land needed for the
reservoir.
On the Virginia side of the
river, 1t would cover the site
once proposed by the Potomac
Electric Power Co. for its new
steam-power plant, now to be
built further upstream near the
mouth Of the Monocacy in
Maryland. The present Pepco
plant site. on high ground, would
not be affected by the reservoir.
1t also would cover much of a
large tract of land purchased by
the Chesapeake g. Ohio Rail-
road adjacent to the old Pepco
site and ostensibly held for flu
ture commercial development.
One Of the most sensitive
points in the reservoir proposal
is the problem Of what the en-
gineers call "draw-down"-use
of impounded water, when the
stream is low in summer. to
flush" sewage from the river
below the dam. The effect of
this draw-down is similar to the
action Of tides at low-lying shore
areas, where the water recedes
leaving stretches Of sandy beach.
What would be left In the reser-
voir area. instead of sandy
beach, would be unsightly mud
fats.
1O-FO0t Drawn down
The engineers say that in
normal dry spells. the draw
down at River Bend would be
about 10 vertical feet. II there
were a recurrence Of a drought
Of the proportions Of that Of