Dumfries Likely to Lead Water Clean-Up Efforts

By URIAH KISER

DUMFRIES, Va. – Virginia’s first town wants to take the lead on the effort to fix their waterways.

A resolution is expected to be presented to the Dumfries Town Council by May 27 naming the town as the lead authority in combating soil erosion taking place along Dewey and Quantico creeks. The document is expected to also name the town as the entity that will look to solve the problem of an invasive plant in Quantico Bay, Hydrilla, known to clog boat engines making the waterway unusable for commercial and pleasure boaters.

Up until now a private organization, Friends of Quantico Bay, has been the advocate for town waterways. Interim Mayor Nancy West says the organization has asked the town for their help because, they say, Dumfries is better poised at receiving grant funding that would ultimately lead to the dredging of Quantico Bay and the creation of a viable Port of Dumfries.

“They are looking for the Town of Dumfries to step up to the plate,” said West.

Councilman Jerry Foreman blames storm water runoff from nearby developments in Prince William County’s Potomac District west of Interstate 95 as the culprit. He says storm water now pours onto the Potomac Landfill site which subsequently drains to the Quantico Bay filling it with sediment.

Some homeowners in Dumfries have “lost up to 30 feet of their backyards due to erosion caused by excessive water; height, volume, & velocity coming downstream from developments in the Potomac District of PWC and from I-95 runoff,” Foreman read from a prepared statement at an April 17 Town Council meeting.

“We’ve done nothing. The town has not stepped forward and done anything. I’m saying we should step forward and pass a resolution…if we’re going to spur ourselves forward and say we have a Port of Dumfries we need it dredged,” said Foreman.

The resolution that is expected on May 27 will not identify any funding sources to address the water problems. Funds would come later in the process, said Foreman.

Town Manager Daniel Taber said the resolution will force him to find new resources within the budget to address the problem.

“This is not something we can accomplish overnight…the reality is, as much as I want to stay here for a long period of time, this is going to be with the Town of Dumfries long after I go,” said Taber.