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Big Cherry Logging Needs Another Look In Light Of Water Crisis
by: Wayne Browning
Residents of the Big Stone Gap area, and entire region served by the Big Cherry Lake, should demand that the proposal to log the Big Cherry watershed be looked at again!
The critical water crisis which has shocked residents use to a bounty of fresh, pristine, water is largely a man made crisis and could be a warning sign of things to come in the future if the watershed surrounding the Lake is not managed properly.
Although the September to mid-October period has been one of the driest on record in the High Knob area, there was near average precipitation during most of this year.
Precipitation records for the state of Virginia reveal that the Norton-High Knob area
has been the wettest in the entire state during much of this year, with 42 to 51 inches
of total precipitation during 2005 ( note that while 2005 totals have been much less in
the Big Stone Gap-Powell Valley area, it is the higher elevation totals which are critical to supplying the Big Cherry reservoir ).
A physical draw down of Big Cherry Lake during the period of new dam construction is largely the cause of the current water crisis, with short-term dryness enhancing and extending the crisis. Simply stated, an abundance of precipitation prior to the onset of autumn dryness would have had the lake level high enough to have averted the current crisis had the drawn down not been necessary.
If drought was the cause of the current crisis then the city of Norton would have been out of water long before Big Stone Gap, given their consumption of 1 million gallons per day out of a dual reservoir system that possesses a total capacity which is only around
30 percent as large as Big Cherry.
Precipitation and lake level records from the autumn 1998 through 2000 period, which was the worst extended period of drought on record in the area, further support the fact that the current water crisis would not exist had it not been for the physical drawn down of Big Cherry this year.
According to Buddy Lane, the lowest lake level ever observed in more than 20 years
of Big Cherry observations, prior to this event, was recorded when the water level fell to 242 inches ( 20.2 feet ) below its spillway on December 6, 1998.
The above point needs to be made since some television media outlets have focused primarily upon drought as being the cause of the current crisis, which is simply not the case. The point also serves to emphasize the fact that even during the most severe droughts on record, such as in 1988 and 1998, the water level of Big Cherry was never low enough to cause a crisis like is currently being endured. A testimony to the general wetness and abundance of precipitation amid the sprawling High Knob high country.
What the current water crisis has done is bring to focus, as never before, the importance of the Big Cherry reservoir. Nestled amid the high country of the High Knob mass, the Big Cherry Lake is, as I have previously written, among the most pristine and abundant supplies of water in Virginia and the entire nation.
A proposal to log the Big Cherry watershed should not even be an issue, as anything which could potentially degrade the quality and quantity of such a precious resource is simply not in the best interest of those dependent upon Big Cherry water.
According to long-time residents of the area, the city of Norton also decided to log their watershed during the early 1900s. Subsequent run-off from the logging degraded the water quality and put so much sediment into the reservoirs that they had to be dredged, which ended up costing more than what was obtained out of the logging itself.
Records of this event were unfortunately lost by a fire which destroyed the City Hall in Norton during the 1950s.
Since trees have returned the Norton watershed has remained intact, and the city water pristine and limited only by the relatively small size of the dual reservoir system.
Residents of Big Stone Gap, and the surrounding region served by Big Cherry water, need to step forward and demand that the watershed of their lake be protected.
Although logging has not caused the current crisis, I have a sincere feeling that many residents in the region served by Big Cherry water would now listen and look at the issue with a new perspective if given another opportunity to have input.
With that I ask that a public referendum be held, with ballots sent to every home and business that uses water from the Big Cherry. Every single person served by Big Cherry water should have a right to vote on whether or not the area is logged.
And that is the key point. It is your water supply. The Big Cherry water belongs to every single person who turns on a tap.
Wayne Browning
Clintwood, Virginia
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