To allow for shoreline maintenance, a temporary, nonemergency 5 foot drawdown of Claytor Lake has been proposed for Saturday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 14.
According to the plan submitted to FERC, the lake will be drawn down starting Wed. Nov. 3 at 1.6 ft a day until it reaches 5 feet down by 9 a.m. Sat Nov. 6. It is to remain at 5 feet down until 10 p.m. Sun Nov. 14 when the lake will be allowed to start refilling.
Targeted return to normal elevation is 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, depending on inflow.
Please visit the “Lake Information” page to record your total mussel salvage numbers!
Over 30 volunteers converged on the Claytor Lake State Park to help the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ John Copeland in the annual Christmas For the Fishes Program. Support from The Friends of Claytor Lake, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Appalachian Power helped build new fish habitat from an amazing 455 donated Christmas Trees. All the created habitat was distributed in areas of the lake surround the Claytor Lake State Park.
Want to help for next year? Donate your Christmas tree and come on out to help everyone put them in place.
Special Thanks to John Copeland for organizing this yearly event and to Ryan Stubblebine and Brody Havens for all the tree collection and preparation work involved. Thanks to the boat Captains for keeping your passengers safe: Jeff Arnold, Brody Havens, Bill Kittrell, George Palmer, and Jeff Williams. Thanks to Laura Walters for preparing the lunch chili and goodies. Thanks to Laura Bullard for setting up the lunch for us. Thanks to Steve Gregory for coordinating the DGIF Complementary Workforce volunteers. Thanks to the New River Valley Master Naturalist volunteers who came out as well!
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, along with Claytor Lake State Park and The Friends of Claytor Lake will be doing our annual Christmas for the Fishes to build more habitat on Claytor Lake. In case of inclement weather, and alternate date of Tuesday, January 28th has been set.
This year Laura Bullard was named FOCL’s 2019 Volunteer of the Year for her years of dedicated service to the lake community and her unwavering support of FOCL’s mission. Not only serving as FOCL’s Secretary but putting in the time for its numerous programs and projects including working with our partners on the Shoreline Management Plan, Drawdown, and Mussel Salvage. Claytor Lake owes her an enormous debt of gratitude.
