Departamento de Conservación y Recreación (DCR) Conservar. Proteger. Disfrutar.
Departamento de Conservación y Recreación (DCR) 
Foto por rvaMORE
In summer, most people arriving at Pocahontas State Park on Saturday have their mountain bikes, coolers and camping gear in tow.
Not so the morning of Saturday, Aug. 22. Those arriving at the park that day came equipped with hand tools, shovels and rakes. They were ready to work after floods had devastated the park a week earlier — and they numbered around 400 strong.
Word of the volunteer workday had spread widely that week through social media and local news.
“We had volunteers messaging us and calling us in advance of the event asking how they could help,” Assistant Park Manager of Administration Amelia Hulth said. “When you see the community coming together, spending their weekend off and bringing their families out to help, it makes you feel good, and it makes our community even stronger.”
The volunteer day was well orchestrated, said Roger Sattler, president of rvaMORE, a nonprofit trail advocacy group that works frequently in the park.
Many volunteers belonged to groups such as rvaMORE, the Friends of Pocahontas State Park, the Pocahontas Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners and more.
“Everyone broke into productive groups, and by lunchtime all the main corridors we were working on were clear,” Sattler said. “That was great.”
Volunteers cleared trails, removed debris and recovered boating equipment that had been carried away by floodwaters. Work that would have taken park staff weeks to complete was done in a few hours.
“What I keep saying is 2020 has been a hard year for everyone,” Hulth said. “It’s been hard for parks, it’s been hard for the community. When you add something like a flood to it, it can feel disheartening. But Pocahontas State Park has strong community ties. We put the word out that we needed help, and the response was more than we ever could have asked for.”
Park Manager Nate Clark thinks it’s possible more than 400 volunteers showed up.
“I heard stories of long-time volunteers, first-time volunteers, folks who use the park and felt the need to give back, and people who just happened to visit that day and pitched in to help,” he said. “It's humbling to know that Pocahontas and public lands mean so much to so many. We're deeply grateful to our incredible volunteers.”
Sattler says the epic response is a testament to the quality of the park and the opportunities it provides.
“It just goes to show how important outdoor spaces are, particularly Pocahontas, during the months of the pandemic,” he said. “People want to have the park restored so everyone can keep enjoying it. Pocahontas is a really special place that we are lucky to have.”
The park’s boat rental facility is closed for the rest of the season. Many trails at the park remain closed, including mountain bike trails. For trail updates, check the Facebook page for FOPSP, or text "POCA" to 804-292-2939.
Torrential rains and Swift Creek Lake dam
The slow-moving storm that deluged Pocahontas began Aug. 15. The Richmond region was already saturated from previous storms that week. Flood watches and warnings were in effect most of the day. Especially heavy flooding occurred south of the James River, causing road closures, swift water rescues and even some evacuations in Chesterfield County.
Areas of Pocahontas saw an unprecedented 14 inches of rainfall in a short period. As sections of the park closed and roads became impassable, park staff and DCR engineers kept watch on the Swift Creek Lake dam, a historic concrete structure built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Water levels at the dam reached 10 ft. above normal stages, but the dam performed the job it was designed to do.
La presa del lago Swift Creek en condiciones de inundación.
La presa se sometió recientemente a importantes mejoras, que probablemente ayudaron a mantener a salvo a las personas y las propiedades durante las lluvias torrenciales. Las mejoras completadas en 2018 incluyeron nuevas compuertas de esclusa, que se abren o cierran para controlar el flujo de agua, y refuerzo de concreto en la pendiente aguas abajo y el pie de la presa.
Una falla en la represa del lago Swift Creek no solo podría afectar a los visitantes del parque y las comodidades recreativas en uno de los parques estatales más concurridos de Virginia. También podría afectar a las personas en 32 casas y un negocio en la zona de inundación de la represa.
La presa fue un punto culminante de la gira del Día de Concientización sobre la Seguridad de la Presa 2019 de Virginia.
Categorías
Seguridad de presas y llanuras aluviales | Conservación del suelo y el agua | Parques estatales
Etiquetas
Control de inundaciones | Parques estatales
