Published: May 27, 2008 11:04 pm         

Draft of watershed study to be presented

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will present a draft plan of its Cherry River watershed study next Monday in Richwood.

The public meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Richwood High School auditorium.

In a letter addressed to residents of Richwood and Nicholas County, and written before he left office last week, former Mayor Myles Caldwell said the meeting will give the public an opportunity to review the draft plan “to see how the corps has proposed to remedy the flooding that has devastated our town and local communities for the past 100 years.”

The corps embarked on an 18-month reconnaissance study of the Cherry River basin in 2006. That action came after a local committee began pushing for a dam to be constructed on the South Fork of the Cherry River, about 6 miles upstream from Richwood, following the November 2003 flood that damaged or destroyed nearly 400 homes and businesses in the Richwood area.

There have been a number of near misses since that major flood, the city’s worst in 50 years.

“Obviously, you’ve got a serious problem here, and we want to do everything we can to help,” Mike Corley of the corps’ Huntington office told members of the local committee in late December 2005.

The recon study was to include a broad analysis of the problems and opportunities in the watershed, provide basis and recommendation for further studies at the feasibility level, determine federal interest and confirm cost-share partner(s) for feasibility studies.”

A feasibility study would be costlier and take longer than the initial recon study.

Local officials are ultimately hoping for a dam that would not only provide flood control, but also recreational opportunities, hydro-electric power and a reliable water supply, and spur private investment.