The purpose of the
Upper Monongahela River Association (UMRA) is to
promote the general development of the Upper
Monongahela River, primarily in West Virginia.
Click here for a more detailed statement of
our purpose.
Attention
All Boaters
For 34 years the
federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
exempted discharges from recreational boats from the
Clean Water Act permit system. A recent court ruling
cancelled this permit exemption. EPA is required by
the court decision to develop and implement by
September 30, 2008 a national permit system for ALL
vessels in the United States for a variety of normal
operational discharges.
The Recreational
Boating Act of 2007 (H.R. 2550) has been which would
protect recreational boats from being swept into this
unnecessary and expensive permitting system.
It is critically
important that H.R. 2550 be passed and your support
is essential. Please contact our Congressman and
Senators TODAY and ask them to co-sponsor or support
H.R. 2550.
Additional information
is available at www.BoatUS.com
Army
Corps of Engineers Sets 2007 Summer Hours for Area
Dams
Army
Corps Expands Lock Hours for Boaters, but Upper
Monongahela & Upper Allegheny River lock hours
remain restricted.
UMRA thanks the staff
Pittsburgh District, and Colonel Steven Hill and Rich
Lockwood, Chief, Operations Division, in particular,
for their "customer oriented" approach to
lock hours scheduling. Despite continuing shortages
in funding for operations, they have again increased
the usability of lock hours for recreational boaters.
For the convenience of
cruising boaters, Friday and Monday windows are
included, making it possible for slower boats to
reach Fairmont and return during the same week.
For fishing, an early
schedule is used during the spring.
We would like to call your
attention to a new statement in the Corps
announcement:
"Under unusual
circumstances, appointment lockages will be
authorized for groups of recreational boaters or
individual boaters, if an emergency situation
warrants."
The official notices regarding
navigation in the Pittsburgh District can be found at
www.lrp.usace.army.mil/or/or-f/navrpt.htm
The Monongahela River Locks Schedule of Operations
for summer 2007 is contained in Notice No. 07-08.
The Allegheny River Locks Schedule of Operations
for summer 2007 is contained in Notice No. 07-07.
2007
Summer Hours for Monongahela River Locks
The locks below Point Marion, PA
will continue to operate 24 hours daily.
Morgantown L/D, Monongahela River
Effective April 1, 2007 through October
28, 2007 the lock will be open Monday through
Thursday from 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., and Fridays
from 7:00 A.M. to 6:20 P.M. Additionally, effective
April 1 through May 25, the lock will be open
Saturdays & Sundays from 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.
Then beginning May 26 through October 28, the
Saturday, Sunday & Holiday hours will be from
10:30 A.M. to 6:20 P.M.
Hildebrand L/D and Opekiska L/D,
Monongahela River Effective April 1,
2007 through May 25, 2007 the locks will be open on
Mondays from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon, on Fridays from
10:30 A.M. to 6:20 P.M., and on Saturdays &
Sundays from 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Then beginning
May 26 through October 28, the locks will be open
Mondays from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon, and Fridays,
Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays from 10:30 A.M. to
6:20 P.M.
We are
continuing our dialog with the Corps on ways in which
service might be improved, even with restricted
funding. Two topics under discussion are listed
below.
Because
the Corps' activities are virtually all governed by
Congressional actions - particularly appropriations-
we regularly correspond with our representatives in
the House and Senate. Most of our correspondence is
open for public inspection here.
Canoes, kayaks, and other small craft can portage
around locks, but safety and security issues need to
be resolved.
Here
is our letter to Col. Hill proposing improved
portages.
The 2004 Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act provided $342,000 for the Corps of Engineers to
examine the practicality of remote control automation
devices at the Hildebrand, Morgantown, and Opekiska
Locks.
This report is an interim document in response to the
Appropriations Act reporting requirement.
This interim report first addresses the merits of
automation of the upper Monongahela facilities, the
Morgantown, Hildebrand, and Opekiska Locks and Dams,
operated by the Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District.
It is followed up with a more detailed analysis of the
full practicality of automation. Efforts for this study
have concentrated at this time on the capacity to
successfully engineer conceptual plans/alternatives for
the automation of the Morgantown, Hildebrand, and
Opekiska Locks and Dams and the future requirements to
implement those plans and alternatives.
The report concludes that a tremendous need and
opportunity exists to automate the Upper Monongahela
River. A need exists for increased operating time for
recreational boaters. Remote operations are practical and
operable. The process of automation could provide
increased service during a period of decreasing operating
funds.
Other countries have found user operation of locks to
be part of the solution to staffing cost problems. See Boat
Crew Operation of River Thames Locks, Wallace Venable, April
2006 (325K .PDF file) for an English approach.