MORGANTOWN — When you turn on your faucet to fill a glass, run a bath or prepare a meal, chances are you’re using water pulled from the Morgantown Utility Board’s Flegal Reservoir.
Since MUB filled the 370-million gallon manmade lake in 2023, it’s become an integral water source for a system providing some 10.5 million gallons daily to area residents.
In 2024, the Monongahela River provided 56.75% of the area’s drinking water, with 43.25% coming from Flegal Dam and Reservoir and, to a lesser extent, the Cobun Creek Reservoir in White Park.
“This year, we are at a ratio of roughly two-to-one of reservoir water to river water,” MUB Communications Director Chris Dale explained. “Last September, there was an incident at the Goshen Road exit in which butenedioic acid was spilled. In response, we used reservoir water exclusively for a day or two.”
In other words, the new reservoir is working exactly as intended.
And in the coming months, it’ll also start playing as intended.
Morgantown Communications Director Brad Riffee said the city expects recreational amenities under construction at the reservoir to be completed by this fall.
Initially, the 125-acre property will feature a three-mile main trail loop around the reservoir with an additional two miles of side trails and multiple water crossings throughout. The city is building a boat launch area — non-motorized watercraft only — to improve public access to the water and fishing trails will allow anglers to approach the water’s edge.
“It’s exciting. I know we’re certainly excited to have that as another fishing opportunity for folks in the area. In terms of small lakes, it’s actually pretty good-sized. Once it’s ready and folks get out there, I think it’s going to provide some great fishing opportunities,” West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Biologist Dustin Smith said.
In 2023, the DNR stocked the reservoir with thousands of bluegill of all sizes to create what’s known as the “forage base” for the largemouth bass that were added in 2024.
There are other species coming.
“You usually have that largemouth bass and bluegill setup, which are the two common sport fish species in a smaller body of water like that. In the future, once the city is finished with their trail construction and the work they’re doing, we do plan to add it to our trout stocking list for spring. So it will be one of the lakes we stock with trout in the springtime, but the details of that still need to be worked out in terms of frequency and all that,” Smith said, explaining he could also foresee channel catfish being added at some point in the future.
The $50 million Flegal Dam and Reservoir was constructed over a five-year period concluding in January 2023. The water source, named for the Morgantown Water Commission’s first engineer/manager, stretches about 4,500 feet in the valley between Grafton Road and Kingwood Pike. It runs along Cobun Creek Road and follows the lines of Cobun Creek and Mountain Run.
In November, Morgantown City Council used American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover a $1.5-million contract with North Carolina-based Nature Trails LLC to construct the trails and bridges. Once complete and opened to the public, BOPARC will manage the trails and WVDNR will oversee the site as a fishery, including enforcement of licensing and other state regulations.
Until then, the site is off limits to the public.
“For safety reasons, we ask residents to avoid the area until all amenities are in place,” Riffee said.
