It’s a blustery fall afternoon and a growing group of individuals is pooling near the gated access to the Morgantown Utility Board’s Flegal Dam.
Just beyond the gate lies the 370-million gallon reservoir that dominates the 125-acre property.
Within shouting distance of the onlookers, a two-man crew from North Carolina-based Nature Trails continues work on a $1.5 million project to construct walking paths – including a three-mile trail circumnavigating the water – as well as mountain biking routes and water crossings at the picturesque locale.
Those in attendance represent the various stakeholders – the city of Morgantown, MUB, BOPARC, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources and others.
They’ve come to get a firsthand look at the work that’s been accomplished – work that officials say will simultaneously provide a recreational amenity to the community and spearhead land management efforts for a critical drinking water source.
The fact of the matter, a DNR representative said, is that building a lake 10 minutes from downtown Morgantown will draw people, whether you invite them there or not.
In other words, if you don’t build the trails in a thoughtful way that protects eventualities like soil erosion, curious nature lovers will blaze their own. If you don’t manage and police the site as a fishery, you’ll end up with a free-for-all.
“This is the reason we’re approaching this in a more structured and formal manner,” Morgantown Staff Engineer Drew Gatlin said. “We want to be part of an effective property management strategy for this area. It’s a super attractive amenity here by the water, and we’ve made it more attractive in some ways, stocking it with fish and advertising it in terms of recreational opportunities, but that comes with active management. Ignoring this is here and acting like we don’t have to manage it isn’t realistic.”
It was noted that the extra attention is a two-way street.
The city is financing the recreational improvements using American Rescue Plan Act money.
Once the amenities are opened to the public – the initial reservoir loop is expected to open in December – BOPARC will manage the property, adding its oversight efforts to MUB, which will monitor the area closely to protect the infrastructure and water quality.
Cobun Creek Road already falls within the jurisdiction of the West Virginia State Police and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, but the involvement of the city and BOPARC means the Morgantown Police Department can also enforce city code on the property. Lastly, the fishing component comes with regular visits and enforcement from the DNR.
Even so, Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said, it’s the neighbors and users who take ownership of the land who will be its greatest defenders.
“The more people doing the things they should be doing out here, they’re going to tell on the people who are doing things they shouldn’t be doing,” she said. “People develop a sense of ownership of these places and they really help manage the properties.”
That’s already happening.
Isaac Coulter, with Nature Trails, said he and his partner arrived one morning to find their equipment, right down to the motor, had been stolen off the boat they were using to ferry tools and materials to a bridge site.
“The locals took care of it. They were on it. They had it all over Facebook,” he said. “We got all our stuff back. Whoever walked that stuff out of here, walked it right back.”
Going forward, Muzzarelli said there will be efforts to pull together a robust “Friends of Flegal” advocacy group.
“Getting that ‘friends’ group that, you know, helps do regular trail cleanups or tells us if there’s a tree down, if there’s paths being made that shouldn’t be, that’s important,” she said. “Again, the more appropriate use we have, the less inappropriate use we should have.”
In 2023, DNR stocked the reservoir with thousands of bluegill of all sizes to create a “forage base” for the largemouth bass added in 2024. “Catchable” size catfish are likely coming next summer, and the state is looking at introducing trout at some point in the future.
And where there are fish, there will be fishermen.
While the site is currently off-limits, there’s already evidence that anglers are getting lines in the water. Officials conceded there’s little they can do to prevent such activity outside of concertina wire and constant patrols.
“Well, it’s like I said, it’s not normal to have a brand-new lake. People get excited about it,” the DNR representative said. “But I’ll tell you, it’s really going to get real popular once we start stocking trout.”
MUB’s $50 million Flegal Dam and Reservoir was constructed over a five-year period, concluding in January 2023. It’s named for the Morgantown Water Commission’s first engineer/manager, George B. Flegal, who, in 1960, led the effort to purchase the land as a future reservoir site.
