MORGANTOWN – BOPARC Executive Director Greg Travinski said the main loop trail and floating boat launch have been completed at the Flegal Reservoir.
Even so, the property remains off limits to the public as BOPARC works with the city of Morgantown to get proper signage, trash receptacles and other components in place prior to opening the property for recreation.
Travinski’s recent update to the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners came in response to reports and photos of people accessing the site for a variety of activities – some of which will never be permitted on the 125-acre property dominated by a 370-million gallon reservoir that serves as a source of drinking water for the Morgantown Utility Board.
In terms of fishing, Travinski said the rollout has been muddied somewhat by the reservoir’s inclusion as an available fishing location in the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Fishing Regulations Summary 2026.
WVDNR initiated a multi-year fish stocking program in 2023 and will police the site as a fishery.
“So we are working with the city to try to get some signage out there, at least some very beginning educational signage of what you could do” when the property is made available to the public.
According to the agreement between the city, BOPARC and MUB providing for recreational access to the site, fishing with live bait will be prohibited, as will accessing the dam facility. All motorized boats and other motorized vehicles will also be off limits on the property outside the designated parking areas.
Non-motorized boats will be permitted on the water, but not within 100 feet of the water intake tower.
“We’ve also gotten a couple calls about people hunting out there, which is the big concern,” Travinski said, indicating he’s received at least one report of duck hunters accessing the water to hunt from a boat. He said he’s also been provided photos of shell casings found near the reservoir and trail loop.
“And those weren’t ammunition to harvest ducks. They were a larger caliber, so they were doing something else out there as well,” he said.
Hunting, trapping and similar activities will not be permitted on the property.
“So, step one of that was getting out some sort of signage saying you can’t do that, and then we were working with Ryan [Simonton] and our team on what are our first steps of where we need to intervene here, and how we need to get out there sooner than later to start establishing that,” Travinski said.
According to the roles spelled out in the aforementioned agreement, MUB will operate the dam and reservoir as facilities of its waterworks system and ensure the facilities and water quality remain viable for the intended purpose. The city financed the recreational improvements and BOPARC will operate, manage and maintain those improvements once complete and open for public use.
The city contracted with North Carolina-based Nature Trails for $1.5 million to construct trails – including a three-mile trail circumnavigating the water – as well as water crossings and floating boat launch.
BOPARC member Jenny Selin said the city’s park system is ready to welcome nature lovers to the site – almost.
“We’re getting ready to open,” she said. “But right now, we are not open.”
