The Dominion Post
June 4, 2000
Local boaters can have their say on keeping the Opekiska and Hildebrand locks open on summer evenings at a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Westwood Middle School, on River Road.
Anyone interested in recreational boating on the Monongahela River is invited to attend.
Tom Flynn, operations manager, Monongahela River, for Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will be there to talk about changing hours at those two upstream locks.
The Hildebrand and Opekiska locks and dams are on the Monongahela River between Morgantown and Fairmont. They operate from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.
Flynn wants to hear what people think about shifting hours to 10 a.m.-6 p.m. or 11 a.m.-7 p.m. during the boating season, said Donald Strimbeck, of the Upper Monongahela Committee for Better Boating.
Long-term solutions to recreation needs on the river also will be discussed. Such solutions would probably require an act of Congress, he said.
Wally Venable, a retired WVU professor, will be the evening's moderator.
By law, the Corps of Engineers sets lock hours based on the amount of commercial traffic using the locks.
Commercial traffic is limited on the upper reaches of the Monongahela, where the Hildebrand and Opekiska locks are located.
The Morgantown Lock is staffed 24 hours a day.
The Monongahela, Tygart and West Fork rivers are overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District.
The remaining West Virginia rivers are under the Huntington District office's supervision.