MEDIA ADVISORY: Dredging Lake Needwood, Department of Parks Hosts Public Meeting Sepetember 25 on Proposed Restoration Project

ROCKVILLE, MD—The Montgomery County Department of Parks, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), invites public participation in an informational meeting about preliminary engineering designs for dredging Rock Creek Regional Park’s popular Lake Needwood.

Lake Needwood was built in the 1960s to provide flood control and recreational opportunities for the community. The lake’s forebay and upper portion were regularly dredged until about 1990 when funding constraints discontinued regular dredging. Continued siltation since that time has impacted the function of the forebay and has limited boating and fishing within the main body of the lake, which would be addressed by this project.

During this meeting, Department of Parks project managers will discuss other benefits from the project, anticipated construction methods for the project, construction timeframes, status of project funding, temporary impacts on the lake from the project and prospective improvements to the lake from the project. Parks project managers will also present GIS mapping of the existing lake and potential fill sites for removed material, share sketches of the anticipated work areas within the lake and forebay and entertain public questions, comments and ideas.

WHO:     
Montgomery County Department of Parks

WHAT:   
Informational Meeting on Lake Needwood Dredging Project

WHEN:
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 7:00 pm

WHERE:
Agricultural History Farm Park
Activity Center Multi-Purpose Room
18400 Muncaster Road
Derwood, MD 20855   

For more on this project, contact Department of Parks Project Manager Andy Frank at (301) 650-2886 or andrew.frank@mncppc-mc.org.

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Contact:   
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866