A perfectly terrible storm hit the popular recreation attraction Lake Anna early in the summer season with a string of incidents and health advisories.
So far this summer there have been three drownings, a pair of boating accidents with numerous injuries, a bacterial outbreak that sickened more than two dozen and harmful algae blooms resulting in a no-swim advisory.
The Virginia Department of Health concluded its investigation into the bacteria outbreak in early July, determining the lake was clear. While many who fell ill spent time in the lake area known as the Sandbar, the investigation made no conclusion on the source.
It’s not clear if the recent pitfalls are keeping people from visiting the popular 13,000-acre man-made reservoir, but the summer crowds still seem to be showing up.
Lake Anna Civic Association President Greg Baker said he’s heard more concerns about the lake in recent weeks but says things seem fine as far as the usual summer visitors go.
“I have no concrete data on lake visitation,” he said in an email. “I have had folks reach out to me more often than in the past about the water quality with all of the news. However, I do not see any drop in folks visiting the lake. If you base it on the amount of folks in the local Food Lion (our only local grocery) then we are as busy as ever.”
He added that the E.coli bacteria “issues received more attention on social media than I have ever seen before, but the water tests that both DEQ and LACA has done post Memorial Day show that the lake is clean,” referring to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the civic association.
Visits to the state park also provide a snapshot into lake use.
On the afternoon of July 3, a sunny day with temperatures in the high 80s, there was a decent turnout at the beach area on the state park property, which has 10 miles of lakefront.
Christian Tapia, sporting a straw hat and sunglasses in a picnic area overlooking the beach, said he and his family came from Atlanta to visit his brother, who lives about an hour from the lake.
He had researched the lake prior to visiting and saw news reports about the drownings and bacteria.
“You think about it,” he said.
But the reports didn’t dampen his interest in bringing his wife and children to the lake. And Tapia was glad they came, pointing out that the beach area was bigger and nicer than he expected.
A nearby family said it was their second visit, and they really liked it. Still, when they visited about two weeks earlier a much bigger crowd packed the beach.
Preliminary data from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation shows a dip in day visits to the park during June compared to 2023. Last year in June, there were 25,506 day visits to the state park compared to 22,186 this year.
Overall for May and June, day visits to the park are still up 651 this year.
Dave Neudeck, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said various aspects can affect visitation to the park, such as weather and special events that might happen one year but not the other.
At Anna Point Marina on July 3, it was business as usual, according to Cindy Sargent, the marina’s office manager. She said crowds appeared to be the same as in the past.
Kim Sanders at Fish Tales, a small convenience store on the lake, agreed.
Sanders said people were calling and asking about the incidents at the lake, primarily the bacteria outbreak. But she said people are still visiting, the same as usual with weekends being busier than the weekdays.
The lake, created in the early 1970s as a cooling reservoir for Dominion Energy’s nuclear power plants, covers parts of Spotsylvania, Louisa and Caroline counties.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com