March 31, 2026
Riding up to Mint Springs this morning, we were met with a bunch of trees down and a fencing around the lower pond. I emailed Albemarle County early this morning, did a bit of searching on their site and I found the Facilities & Environmental Services report for Fiscal Year 2026 (pdf).
On my way out of the Mint Springs on this morning, I stopped and asked one of the men working what they were doing; he told me a bit about the work they are doing.
So I searched Albemarle’s site (always a bit of a chore).
It’s a $2.1 million dollar project.
Pasting from the PDF
“FES has received state grants that will support two dam safety capital improvements projects. Staff are currently implementing projects to improve the dams at both Mint Springs Valley Park and Rivanna Station. These improvements are necessary to address aging infrastructure and bring the dams into full compliance with Virginia dam safety regulations.
Environmental Services staff, who are responsible for ensuring dam safety compliance, applied for funding support through Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Dam Safety, Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund. Through the 2025 Fund, the County received the following awards:
– $44,060 to support the design of improvements for Greens Dam at Rivanna Station – approximately half of the anticipate design cost
– $500,000 to support the construction of improvements at the Middle Dam at Mint Springs – the maximum award for this type of project
…
The County owns and operates two State-regulated, earthen dams (Upper and Middle) at Mint Springs Valley Park. The dams lie in series, with the Middle dam lying immediately downstream of the Upper dam. This project is to provide spillway enhancements and other associated improvements to both dams which were recently determined to have a high-hazard potential and insufficient capacity. The funding allocation reflects the cost of design only.
On October 1, the Board of Supervisors approved partial funding for the project through the consent agenda. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has provided the grant agreement for execution. Once the agreement is fully executed, ESD staff will pursue a separate appropriation for the remaining project funds. In the interim, staff published the solicitation for bids on November 17th in preparation for a Spring 2026 construction.”
This is why we need to pay attention to local government.
Note the red “circle” below … this project started well before they put up the fencing.
