Jan. 16, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: Since August of last year, there have been significant pollution problems in Woods Creek due to runoff from the Lexington Golf Course construction site.
First, in the summer, there were multiple sightings of dead crawfish in the creek about a week after the golf course applied glyphosate over 100 acres of their property the day before a rainstorm. Now, the creek has been inundated with sediment pollution three times following normal rain events; twice in December and once last week.
I am one of many citizens who have been busy for years monitoring and working to restore Woods Creek, which is already designated as impaired, and am deeply concerned about these events and what they mean for the future of the creek.
With this in mind, I am opposed to the water protection permit which the golf course has requested from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). This permit would allow the golf course to remove up to 45 million gallons of water per year from the creek for the first two years and up to 30 million gallons per year for the subsequent 12 years.
Considering that the creek is already impaired and experiencing additional pollution from the construction at the course, taking this amount of water would be devastating to its recovery.
The public comment period is now open for this permit request, and information about it and how tosendincommentscanbefound at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/ Home/Components/Calendar/ Event/4318/17?npage=3. If the DEQ receives at least 25 separate comments, they will hold a public hearing on the matter.
An informational meeting about this issue, open to the public, will be held in the offices of Rockbridge Conservation at 101 S. Main St. in Lexington on Wednesday, Jan. 21, between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. GRETCHEN SUKOW Lexington
