CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The impact of the federal government shutdown, drawing closer to being a week old, is being felt more and more in West Virginia. There are some areas that aren’t taking as big a hit as some may expect.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has many of its workers furloughed but the locks and dams in West Virginia are open and operating.
“The locks will continue to operate 24/7 like they always have. Our staffing is reduced at the locks but they will continue to operate normally,” Corps spokesman Chuck Minsker said.
The planned draw-down at Summersville Lake will also continue according to Minsker through Oct. 20.
“The whitewater releases will continue as normal for Summersville. They’ve been already planned. We have some maintenance work coming up (at Summersville Dam) so we need to get that lake down under winter pool level,” Minsker said.
The recreation areas operated by the Corps have been closed and will stay that way through the duration of the shutdown.