WSSC: Duckett floodgates are closed

Thursday, June 29, 2006

by Steve Earley

Staff Writer

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission announced June 29 that all floodgates at the T. Howard Duckett Dam have been closed.

With the potential for additional rainfall over the next few days, WSSC officials are continuing to release water from a valve at the bottom of the dam.

Six of seven gates at the dam, just outside Laurel city, were open for most of the week as a stalled front dumped more than 10 inches of rain on portions of the metro area. The controlled release caused the Patuxent River to overflow its banks downstream, prompting evacuations and road closures in Laurel and Maryland City. Riverfront Park in Laurel and parts of Brockbridge Road in Maryland City remained closed June 29.

The Rocky Gorge Reservoir above the Duckett dam reached its 5-billion-gallon capacity this week after a drought this spring brought it below normal levels.

E-mail Steve Earley at searley@gazette.net.