Two federal Recovery Act grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, totaling more than $4.35 million, will help protect more than 950 residents living in the Pohick Bay watershed from flood danger, Congressman Gerry Connolly said.

The federal funding will be used to rehabilitate two aging dams at Lake Barton and Woodglen Lake in Fairfax County by bringing the spillways up to appropriate safety standards.  The work will protect 349 homes and 64 other non-residential structures from flooding that could occur if the dams failed, Connolly said.

The funding was part of $45 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money released nationwide by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through its Watershed Rehabilitation Program to improve aging dams.  Along with protecting citizens from flooding, increasing water quality, and decreasing soil erosion, the funding will help create jobs and support businesses that perform the dam rehabilitation work.

In the case of the two Fairfax County dams in the Pohick Bay watershed, the rehabilitation work is primarily for safety rather than environmental or aesthetic benefit, Connolly said.   The projects will create more than 50 jobs.