The beautiful Lake Manassas is an asset to our community and it should be utilized to it’s fullest potential. The 770-acre reservoir could provide so much more than drinking water to the surrounding area. The arguments to keep the Lake closed are insufficient to warrant its continued closure. The City of Manassas claims that they won't open the reservoir to the public due to concerns about terrorist threats and potential introduction of zebra mussels. Those are unreasonable threats to justify what we are missing out on. Reservoirs around our state are open to the public for regulated recreational use, and perhaps besides a prestigious golf course; nobody seems to be fighting against the idea of opening up the reservoir to the public.

Lake Manassas could provide wonderful outdoor recreation opportunities to residents of the City of Manassas and Prince William County. It would provide another opportunity for community members to lead healthy lifestyles, and it already exists ‘in our backyard’ – so to speak. If lake Manassas were open for fishing and non-motorized boating, it would mitigate the need for local residents to drive more than an hour away for a similar outdoor experience.

Tens of thousands of dollars(!) are spent annually to enforce the closure of the reservoir. Instead of expending resources to patrol the lake and prevent unlawful trespassing, tax dollars should be spent on supervising the lake for healthy, sustainable, regulated use.

At the very least, the public deserves an updated, thorough, and scientifically based explanation in the form of a government study as to why the Lake is to remain closed for the foreseeable future.

Why should we continue to push this topic under the rug and ignore the recreational potential of the Lake? We shouldn’t.

Let the Manassas City council know how you feel by signing this petition.

If you are interested in spreading the word, we encourage you to share the link to this petition via facebook for your friends and family to see!