Tri-County Lakes Administrative Commission | Administration for counties surrounding Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Lake

The Tri-County Lakes Administrative Commission (TLAC) serves as the administrative department for the four Virginia counties surrounding Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Lake… Bedford, Campbell, Franklin, and Pittsylvania… and conducts lake planning duties as may be assigned by the respective Boards of Supervisors.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

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MEETING MINUTES

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Happy Holidays!

We invite you to stop by our office this holiday season so we may express our appreciation for your support.

Join us for cookies and beverages Monday, Dec. 8th through Thursday, Dec. 11th, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you!

Upcoming Meetings (all are held in TLAC Conference Room):

Sedimentation Task Force Meeting: December 15, 4:00PM

Wake Education Task Force Meeting: December 16, 6:30PM

SML Navigational Committee Meeting: January 27, 9AM

TLAC Board Meeting: February 2, 4PM

Bedford County Mandatory Sewage Disposal System Pump-Out Deadline Approaching: If you own property near Smith Mountain Lake or Leesville Lake and received a pump-out notice for 2025, you have about one month to comply with Bedford County’s Mandatory Sewage Disposal System Pump-Out Ordinance.

In March 2024, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors amended the County Code to require all private sewage disposal systems located within 500 feet of either lake (at full pond elevation) be pumped out at least once every five years.

To manage this process, the County is phasing the requirement over five years. Homeowners who received notices in March 2025 must complete their pump-out by the end of 2025. Another group of homeowners will receive pump-out notices beginning in January. Failure to comply could result in the assessment of a civil penalty (County Code Section 10-3e). For details and compliance instructions, visit: Mandatory Sewage Disposal System Pump-Out

UPDATED November 2025! The process of changing Aids to Navigation on Smith Mountain Lake is ongoing. CAUTION: Per the US Coast Guard which defines standards for navigation systems, Lateral Aids to Navigation are generally used for well-defined channels to indicate the route to be followed. These aids show the sides of a navigable channel, mark junctions and forks or splits in the channel, indicate the safe side to pass a hazard to navigation, and mark the safe centerline on wide bodies of water. It is hazardous to pass between an aid to navigation and the shoreline. Current and pending changes to the SML Ais to Navigation are explained in this presentation from America’s Boating Club and TLAC Navigation Committee chairman, Randy Stow.

NEWS

Officials developing plan to address invasive hydrilla

Oct 8, 2025

Next steps include obtaining the final water survey results and determining how much aquatic acreage is affected. “TLAC’s Environmental Committee is going to meet with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources,” Sage added. “We will consult about what’s the best treatment, and if that is carp, we will take their advice on how many carp are needed per acre and where they are needed to be released in the lake.”