A Boy Scouts camp is facing a community of upset Virginians for flooding a scenic river with sediment, coloring it a cloudy brown and driving away anglers, kayakers and swimmers, two locals described to Fox News Digital.

Every fall, the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts drains Lake Merriweather, causing sediment to flow into the Maury River in west-central Virginia. The area has become a popular attraction for hikers, kayakers, fishers and swimmers in the summer, but last August, the scouts drained the lake early — during peak season — as it prepared for a dredging project, bringing residents' frustrations to a head, the locals said.

"We're heartbroken that the river turned dirty during the summer when people spend their time on the river banks," said John Pancake, who has spent every summer on the Maury and has lived along it for 12 years. "It's a thing that people love here, and so having it kind of wrecked was a really sad thing for people here."