The Rivanna Rambler

August 14, 2008

 

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This show originally aired in August 14, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net

You know something is not right when you walk up to the edge of MeadowCreek behind Kmart off Hydraulic Road. The bank drops down vertically to the stream bottom where a small flow trickles over the rocks. You are not sure how close you can get because looking upstream, you can see places where high water flow from storms has tunneled into the bank leaving just a flap of grass, hinged and drooping over the edge like the unruly bangs of a boy overdue for a haircut.

And you’ve seen this kinds of washed-out bank everywhere in the watershed, and especially as you walk along the Rivanna Trails encircling Charlottesville. For years, you may have said to yourself, this can’t be right, all this dirt eroding away, headed downstream in a brown muddy mess.

But how do you ever go about fixing something like this? And can it even BE fixed?

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April 24, 2008

This show originally aired on September 7, 2007 and then again on April 24, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net.

 

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Today is my third day of walking streams, not a bad way to spend a hot and humid summer morning – and I have finally mastered the footwear problem. The first two days, I wore my Chaco water sandals. No problem getting them wet, of course, but every step was an opportunity for pea-sized gravel to become wedged between the sole of my foot and the sandal, resulting in a pointedly painful step that reduced my progress to an awkward hobble until rectified – and just as soon as I had dislodged the offending rock, another would take its place. But now, I’ve discovered that an old pair of cheap canvas hiking boots not only keeps the gravel out but provides support and traction on the slippery rock outcroppings of Preddy Creek where today, I am working as a volunteer on a river morphology study with StreamWatch.

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April 17, 2008

 

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This show originally aired on June 27, 2007 and was aired again on April 17, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net.

I was well into my adult years before I truly understood the nature and logic of water.

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This show originally aired on March 6, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net.

 

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March 6, 2008

It’s a whirlwind geologic tour of the Virginia, and it all takes place within five square miles in Charlottesville. We’re a group of Rivanna Master Naturalists, standing before a rock outcrop that borders the rough boat launch into Ivy Creek just upstream of the Woodlands Road bridge. Tom Biggs, Professor of Geology at UVA, invites us to use the rock hammers he’s brought along, stepping forward himself to take a swing. A chunk of rock cleaves off, dropping into his practiced hand.

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This show originally aired on January 17, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net.

On a bright afternoon during a warm spell earlier in the month, I was part of a group of Ivy Creek Foundation visitors gathered on a hillside above the wooded valley below the Ragged Mountain Dam. We were there to take a look at the drilling operation, part of the geotechnical studies being undertaken by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority in preparation for expansion of this drinking water reservoir.

Almost at the top of the service road that leads to the caretaker’s house, we park behind a series of trucks and get out with our guide, Chuck Kent, who works for the Service Authority and is overseeing the project. On the downhill side of the road, there’s a steep track that weaves through the woods, barely visible but for rumpled leaves and clumps of fresh earth here and there, and several men in cold weather work clothes are climbing up to greet us.

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