http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:11:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 © lmiddleton@embarqmail.com () lmiddleton@embarqmail.com() stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed lmiddleton@embarqmail.com No no http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler 144 144 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/11/102-stormwater-at-the-dell-righting-a-wrong/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/11/102-stormwater-at-the-dell-righting-a-wrong/#comments Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:42:15 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/11/102-stormwater-at-the-dell-righting-a-wrong/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/11/102-stormwater-at-the-dell-righting-a-wrong/feed/ 0 00:01:01 September 11, 2008 The University of Virginia's Stormwater Management Program has resulted in transformations of the built environment while at the same time improving water ... September 11, 2008 The University of Virginia's Stormwater Management Program has resulted in transformations of the built environment while at the same time improving water quality. The Dell is once such transformation. This show originally aired in September 11, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net Last night after a meeting at UVA's Newcomb Hall, I strolled across Emmet Street to The Dell for a quiet moment on the water. At the end of the hot day, the air temperature was falling as the undersides of clouds darkened with gray. From a bench across the pond I could see blue and orange shirts and shorts moving on the basketball court. The pool before me reflected the action in segments clipped by a row of young arbor vitae planted along the edge of the court. Above me, bats streaked through darkening air, criss-crossing over the water partaking of misquotes. The sound of Emmet Street traffic was constant, but the longer I sat, the more it started to blend with a new sound ndash; one of flowing water from somewhere beyond a large English boxwood leftover from a former landscape. I was sitting by a section of Meadow Creek that has been rehabilitated and restored, brought to the surface after being contained in the 1950's. When the construction of the dorms at McCormick Road altered the topography of Meadow Creek near its headwaters at Observatory Hill, the water, still answering to gravity and the lay of the land, needed somewhere to go ndash; and in the conventional wisdom of that era, concrete, drain pipe, and culverts were employed to route it away and downhill. The project at The Dell is now famous for bringing this section of Meadow Creek back to the light of day ndash; while creating a mixed habitat alongside the restored stream flowing in to a formally landscaped retention pond ndash; the floodplain real estate shared with the basketball courts, tennis courts, and walking trails. The Dell, and other innovative storm water projects at UVA have been much publicized. This month's Landscape Architecture magazine has a multi-page glossy spread about the project, along with the redevelopment of the stream valley of Meadow Creek just downhill several thousand feet downstream at the John Paul Jones arena. There, roof and parking lot rainwater are collected in planted swales and rain gardens engineered to slow the water so that it can infiltrate through the layers of soil and feed the creek in the slow but sure way of groundwater. Jeff Sitler, UVA's Environmental Compliance Manager ndash;says he's giving about a tour a week these days, and rightly so. Five years since the completion of the Dell, the university knows that its working; the plants are filling out nicely; and it has become a place that attracts wildlife, students, neighbors, and the occasional citizen like me who can't resist a water feature of any kind. Between the pond and the copse of woods where the creek emerges from its containment is a greenway spotted with picnic benches. The designers used the change in elevation to replicate the three main physiographic regions of Virginia. Mountain laurel and hemlock in the upper reach speak for the Blue Ridge. Along the stream, stepped into riffle by strategically placed boulders are the plants, of the piedmont, dogwoods and species of ilex and magnolia only found in this region. Finally as the water emerges in to the open stretches of pool and pond, it has arrived symbolically at the coastal plains, the flatland marshes, arrow plant and cattail, wetlands doing the work of nutrient and sediment uptake as they do in the tidal reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. As I sat in the shadows, much of the beauty of the Dell was beyond my sight ndash; in the way that storm water has often out of sight, channeled away from the places WE want to be. But it was we humans who named it storm water to begin... Charlottesville,,Meadowcreek,,Native,Landscaping,,Rivanna,River,,Stormwater,,Wetlands lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/14/98-the-restoration-of-meadow-creek/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/14/98-the-restoration-of-meadow-creek/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:49:25 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/14/98-the-restoration-of-meadow-creek/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/14/98-the-restoration-of-meadow-creek/feed/ 0 00:01:01 August 14, 2008 One of the most degraded streams in Charlottesville, Meadow Creek, will get a major restoration in 2009 when The Nature Conservancy ... August 14, 2008 One of the most degraded streams in Charlottesville, Meadow Creek, will get a major restoration in 2009 when The Nature Conservancy along with its partners rebuild and restore 7000 feet between the City and County.nbsp; This show originally aired in August 14, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; 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 canrsquo;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? Well it turns out that it can ndash; or so a growing number of resource managers think ndash; and for the last decade or so, there has been a learning curve as steep as these banks in developing the science and art of restoring streams. On this warm sunny afternoon, I'm learning about one project in the planning stages that will hopefully bring a mile and a quarter of Meadow Creek back in to equilibrium with its banks. This restoration project being undertaken by The Nature Conservancy will involve physically rebuilding the shape of the river and carefully placing structures and planting new vegetation, so that the creek should be able to withstand the damaging flows that wash down from its watershed. And what a watershed it is! This section of Meadow Creek gathers the rain and runoff from the University below O-Hill, the stadium area, Barracks Road Shopping Center, the Giant Shopping Center, and small subdivisions flanking 29 North. Flattened and paved, it is mostly roofs and roads, asphalt and houses and lawns ndash; all the man-made surfaces that discourage the slow infiltration of rain into the earth that is necessary for refreshing groundwater -- and that reduces the volume and velocity of water from storms that are the engine of erosion. About the only good thing about all this upstream development is that there are not a lot of remaining opportunities to cut trees and further harden the earth with pavement ndash; but even so, any restoration project has to take in to account the likely upstream changes, such as the soon- or sometime-to-be-built Albemarle Place. Walking along the streams margin, I learn more about the Meadow Creek Stream Restoration project from Diane Frisbee of The Nature Conservancy and her colleague, Dan Sweet, a stream restoration specialist who has helped define the segments most in need of help and will be involved in designing the new channel and creating pools and riffles ndash; building back in the curves and dips that slow the flow and create healthy habitat for the bottom of the aquatic foodchain that is presently overwhelmed by sediment-laden run-off. Diane explains that this project is being funded by the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund ndash; one of the mechanisms used in Virginia to ensure the "no-net-loss of wetlands" requirement of the Clean Water Act. When site development impacts wetlands, and there are no practical means of avoiding or mitigating this loss on the site, the developer may have the option to pay in to the Trust Fund to compensate for wetland loss -- and this money can be used elsewhere in the State to restore important but degraded wetlands and segments of impaired streams. It is bitters... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Chesapeake,Bay,,Geology,,Meadowcreek,,Stormwater,,Water,Quality,,Wetlands lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/17/84-groundwater/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/17/84-groundwater/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:55:05 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/17/84-groundwater/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/17/84-groundwater/feed/ 0 00:01:01 April 17, 2008 This show originally aired on June 27, 2007 and was aired again on April 17, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public ... April 17, 2008 This show originally aired on June 27, 2007 and was aired again on April 17, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; 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. I grew up on the Assabet River in Massachusetts, the one that Henry David Thoreau explored with his brother 100 years before me. Its floodplain and wetlands were my childhood playground. Upstream, there was a marshy inlet that froze into a skating pond in the winter. Downstream acres of soggy, skunk-cabbage filled wetlands provided interest for many an after school hour. In the summer, the waters moved slowly, revealing a shallow brown bottom, fish, turtles, and freshwater clams. In the winter, the river rose high, sloughing the ice from its banks. Springtime floods often crept up the bank towards the low foundation of our house. The riverrsquo;s cycle of the seasons was simply part of our lives ndash;and I did not question the way water works. I assumed that a river was filled by the tributaries that fed it, like our Assabet River joined the Sudbury to become the larger Concord River downstream ndash; and that these, in turn, were fed by smaller streams and springs ndash; and that the river flowed because the rain flowed over the land or into the river itself. Later, I encountered dry bed of the Ventura River as it approached the Pacific in a broad delta with windrows of cottonwood and willow marking the place where water, deep underground, was presumably still flowing.nbsp;nbsp; Curious, indeed. It was not until I moved to Charlottesville that I began to notice and wonder about the changing level of water in the Rivanna. There was something about this Piedmont River, so prone to change, flashing high with summer rains, then sinking low as soon as the trees sucked it dry in the growing season, the banks deep and muddy, a river that I found hard to love in the best of seasons. So it was rather shocking to me to learn that the level of the water in a watercourse corresponds roughly to the height of the water table in the adjacent soil and rock. From this simple but profound idea, I began to understand the connection between river, water, and the earth itself. And from this fundamental realization came an appreciation of the fact that the surface water in our rivers, reservoirs and runs is one and the same with the groundwater hidden below. And like surface water, deserves, for our health as well as that of the natural communities, to be protected both in source and quantity as well as quality. Strictly speaking, the water table is the depth at which soil pore spaces become fully saturated with water. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally ndash; hence the natural discharge often occurring at springs, seeps, and streams. Unlike other parts of the country, Albemarle County does not have aquifers per se. Beneath the topsoil lies a layer of fractured bedrock called saprolite, through which rain water and surface flow seep, slow recharging the water stored in the fractures of bedrock below. Through this fractured bedrock, the water collects and even flows according to its own hydrologic regime along the hydrographic contours of groundwater. Roughly speaking it tends to flow mirroring the slope and direction of the corresponding topography above ground. When I paddle on the Rivanna, at one with the level of the river and its groundwater, I have tried to imagine this slow and mysterious flow of water hidden from view. Those in our watershed who derive water from wells are perhaps more aware of groundwater than those of us who live in the urban ring and are supplied by water from the reservoirs. But it would be s mistake to think that groundwater and the water in our rivers are not connected ndash; and that decisions about drinking water or dispos... Geology,,Headwaters,,Meadowcreek,,Rivanna,River,,Water,Supply lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/02/07/76-tale-of-two-rivers/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/02/07/76-tale-of-two-rivers/#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:32:56 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/02/07/76-tale-of-two-rivers/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/02/07/76-tale-of-two-rivers/feed/ 2 00:01:01 Headwater streams, if they are healthy, can provide a good reference for evaluating the health of river segments downstream in the watershed. The Doyles ... Headwater streams, if they are healthy, can provide a good reference for evaluating the health of river segments downstream in the watershed. The Doyles River, which will provide reference conditions for a StreamWatch study, is in many ways a sharp contrast to a creek downstream in the urban part of Albemarle County. This show originally aired on February 7, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. February 7, 2008 On a day in January when the snow is still on the ground in the higher elevations, Rose and I drive out Garth Road turning onto 810 at White Hall and head towards the Browns Gap Turnpike. With the landownerrsquo;s permission, we drive across pastures that slope uphill into the headwater basin of the Doyles River. Where the pastures stop, we enter a tunnel of briars, bush-hogged to clear an old farm track that leads further up the floodplain as it narrows in the mountainrsquo;s ascent. Just wide enough for the truck, it leads into the woods. This floodplain rubble is the story of the river in its headwaters, how gravity and the slope of the drainage combine to move whatever is in the way, including rocks. After 5 minutes of rocking and scraping, we agree that this would be a good place to stop. We can walk the rest of the way. Irsquo;m thinking about adopting this site for StreamWatchndash; becoming the once-a-season water sampler here where the Doyles can provide a reference for other sites downstream, where the land use includes people, cows, cats, and shopping centers. Rose, who trains and coordinates those of us who volunteer, has told me that this is just about her favorite site to visit and I am about to see why. We scramble up and through, where trees and briars have taken hold in the floodplain and the periodic floods have left lines of rubble in their wake. Briars snag my pants; I go slowly so as not to turn my ankle or immerse my boot in a pool of melting snow. A quarter of a mile later, we are at the bank of the Doyles, overlooking a gentle drop a few feet down to a spot between sycamore roots next to the water that looks right for setting up. The wind sings slightly through determined beech and oak leaves that will cling for another couple of months until new buds cast them to the ground. A pileated announces its territory as it glides down from higher elevations. The water in the stream is doing what water does, heading downhill, down river, down the watershed. We unpack, set up for sampling and get to work catching bugs and counting. And in this setting, time does what it does best: passes from one bright moment to the next. Three hours and 345 bugs later, we are on our way back to Charlottesville. Later in the afternoon of the same day, I am now in the heart of the urban ring of Charlottesville ndash; off Woodbrook Drive, where an unnamed tributary of Meadowcreek cuts along steep banks on its way to the Rivanna where it will join the water that has drained from the Doyles via the South Fork. Albemarle County is preparing to restore a section of this urban stream in the hopes that aquatic life will return and the water quality be improved. Some County employees are set up with their table and net by the banks of this creek, which are deeply incised, dropping six feet or more in overhang. The group is somewhat in despair as they scrape the net with tweezers and examine each decayed leaf for a clinging caddisfly or something else alivendash; theyrsquo;ve spent the better part of the last three hours straining bugs from the creek ndash; and their total is only 75, and of those, most are bugs that only survive in heavily impacted streams. That there is little life is no surprise, this section of the stream drains down from Route 29, through shopping centers and neighborhoods and over a whole lot of asphalt, rooftops, and lawns. I doubt that I would claim this a... Albemarle,County,,Doyles,River,,Ecology,,Headwaters,,Meadowcreek,,Rivanna,River,,South,Fork,,Tributaries,,Water,Quality lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:43:26 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Walking the back trails between the two houses of friends who live in Charlottesville is a fine way to really see the stories in the ... Walking the back trails between the two houses of friends who live in Charlottesville is a fine way to really see the stories in the land as well as clues to the changes to come. This show originally aired on January 10, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. One of my New Years resolutions is to daily substitute a trip I would have made by car, with one by foot, bicycle, bus, or carpool. Or even ndash; radical thought! ndash; not make the trip at all! I started on New Years Day with a trip by foot to visit some friends whorsquo;ve recently moved to Jamestown Road next to Greenbrier Park. If I were to travel by car or bike from where I live on Oxford Road, it would be about a mile travel by road, punctuated by stops and right-angled turns all along the way. We strike out from Oxford Road in the early afternoon, hoping to walk as directly as possible and minimize our time on asphalt. Crossing under the By-Pass and along the backside of the ball fields in McIntire Park, we reach a steep valley at the far end, cut by the unnamed tributary of Meadowcreek between the park and Charlottesville High. To our left is the swath of land that may someday become the new YMCA. Irsquo;ve not been back here for a couple of years and am grateful to find the concrete rounds to step me across the creek. Using Melbourne Road to cross the railroad tracks, we look for a way to maintain our northerly direction ndash; and knowing that where there is a fence, there is likely to be a path on at least one side ndash; sure enough we find a well-worn trail that cuts behind the soccer field. At the far end, a lone, majestic white pine marks the top of another trail that zigs down the slope to a wooden bridge that crossing another creek where we are faced with a choice: to the right, wersquo;ll end up on the main RTF trail, but therersquo;s a footpath to the left that leads alluringly up the hill into a stand of cedar and pine and more in the direction we want. So we take it, up through a forest whose quiet is all the more magical by its proximity to houses and roads. Our steps are muffled by the soft needles on the path, but we see strips of pink surveyor tape that seem to shout out the alarm: somethingrsquo;s going to happen here soon. We wonder what it is. As we emerge from the trees, we see a long straight rise that tends in the direction wersquo;re heading. Scrambling up the tangled bank, we brave a thicket of briars to the flat topped roadway where stone ballast emerges from pockets in the earth confirms that it is an old railway bed. We follow the track until it intersects Meadowcreek where it emerges through a large box culvert under the newer rail line. Back on the official RTF trail, we walk through the opening into the echoing darkness under the tracks, balancing on the 24 inch sewer line that keeps our toes dry from the scant flow of the creek. I put my right hand on the cool concrete wall to steady myself when I can no longer see my feet in the dizzying half-light, half-reflection at the center of the culvert. We emerge on the other side into Greenbrier Park, and itrsquo;s a known and easy walk to our friendsrsquo; house from here. Irsquo;d hesitate to say that this was the shortest route between two points, but we all know that ldquo;as the crow fliesrdquo; does not account for the diversions a curious bird is known to take along the way. We figure it was also about a mile, including the switchbacks and the places where we investigated the signs in the land. And, except where we encountered asphalt, there were few right-angled turns, only the curves and arcs made by trails through the woods. If every trip substitution I make this coming year is like todayrsquo;s, I will come out way ahead: cheeks flushed, curiosity excited, and spirit nourished in only the way that the cover of trees and the feel of ear... Charlottesville,,Meadowcreek,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/27/72-look-for-the-thousands-of-birds/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/27/72-look-for-the-thousands-of-birds/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:07:45 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/27/72-look-for-the-thousands-of-birds/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/27/72-look-for-the-thousands-of-birds/feed/ 0