Archive for Water Quality

#87 Bottomlands of the South Fork

May 11, 2008 @ 3:45 pm · Filed under Albemarle County, Ecology, Rivanna River, South Fork, Water Quality

May 1, 2008
This show originally aired on May 11, 2006 and was aired again on May 1, 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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A couple of years ago, I visited the bottomland owned by Jane and Stirling Williamson along a stretch of the South Fork of the Rivanna River, to learn about tree planting for river protection.

As we descend the hill and cross a thin stream, the floodplain opens up in front of us and we an assortment of trees planted four years ago: red maple, box elder, northern red and willow oak. We, too, are a motley crew: Hank Helman, has brought along his two young children who run alongside, weaving in and out of the plastic tubes that mark where trees were planted. Angus Murdoch, who for years has grown and planted trees around the entire watershed for the Rivanna Conservation Society. And me, curious to figure out the point of planting these trees.

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#86 Legacy Sediment

May 8, 2008 @ 3:35 pm · Filed under Greene County, History, James River, Rivanna River, Sediment, Trails and Footpaths, Tributaries, Water Quality

May 8, 2008

This show originally aired on March 7, 2007 and then again on May 8, 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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It’s the time of the year when rivers run high and brown here in Albemarle County. Some well-placed rain events, brought water levels to seasonal highs. Sediment from surrounding floodplains and other sources colored the water various shades of brown, from slick and bubbling chocolate during the first flush, to a steely brown that mirrored the gray March skies. I find myself wondering, again, where does all that dirt come from?

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#77 Winter Stoneflies Equal Good Water

February 21, 2008 @ 3:54 pm · Filed under Albemarle County, Doyles River, Ecology, Headwaters, Natural History, Water Quality

In the midst of winter, there are bugs in the stream that are alive and well – and some, even, are hatching out to become insects, having found their aquatic niche at a time when no others compete. During StreamWatch sampling on the upper Doyle’s, we find several families of winter stoneflies, and this points to healthy headwaters here.

 
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This show originally aired on February 21, 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.
February 21, 2008

The upper Doyles River, like most headwater streams in the Rivanna watershed, is about as pristine as they come. The waters that collect from springs and drainages of the land that is protected by Shenandoah National Park do not suffer the assaults of sediment and runoff that challenge the health of streams at lower elevations. For this reason, the community based water monitoring program, StreamWatch, has chosen a spot high on the Doyles as one of several headwater streams that will be used during the next few years as “reference streams” – a standard of “as good as it gets in our watershed” — against which other tributaries of the Rivanna will be evaluated.

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#76 Tale of Two Rivers

February 7, 2008 @ 2:32 pm · Filed under Albemarle County, Doyles River, Ecology, Headwaters, Meadowcreek, Rivanna River, South Fork, Tributaries, Water Quality

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 “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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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 landowner’s permission, we drive across pastures that slope uphill into the headwater basin of the Doyles River.

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#73 Snow, Salt, and Streams

January 17, 2008 @ 5:15 pm · Filed under Charlottesville, Chesapeake Bay, Ecology, Water Quality

The area’s first significant snowfall brings needed moisture and the use of salt to keep our roads clear. But the accumulation of sodium chloride as runoff from roads and other impervious surfaces degrades habitat in streams and along roadways.
 
 
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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.

As I emerged earlier this morning to put the trash and recycling on the street, the robins roosting in bushes along side the house erupted in a worried flush. They were late to emerge, having slept in, still awaiting the trigger of daylight that was coming reluctantly on this gray and cold morning heavy with the moisture and a prediction snowfall. At the street, the road was a blotchy white where Public Works trucks had made their first pass spreading salt in anticipation of the accumulation.

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