FOSR Home > Newsletters > SPRING 2001

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

I wish to thank all of you who helped make our 2001 Annual Awards and Membership Meeting a success: Joy Costello and her committee; those who donated items to the silent auction; those who donated monies; those who contributed to the William T. Hipple Scholarship Fund; to The Emporium Eatery for fine food; to Bill Tanger for an excellent presentation; to those who attended; and to Lord Fairfax Community College for the use of their campus, all of you made it happen.

We need to start 2002 planning now. If you attended, what did you like?  What would you like to see in 2002? If you could not attend, what would it take to attract you in the spring of 2002? What would it take to get 200 members to attend?

Three board members were elected to serve a three-year term. They are Joy Costello, Stephens City; Glen Hickerson, Linden; Steve Sager, Front Royal.

We need more active board members. If you are interested or can recommend someone, please give me a call at 540-869-3108 or e-mail vmboyce@cs.com.

COME JOIN US

We would like the FOSR membership to become more active. We have many opportunities available: River Cleanup Days, Educational Programs, Membership Drives, Water Monitoring, volunteer support in the FOSR office and at the FOSR Laboratory.

We are currently looking for new Board members and individuals to serve on committees.

Come join us in our efforts to protect and restore the aquatic environment of the Shenandoah River and its tributaries."

Remember, "WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM".

Friends of the Shenandoah River: Awards for 2001

Officer of the Year
Charles Vandervoort
In recognition of his tireless effort and dedication as Treasurer and Lead Monitor

Director of the Year
Scott Cooper
In recognition of his organizational skills and dedication in supporting the efforts of FOSR

Monitor of the Year
Charles Newton
In recognition of his tireless dedication in promotion of FOSR water analysis efforts

Friend of the River
Bill Tanger
In recognition of his sincere dedication to the environmental protection of the Rivers of Virginia

Extraordinary Member
Linda Thomas
For her continuous dedication in seeking support to improve the water quality of the Shenandoah River

Special Merit
Amy Hodge
In recognition of her dedication and skills as laboratory assistant

Academic Award
Dr. Tom Benzing
For testing and dissemination of information on the river water of Page County

Congratulations to all of you for your good work and dedication.

In 2002, a special award will be presented in honor of Raymond "Andy" Guest, Jr.  The award will be presented to an individual or group that provides exemplary leadership for the protection of our beautiful Shenandoah River.

Tanger Honored as 'Friend' of the Shenandoah River

by Val Van Meter

As reported by our President the Awards Banquet was a great success. Our guest speaker Bill Tanger, co-founder of the Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, reported on the first "State of Our Rivers Report" recently published by the FORVA. The Friends of the Shenandoah River oversight group, with 440 members, monitors the Shenandoah River Watershed, testing about 130 sites every two weeks for nitrogen, phosphorous, and ammonia. The samples are also tested for dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and turbidity. Information from the FOSR's data bank of a decade of testing the Shenandoah was incorporated into the FORVA's statewide river water quality report.

The river report cited 746 miles of the Shenandoah as "impaired" under the standards of the Clean Water Act.

Tanger told the FOSR members that his interest in clean water dates back to his early teens, growing up on a Connecticut river where a friend developed hepatitis from eating shellfish.

"That was 30 or 40 years ago, and that river is still polluted," Tanger said.

Since Tanger's canoeing and raft guiding take him constantly on bodies of water, knowing the quality of water is vital to him. The FORVA decided to ask the question, were the states rivers safe for fishing, swimming, boating, and drinking?

The decision to collate all the data on pollution problems in state rivers grew out of a perception that something was wrong with the data the state was putting out. Its percentage of polluted rivers didn't match what we see. "We wanted to get all the facts together in one place so we could educate the public about water pollution," Tanger said.

Tanger said the FORVA collected data from Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), but added data from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other sources.

"We fought long and hard to get the data that's here," Tanger said. "You are part of that database and this report," he told FOSR members.

When the data was collected and mapped, each map was sent to citizen monitoring groups in that area to see if the data matched the "reality" they saw in their efforts to document problems on their rivers.

The "State of Our Rivers Report" is divided up into 12 major watersheds. Each watershed area has a map, marked with the sites that are monitored, with streams color-coded to mark "impaired" waters. A legend lists the types of pollution problems in the watershed.

The Shenandoah River watershed had 746 miles of impaired waters. Some of the problems included contamination by mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. Monitoring sites established by DEQ and by citizen groups, are also marked.

Tanger said only about 20% of the state's streams are actually monitored for pollution problems and a minimum of 41% of those streams have been labeled "impaired" waters. It is unknown if the other 80% carry the same percentage of impairment, Tanger said. "We need a lot more monitoring to determine where other polluted areas are," he said.

FORVA sought $125,000 in grants to publish its "State of Our Rivers Report". The data took four years to collect, Tanger said. Some of the problems FORVA encountered in the effort included a change in standards by EPA halfway through the process, a lack of standards for nitrogen, phosphorous and ammonia at the state level, and problems dealing with DEQ, which he described as understaffed and under-funded.

Tanger hopes FORVA will be able to follow up with an updated report every four years. "It's a benchmark for the state," he said, "the cutting edge of all river reports in the United States."

Tanger said the report would show both the extent of current pollution, and the trends. For example, he said, nitrogen and phosphorous levels in the Chesapeake Bay are going down, but the population along the great Bay is rising quickly. That population increase could negate the improvements made in lowering pollution levels.

Tanger said he hopes the public will make use of the information. The report urges all concerned citizens to become part of the solution, by joining monitoring groups of river protection groups. He also urged FOSR members to help change the process the state uses to create acceptable "standards" for pollutants.

"The process is part of the problem," he said, because few members of the public know what is going on and can take part.

In presenting Tanger with the 2001 Friend of the River award, FOSR Executive Director Meryl Christiansen praised the report as a tool for all Virginia's citizens who are concerned about water quality. He thanked Tanger for his years of sincere dedication to the environmental protection of rivers throughout the state.

(Tanger co-founded FORVA in 1987 and has been chairman ever since. He also founded Friends of the Roanoke River and the Roanoke River Group of the Sierra Club.)

To request a copy of the "State of Our Rivers Report" contact the FOSR office.

Condition of the Shenandoah River

(Newsletter input - May 2001, C. Vandervoort)

Current Flows

The flow in the Shenandoah River was low last month, and so was the level of water in the Stephens City quarries. According to the water authority, the levels in the quarries were several feet below normal during the past four months. But are we in a drought? According to precipitation data provided by the National Weather Service, the answer is "no." Precipitation over the first five months of this year was about 15 inches, or 3.0 inches per month. This is normal, considering that the average monthly precipitation measured over the past 85 years, and according to the National Weather Service, averages at 2.9 inches per month. And in the year 2000, the precipitation also averaged out at 3.05 inches per month. Thus, precipitation is normal and we are therefore not in a drought.

The flow of the river is very erratic, however. Over the first five months of this year, the volume of flow and level of the main stem of the river has varied dramatically. In six days time -- from May 21 to May 27 -- the flow jumped from 1,500 cubic feet per second (1000 gallons per day) to 6,000 cubic feet per second (4000 gallons per day).

Is this behavior of the river abnormal, and if so, what could be the reason? Could it be that the level of groundwater has dropped so much that it cannot re-supply the river with water during periods of low precipitation? Though only a conjecture, and something that must be validated with scientific research, it certainly is a worry.

As discussed below, this backing and filling washes great quantities of pollution into the river -- an important reminder that more attention should be paid to control of storm water runoff.

Level of Pollutants

On the average, the quality of water in the Shenandoah River with regard to nitrogen and ammonia is good. The level for phosphorus is slightly impaired at .36 PPM vs. the desired level of less than .1 PPM. After the fairly heavy rains we have had in late May, however, we can expect the pollution to rise steeply above the average level. During such rains fertilizers, waste from pets and wildlife runs off from the fields. And oil, cleaning agents; and trash from the streets, parking lots and from other impervious surfaces wash into the storm drains and into the river. Careful observation of the river indicates that the recent heavy rains have also washed a lot of filth from the banks into the river. These pollutants can seriously degrade water quality for fish and wildlife habitat, and for recreation. This underlines the need to redouble, in the face of increasing population growth, efforts to reduce the increase in impervious surfaces and uncontrolled runoff into the river.

Pollution from Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the old Avtex Plant and mercury from the old Du Pont plant is still high enough for the VA Department of Health to issue fish consumption advisories. The mercury concentration is high enough for the VDH to advise against eating any fish; the advice regarding PCBs is to limit consumption to less than one pound of fish per month except for women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children who should not eat any fish. The mercury advisory, of course, is the over-riding one.

Except for small streams in Page County where since 1998 Dr. Thomas R. Benzing has collected data, data on fecal coliform in the Shenandoah River Basin is sparse. Dr. Benzing's data indicate, however, that the levels of fecal coliform in the small streams is high, and many streams are unfit for swimming or even boating. Though fecal coliforms by themselves are not harmful, after all, they are bacteria that live in the intestines of humans and animals, they do indicate the possible presence of other disease causing agents such as hepatitis A, salmonella, E. coli varieties, and parasites like giardia. We can assume therefore that levels of fecal coliform in the main streams of the Shenandoah River Basin could be higher than desired. The FOSR hopes to initiate a program to test for fecal coliform in the main streams of the Shenandoah River and is seeking funding for such a project.

EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION

By Meryl Christiansen

The Gibson et al "dog and pony show" ventured to Frederick County to join the 4-H Nature Day of Lester Ritenour, the county 4-H agent. The program consists of educational efforts of the Forest Service, Game and Inland Fisheries, Smithsonian Naturalist, FFA Wildlife students from James Madison High School, a snake display form Clarke County, Audubon society, a honeybee display and the Friends of the Shenandoah River. A half-day is spent at each Aylor, Frederick County and James Wood Middle Schools.

The students rotate to each of the educational groups at 20-minute intervals. In this manner FOSR talked to 898 sixth graders in two days. What a great opportunity to acquaint the next generation with the river, the importance of clean water and pollution control. Accolades to John Gibson, the golden voiced missionary who can do the impossible- keep the attention of a group of sixth graders. Thanks John!

New Funding and Assistance Available to Grassroots Watershed Groups in the Shenandoah Basin

by Peter Raabe, of River Network

Friday, June 22, 2001 Luray, VA- Leaders of the watershed movement in western Virginia gathered Thursday evening to celebrate the inauguration of the Shenandoah Basin Project (SBP). This project is a multi-year initiative designed to improve the environmental health of the Shenandoah River Basin through technical assistance and distribution of up to $95,000 in competitive small grants to local community watershed organizations. The project is grounded in a common interest of the Aqua Fund of the Tides Foundation, which provided the initial financial support, the local community watershed organizations, the Pure Water 2000 roundtable, and the project partners- River Network, VA Izaak Walton League- Save our Streams, and Canaan Valley Institute- who will provide technical assistance.

The Shenandoah watershed, an area of almost two million acres, drains a large portion of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge and provides drinking water to the majority of residents in its valley. The basin's beautiful natural resources, large agriculture industry, dense animal population, and industrial sites create a setting that requires careful management. Agricultural and urban run-off and streamside development, as well as continued point source pollution, threaten the waters of the Basin. Appropriate local management of the watershed will allow for continued economic development while protecting the resources that both residents and tourists in the valley have come to cherish. Many feel that the efforts of citizen-led grassroots groups are key to stemming the deterioration of the watershed.

The focus of this project is to assist community watershed organizations in areas where they have indicated a need for support in a manner that is complimentary to their current activities. The Shenandoah Basin Project is based on an assessment conducted in the fall of 2000. This identified four broad categories of need: (1) developing healthy, sustainable organizations, (2) effectively communicating the need for watershed protection to citizens and local decision makers, (3) expanding and improving stream water quality monitoring and data use, and (4) implementing riparian restoration activities.

In addition to project management, representatives from the SBP partner organizations will work directly with participating groups to deliver appropriate assistance and help implement projects. The intent is to build upon existing assets in the basin by emphasizing networking and cooperation among groups and integration of services and projects. One of the first activities will be a workshop in mid-July on how to build a healthy sustainable organization.

For more information about this project please contact Steve Talley with Canaan Valley Institute at 540/887-9898.

FOSR BOARD MEETINGS Open to all FOSR members who wish to attend Held the second Tuesday of each month @ 7:00 PM @ the FOSR office in Front Royal 824 Lee Highway (The Weichart Bldg.) FOSR OFFICE HOURS Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 AM -  2:00 PM (540) 636-4948 E-mail address: fosr@fosrbeta.org FOSR LAB HOURS Monday through Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (540) 665-1286 E-mail address: kanderse@su.edu SPECIAL THANKS FOSR wishes to thank the Clarke County Citizens Council for its donation of $400. Thank you so much. NEW MEMBERS: Rick Hanes Joined 6/01 Leland Phillips joined 6/01

MOVING ON We are sorry to report that we are losing two of our Board members, Doug Stiles and Ryan Emanuel. Doug has a new job and will be leaving the area. Ryan will be going on to the University of Virginia to continue his studies in hydrology. We thank you both for your service and contributions. Best of luck in your new adventures.   Attention Members Who Are Moving! When you move, don't forget to notify FOSR.  Postal regulations do not allow the forwarding of non-profit bulk mailings (newsletters, banquet invitations, etc.)  In order to continue to receive regular mailings from FOSR when you move, you must send a forwarding address to the FOSR office in Front Royal.  Otherwise, bulk mailings are discarded by the post office.  Send updates to: Friends of the Shenandoah River PO Box 410 Front Royal VA  22630

RIVER CLEANUPS

by Scott Cooper

In conjunction with American Outdoors' National river Cleanup Week, the Friends of the Shenandoah River hosted cleanup operations at Karo Landing, the Front Royal public landing and from Ellerslie Corner to the Route 7 bridge on the Shenandoah River in Clarke County. Our thanks go to the volunteers whose efforts removed nearly half a ton of litter form the Shenandoah waterfront. Randolph-Macon Academy cadets filled 18 heavy bags with litter from Karo Landing.

We are looking for volunteers for future cleanups. The FOSR is assisting Virginia Clean Waterways in its annual fall cleanup on September 15th. This cleanup is a part of the Governor's Virginia Fall River Renaissance and is managed internationally by the Center for Marine Conservation's International Coastal Cleanup project. The FOSR is soliciting volunteers to clean up selected locations along the Shenandoah River in Page, Warren, and Clarke counties. Pick your own favorite spot, or we can find one to suit you. Bags, gloves, and other materials will be provided. It's great for school environmental clubs, scouts, and businesses. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to call Scott Cooper or Bud Nagelvoort at the FOSR office. Please leave your name, number and, if available, e-mail address. They will contact you about details and options.

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