Two Downstream Project partners invite everyone to join in their annual Christmas Bird Counts. The event was started in 1899 by the National Audubon Society and now takes place across the country. Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s count is scheduled for Thursday, December 28, in Loudoun County, Va. The count circle has a 15-mile diameter, covering 177 […]
Telling The Story Of Water One Photo At A Time
August 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Water Reporter app empowers people to document conditions by phone It seems that since the dawn of the age of mobile phones, middle-aged people have been telling younger folks to leave the phone at home when getting out into nature. Something about the urge to post and share pretty pictures from mountaintops and waterfalls just […]
Shenandoah Riverkeeper Files Suit Against EPA
July 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Local groups challenge the agency’s approval of Virginia’s decision to not list the Shenandoah as ‘impaired,’ despite excessive algae blooms and nutrient pollution Three local citizen groups, including the Clarke County-based Shenandoah Riverkeeper, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the agency’s repeated failure to address the Shenandoah River’s increasing problem with […]
TDP Director Bobby Whitescarver Wins Top Writing Honors
April 13, 2017 by 2 Comments
Outdoor writer and conservationist Robert Whitescarver received two Excellence-in-Craft (EIC) awards at the Virginia Outdoors Writers Association (VOWA) annual meeting held Charlottesville. Bobby, as he is known throughout the Shenandoah Valley and Chesapeake Bay, took home a first place for his blog, “Getting More on the Ground,” and third place for his column “Save the […]
A High Water Test for C Spout Run
June 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
C Spout Run’s streambank restoration project was only days old when it got tested by the heavy rainfall in the Mid-Atlantic a few weeks ago. Spout Run, a tributary of the Shenandoah River, swelled from its typical flow rate of about 22 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 800 cfs; a 36-fold increase in volume. […]
2014: The Year of Living Dangerously
May 8, 2014 by 1 Comment
Winter brought us the MCHM spill in the Elk River near Charleston, West Virginia and the coal ash release into North Carolina’s Dan River. Suddenly, spring seems just as frightening. Last week, a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia, shooting flames into the air and releasing an estimated 30,000 gallons of crude […]
Farm Programs Helping to Save the Bay
December 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shared some encouraging news last week: Its most recent analysis of conservation programs in the Chesapeake Bay watershed show that new farming practices are reducing sediment and nutrient loading into waterways. Federal programs promoted through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as well as state, local and private […]
Water pollution? There’s an app for that.
October 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Downstream Project Executive Director (and Rotarian) Bill Howard invited Upper Potomac River Manager for the Potomac RIVERKEEPER, Brent Walls, to speak at the Shepherdstown, WV Rotary Club breakfast last week, where Brent announced the Water Reporter —a new iPhone and iPad app (Android coming soon) that lets you report pollution as soon as you see it. […]
Who Knew? Scientists discover hidden streams in Potomac River watershed
October 17, 2013 by 3 Comments
Before there was a capital city on the Potomac or a port in Baltimore; before the Beltways, the suburbs, the strip malls and subdivisions, there were streams – a lot of them, apparently. Recently, scientists from the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science developed high resolution maps that identify headwater channels throughout the Potomac […]
Summer’s End
September 19, 2013 by 2 Comments
Garden fresh tomatoes and crisp cucumbers. A cool swimming hole and a paddle down the river. A quiet evening fishing and a campsite by the creek. What did you enjoy this summer? Whatever it was, chances are it depended on clean water. We often take clean water for granted these days, but not so […]
