Open Space Institute Focuses on the South Branch and Cacapon Watersheds

June 22, 2013

Conservation group target's state's Potomac headwaters region for protection as habitat for climate change transition

By Rick Steelhammer

CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- A million-acre section of the Potomac River's headwaters region along the West Virginia-Virginia border is being targeted for protection through a $6 million initiative funded through a private conservation initiative.

The land is considered one of the four top climate change-resilient landscapes to be found in a 13-state segment of the eastern United States, according to an analysis of data from a Nature Conservancy study by the Open Space Institute.

Each of the four areas, chosen from among dozens evaluated by the Open Space Institute, is eligible to receive at least $500,000 from the OSI, plus an additional share of $5.5 million in grants for land conservation.

"These are places with landforms that support a wide range of biodiversity due to the complexity of the landscape," said Peter Howell, OSI's executive vice president.  "They are also fairly unfragmented and undeveloped."

West Virginia land being targeted for protection through the OSI initiative includes portions of the Cacapon/Lost River watersheds in the Eastern Panhandle and the South Branch of the Potomac watershed, including Smoke Hole Canyon.

Algae monitored in the Cacapon and South Branch

Reposted from the Cumberland Times-News

Algae being monitored on two local rivers
It’s not toxic, but a hindrance to recreationists

Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News

 CUMBERLAND — Filamentous algae — its presence, location and cause — is being monitored in the South Branch of the Potomac and Cacapon rivers this summer in response to complaints by those who recreate in and on those waterways.

 “We have contracted with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin to do the field work,” said Kevin Coyne, director of the Water Quality Standards program for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

 Field work by the commission’s Adam Griggs began this month and will continue into October, according to Coyne.

 “On the South Branch we are monitoring from Moorefield downstream to a location below The Trough,” Coyne said. The upstream boundary is in Hardy County, W.Va., and the downstream in Hampshire.

 There are eight monitoring stations throughout the Cacapon River drainage.

 Filamentous algae, also called string algae, isn’t toxic, but hinders water activities such as fishing, swimming and canoeing, according to Coyne. DEP began monitoring the algae in 2006 in the Greenbrier River drainage and is expanding the investigation to other parts of the Mountain State, including the Shenandoah River in Jefferson County.

 “It’s that green substance you see on the water’s surface,” Coyne said. “We also get complaints from home owners who have waterfront acreage.”

 Background about the algae, as well as Coyne’s contact information, is available online at http://www.dep.wv.gov.

 Coyne said there are also some drinking water quality concerns because of the algae. Some suppliers have had to modify treatment to improve taste and smell.

 The commission reports that high, muddy flows have prevented Griggs from finding much algae during the early portion of the study.

 Water chemistry sampling continues, though, and can point to sources of nutrients, according to the commission.

 The presence or absence of algae in a given area can be hard to understand, Griggs noted.

 Some river segments hold algae for part of the year and aquatic vegetation at other times. Other segments can hold high nutrient loads but still not foster excessive algal growth, he reported.

 Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.

Mostly wind, little rain

Yesterday's storm provided less than 0.2 inches of rain in our area, and the same was true downstream, although the winds became tornadoes in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.

Photo from the Washington Post.