Botetourt to the Bay

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Botetourt to the Bay

• Barbara Kolb
• Monitoring the Upper James River

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Map of the Commonwealth
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Botetourt to the Bay--on the James
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Botetourt County The Northern Part is in
the James River Watershed
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Upper Craig Creek
Use of Army Corps of Engineers and USGS 7.5
minute Topographic maps

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Project Goals

• Understand the relationship of the upper James
  River Watershed to the overall water quality of
  the James River
• Develop life-long techniques for Students to use
  to monitor their watershed
• Develop an appreciation for a natural river and
  riparian environment

Share information about the Botetourt connection
to the Bay with others Use methods of analysis as
model for schools to follow
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Description

• The purpose of the project was to study the Upper
  James River and its tributaries in order to
  understand the quality of water as well as the
  challenges to the watershed
• Additionally, the purpose was to train as many
  students and citizens as possible in methods to
  analyze water quality, using the
  macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality

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General Procedure

• Learn where the James River Watershed
  extends--Locate the head of the James River from
  the confluence of the Jackson River and the
  Cowpasture River at Iron Gate, Botetourt County,
  VA
• Learn where the James River flows in Botetourt
  County

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Head of the James
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North Creek, down from the Blue Ridge
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The James, near Rockbridge
County
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Experimental Procedure

• Learn different techniques to monitor water
  quality
• Learn the Save our Streams water quality
  monitoring program
• Select sites to monitor
• Gain permission, if needed, and monitor sites

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Students learning to survey
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• Evaluate the water quality at selected spots in
  the James River Watershed, based on
  macroinvertebrate biodiversity
• Involve citizen and student participation in the
  project to promote interest in water quality of
  the Upper James River watershed

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Outreach Procedure

• Participate in outreach programs to civic and
  school groups on the connection of the Upper
  James River to the quality of water in the Lower
  James River and the Chesapeake Bay.
• Increase interest and provide leadership for
  monitoring water quality

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General Observations

• The Cowpasture River is clear enough to snorkel
  in, while the Jackson, coming from the Westvaco
  paper mill in Covington, is brown with effluent
  from the mill these rivers form the James River
  at Iron Gate, Botetourt County, VA
• The Upper James River has many challenges to
  water quality

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Observations

• Students participated in Clean Valley Councils
  Water Quality Conference in October, 2000
• Students participated in a two-day workshop on
  water quality monitoring

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The Upper James River Stream School
Presentations from State, Local and
Federal Agencies as well as Jay Gilliam.
Of Save our Streams
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Monitoring at the Stream School
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Water Quality monitoring in the winter!
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• The sites selected of tributaries of the James
  were ones which were available, with public
  access or permission to access secured on the
  tributaries or accessible by Kayak on the James
  River

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General Experimental Results

• Macroinvertebrate biodiversity varied
• Site on Jennings Creek-- only pouch snails and a
  few other species were identified
• Site on Craig Creek-- almost every
  macroinvertebrate in the Save our Streams
  program, Group I was located, identified, and
  counted
• Twelve sites on the James River and tributaries
  were studied

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Students reached out into the community
Citizen groups have asked the students to help
teach water quality monitoring
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Students made presentations to schools
And Civic Groups (Rotary and Ruritans)
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Eagle Rock Elementary Students learn about the
importance of clean water
Students also teach James River classes about why
and how to conduct a scientific investigation in
the field
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Botetourt to the Bay
TO BAY
Students journeyed to the Bay to see for
themselves the connections between
Botetourt County and the Chesapeake, February,
2001
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Conclusions

• The James River has varied water quality,
  depending on the site studied
• Sites downstream from sources of pollution had
  poor water quality

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Finally,

• Streams recovered from sources of pollution,
  downstream from the pollution site, based on
  macroinvertebrate biodiversity studies
• More work is needed