Local group monitors streams, Huge study examines watershed

By DAVID DADURKA / Daily Progress staff writer
Originally published: September 6, 2003

Last year’s drought drastically sapped water from the ponds on Ned Foss’ farm in White Hall.

“It brought home very clearly how fragile the water supply is,” Foss said of the barren shorelines he observed during one of the worst droughts in a century.

Though the retired book designer has little scientific background, Foss’ experience helped spark his interest in monitoring the health of area tributaries.

Foss joined about 30 or so people Saturday at Ivy Creek Natural Area who are working with a local group, StreamWatch, to become certified stream monitors.

StreamWatch founder John Murphy said the group is undertaking “the largest and most intensive aquatic biological data-gathering effort ever in the Rivanna watershed.”

With more than 50,000 miles of streams in Virginia, state environmental officials are beginning to use monitoring data collected by residents more frequently.

“We have limited resources in staff and can’t possible monitor every stream,” said Joyce Brooks, monitoring coordinator of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

For the past 10 months, Murphy and other StreamWatch volunteers have sampled water quality at roughly 25 sites in the watershed. Murphy plans to publish the results in January.

“There are a lot of data out there. The problem is it is designed for professional use and not accessible to the public,” he said.

The group monitors and collects data on benthic macroinvertebrates three times a year. The organisms, which are spineless and visible to the naked eye, include stoneflies, beetles, worms and other “bottom-dwelling critters,” Murphy said.

StreamWatch recently received $5,000 in support from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority and has received funding from Albemarle County.

“We hope that’s an indication of things to come,” said Murphy, an environmental sciences graduate of the University of Virginia.

The group receives “in-kind” support from its other partners, including the Rivanna Conservation Society, The Nature Conservancy, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District.

To track the health of a stream, volunteers dip a “kick” net into the bottom of the stream and collect the bugs, he said.

Once the insects are counted and characterized, Murphy runs the data through an computer program to score the stream’s health.

Environmental scientists determine the health of the stream by looking at the combination of organisms living together.

The presence of stoneflies, for example, is one indication that the stream is healthy, he said.

An abundance of net-spinning caddis flies, however, and the absence of less tolerant organisms might indicate stream pollution, Murphy explained.

Streams also reflect land use.

“They tell us about how well the community lives on the land,” he said.

Angus Murdoch, vice president of the Rivanna Conservation Society, said that while some urban streams such as Meadow Creek suffer from pollution problems, the region’s waterways are in “pretty fair shape.”

“Obviously, we are getting a lot of growth pressure, so it is good to have a baseline,” said Murdoch, a Fluvanna County resident and StreamWatch trainer.

“We hope gathering the data will give an impetus to preserve the areas that are good and improve the ones that aren’t.”

Contact David Dadurka at (434) 978-7299 or ddadurka@dailyprogress.com.

© 2003 Media General