To protect the water we drink, we need clean air, expansive forests, responsible farms, wooded stream banks, and communities and individuals who make choices to avoid pollution.
By reducing impervious surface.
Land conservation and land use planning/advocacy are the primary ways that PEC works to reduce impervious surfaces.
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Through land management.
From rural to suburban to urban, there are best management practices (native plantings, livestock fencing) that make water cleaner.
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By removing barriers.
Culverts, low-water crossings and linear infrastructure (i.e. pipelines, highways) can serve as disruptions to healthy stream flow.
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Through stream monitoring.
Monitoring water quality, biological populations, and physical features of stream habitat are all vital to understanding stream health.
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The following articles appeared in PEC's Membership Newsletter -- The Piedmont View
SYRIA, VA. At the Robinson River, 350 linear feet of stream was restored to its natural channel, stabilizing banks from erosion, and ultimately removing sediment from going downstream to the Chesapeake Bay. In all, 5.3 miles of habitat was restored for aquatic species such as American eel and brook trout. PEC worked with USFWS, Shenandoah Streamworks, Trout Unlimited, and local landowners to complete this stream restoration project in April 2017. Monitoring for water quality, and fish population health with the help of partners of VA DGIF and TU.
Monitoring stream health involves measuring and recording long-term trends in stream conditions to measure success in conserving the Piedmont’s natural aquatic habitats and waterways. Since these streams eventually flow into larger waterways such as the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, the protection of headwater streams is important for water quality throughout the region.
Understanding the scope of a stream’s health is critical. Monitoring overall stream health includes many components, such as monitoring water quality, biological populations, and physical features of stream habitat. Monitoring water quality involves testing for the presence of common stream pollutants, from sediment to e-coli bacteria. Monitoring biological populations is important because strong populations of macroinvertebrate and fish species in Virginia’s streams are indicators of clean, healthy streams and diverse ecosystems. Observing the physical characteristics of a stream, such as erosion, can provide valuable qualitative information about the stream’s condition. From conserving Virginia’s aquatic wildlife to ensuring safe drinking water, the impacts of monitoring stream health are far-reaching and critical for a healthy ecosystem.
One way PEC and its partner organizations work to monitor and protect these streams is through the help of citizen scientists. Citizen scientists are passionate citizens, like yourself, that conduct scientific research. PEC holds water quality events in the Thumb Run watershed and Loudoun County for people of all backgrounds. Volunteer activism helps preserve local communities and ecosystems, and is essential to protecting Virginia’s Piedmont.
How can I get involved? If you are interested in working with PEC as a citizen scientist, please follow this link to our volunteer form. There are also great watershed protection groups that focus on stream health monitoring throughout the PEC region.
The following articles were posted by Loudoun's Clean Stream Coalition