Watershed Walk

This past weekend the rain wouldn't quit.  It let up, but drizzled on.
With so much rain and runoff, I thought it be a great day to check out the Richardson Lane Watershed and see what was happening with water levels and what kind of conditions the local runoff was in.

We explored the middle to southeastern portion of Tributary East.  The goal was to reach the headwaters, but past logging and the thick under story prevented us from going all the way.

Photo by: Briana Bill
The water is up!

Photo by: Briana Bill

Deer sign in the watershed.  His and hers scat.  Buck to the left, doe to the right.  We found an area with heavy foraging and a bedding area.

Photo by: Briana Bill
A deer rub near the bedding area.

Photo by: Briana Bill
We traveled south along the stream bank and found this little waterfall.  

Photo by: Briana Bill

Photo by: Briana Bill

As we traveled upstream, the under-story changed.  The stream bank became thicker with smaller diameter trees and shrubs.  The herbaceous layer was much thicker.

Photo by: Briana Bill

Further upstream the stream narrowed and became overgrown with vegetation and lots of brambles.  It became difficult to maneuver through the underbrush.  It appears this messy riparian zone is a result of past logging.  The clearcut was taken all the way to the stream bank.  There was no buffer provided by the logging and the result is overgrowth of vegetation.  It is a typical practice in this area to clear cut right through the headwater streams as they are not incised and don't provide much of an obstacle.

Photo by: Briana Bill

We left the stream to go around and try to find the headwaters further upstream.  As we traversed the hillside, we came across a very large beech tree, with a very small praying mantis attempting to scale the vertical trunk. 

Photo by: Troy Shelton
While not a monster, this is a large tree for this watershed.  It was very tall.

Photo by: Troy Shelton

We hiked up to an up-gradient tobacco field.  At the edge of the field were large rocks that had been removed from the field years ago.  They were stacked up in a row.

Photo by: Briana Bill
At the forest edge, over looking the tobacco field.

Photo by: Briana Bill

While runoff was occurring at this field, the vegetated roads and forested buffers provided good erosion control.  This was the worst spot at the field's edge.

Photo by: Briana Bill

We could not follow the stream through the vegetation and stopped left of this photograph.  The stream entered a pasture and is evident by the line of regrowth of trees and saplings.

Photo by: Briana Bill

The pasture is maintained to provide a forested stream buffer.  The buffer is thick enough that the resident cattle avoid the stream.  The farmer also provides a watering trough to discourage the cattle from the stream.  The regrowth of trees outlines the general boundary of the headwaters.

Watershed Walk Route

Google Maps 2015

Let's try this again, Beautiful Invasive Species

Beautiful Invasive Species of Virginia

Enjoy this presentation on Beautiful Invasive Species!
Not all that glitters is gold.
Be sure to download the power point for proper presentation.
or click on this link:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/283054415/Beautiful-Invasive-Species

Beautiful Invasive Species

Upcoming Seminar for folks studying watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay area!

Hey Folks,
I received this information regarding some upcoming training.  This seminar is free to attend and may be of interest if you are in the area.

The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia is pleased to offer the following:

Forests for the Bay
Join us on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 to hear Craig Highfield and Jenny McGarvey, of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay – Forests for the Bay Program, talk about the ecological and resource benefits of sustainable forest management.  Healthy forests, and healthy riparian buffers support water quality and watershed sustainability.  Neil Clark, of the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Southeast Area will talk about Virginians and their forests!  (An agenda is attached.)
WHEN: Wednesday, October 21, 2015,  9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon

WHERE: In the McHugh Auditorium / Waterman’s Hall, in Gloucester Point, Virginia, on the campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

REGISTRATION: There is no charge for this workshop, but you must pre-register.  Please send an email with the following information: name, email address, work affiliation, telephone number, to Sandra Erdle – at syerdle@vims.edu, BY Friday, October 16, 2015.  I will send a confirmation email when I receive your information.  

                 

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

McHugh Auditorium / Waterman’s Hall, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Gloucester Point

9:00 – 9:10               Welcome and Overview

Sandra Erdle, Coastal Training Program Coordinator, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

9:10 – 9:55               Virginians and their forests – what forests are providing for Virginians and what Virginians are doing for their forests.

Neil Clark, Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Southeast Area

9:55 – 10:40             Forests and water - A discussion on the essential role forests provide to the function of Virginia’s streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.  Craig Highfield, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

10:40 – 10:55          Break

10:55 – 11:30          Ecosystem markets – an overview of Virginia’s nutrient trading program and opportunities it presents for Virginia’s rural landowners           and forest restoration followed by a discussion of  two current nutrient trading projects initiated by the Alliance  

                                    Jenny McGarvey – Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

11:30 – 12:00          Conservation tools on the web – Demonstration of new innovative tools available free for landowners and resource professionals.  Craig Highfield & Jenny McGarvey

                                                          

Global Sustainability?

What a concept.  This Pope is an interesting fella.  If we stop to think about sustainability of the earth and all of her inhabitants, what might we change about the way we live?  Are we willing to do it?


(http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2015/9/25/at_un_pope_blasts_selfish_and)

Speaking at the United Nations today, Pope Francis called on world leaders to protect the earth. He said, "In effect, a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged [...] The poorest are those who suffer most from such offenses, for three serious reasons: they are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment. They are part of today’s widespread and quietly growing 'culture of waste (Democracy Now).'"

Retrieved from: http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2015/9/25/at_un_pope_blasts_selfish_and [webpage] on September 25, 2015.

The Dan River Basin Association

CLICK HERE BEFORE YOU BEGIN!

A day at work in the Banister River Watershed

I get to work all over the place.
This past week I spent my days in Halifax County.
This particular location was associated with a closed landfill.
Landfills are perhaps an overlooked resource.  They are full of biodiversity, of you just take the time to look around.

I was in the Winn Creek watershed.  This is part of the Terrible Creek watershed, which is part of the Banister River watershed.

I wasn't alone, check out my co-workers.

Okay, these two were weird.  I thought the brown fuzball was a leaf.  I bent down to check out the Saddleback caterpillar and the brown leaf unfolded and walked away.  It's a Monkey Slug Caterpillar. Quite a site.

International Rivers

International Rivers is an interesting website.  I encourage you to check it out:
http://www.internationalrivers.org/

I really like this part of their definition of a watershed:

"A watershed is a web of life. The life it supports is interconnected, meaning every creature and plant depends on other creatures and plants in the watershed for sustenance. If the whole watershed is like our bodies, then rivers are like our veins – coursing with life and crucial to sustaining it (International Rivers)."

International Rivers. (2015). Rivers Basin Basics. Retrieved from: http://www.internationalrivers.org/river-basin-basics

HUC or Watershed?

When asked to identify the watershed I was going to study, I immediately thought, "Oh, what's the HUC code and I can go from there."  In my line of work, HUC codes really mean something to regulators.  To me, they can be a bit hard to find, and while they are helpful for permits and identifying the watershed a project is located in, I wasn't sure what the big deal was.  Regardless, I looked up the 8-digit, the 10-digit and 12-digit HUC codes for the Richardson Lane Watershed.

Looking at HUC codes in a manner than actually meant something to me was enlightening.  Ah ha! The 8-digit code is a broad identifier: We are in the Banister River Hydrologic Unit.

                                                                                                                                   
The 10-digit code is a bit more defined: We are in the Sandy Creek Hydrologic Unit.

                                                                                                                                         
The 12-digit code is even more specific: We are in the Upper Sandy Creek Hydrologic Unit.

                                                                                                                                         
In Virginia, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has a great website that helps you find your HUC code by latitude/longitude, an address, searching a map, etc.

http://dswcapps.dcr.virginia.gov/htdocs/maps/HUExplorer.htm

Wait a minute.  I thought we were talking about watersheds.  What is a hydrologic unit?

On their website, DCR defines a watershed and a hydrologic unit and the differences between the two.  According to DCR, "a true watershed is an area of land and water defined by a boundary such that all surface drainage within the boundary converges to a single point. This point of convergence is usually the exit point, where the collected waters leave the watershed. There are, however, watersheds out of which no water flows.

In contrast, hydrologic units are drainage areas that are delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Aside from the surface waters that are collected within the boundary of a hydrologic unit, it may also accept water from one or more points outside of the unit’s boundary. The tidal portion of the James River is a good example. It can be a hydrologic unit but not a watershed, because water enters this unit from both the non-tidal (Piedmont) James River at Richmond and the Appomattox River at Hopewell. Additionally, hydrologic units may include associated surface areas whose drainages do not connect, thus resulting in multiple outlet points. This is usually the case with coastal frontage units such as those containing multiple outlets to the Chesapeake Bay or Atlantic Ocean (DCR)."

So HUCs are a great way to quickly find your watershed, but beware, HUCs may contain more than just the watersheds associated with a river system.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). (2015). Hydrologic Unit Geography.  Retreived from: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/hu.shtml

Richardson Lane Watershed, Upper Sandy Creek

I've selected two unnamed tributaries of the Upper Sandy Creek Watershed to study for the Watershed Systems Stewardship class.  For the purpose of this blog, I've temporarily named this micro-watershed the Richardson Lane Watershed.

Richardson Lane Watershed

Location: Richardson Lane, Keeling, Virginia 24566
Lat/Long: 36°43’46.12”N / 79°17’11.81”W

USGS Quadrangle: Blairs, VA 2013

Highlighted in red on the USGS map is the topographic boundaries of the proposed study area. You'll note there are two tributaries on each side of Richardson Lane.  For the purpose of this evaluation, the tributary to the east of Richardson Lane will be Tributary East (Trib.E) and the tributary to the west of Richardson Lane will be Tributary West (Trib.W).

The Richardson Lane Watershed is a micro-watershed to the Roanoke River Basin.

We start small and grow larger in contribution to larger watersheds:

Upper Sandy Creek » Sandy Creek » Banister River » Dan River » Roanoke River

Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Effects of Flood Control and Other Reservoir Operations on the Water Quality of the Lower Roanoke River, North Carolina (Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5101) 

I reside along Richardson Lane, in Keeling, Virginia.  Keeling is in Pittsylvania County in Southern Virginia, near the city of Danville.

http://pittsylvaniacountyva.gov/.

I have been part of this tiny community long enough to feel the desire to know it better. When we moved here, we were surrounded by forest; a little cabin tucked away in the woods.  Our forest was further surrounded by even more forest and farmland.

A year after moving in, we noticed strange survey ribbons along the property boundary and an informative neighbor notified us of a pending logging operation.  The forest north of our property was completely removed and we were left with a view of a 40 acre clear cut.

I'm an environmental scientist by trade and immediately noticed the lack of stream buffers and erosion control.  I said to myself, "That would make an interesting study.  I wonder what kind of actual impact that is having on the stream."

Not long after, the familiar noise of the logging machines rumbled to the west.

In addition to forest, we are bound by a 140 acre farm.  This farm is subject to a variety of uses, one of which is tobacco farming.  In 2015, the acreage of tobacco fields increased, as did the obvious sediment runoff into the nearby waterways.

The events and land use along Richardson Lane is not unique.  It's quite common throughout southern Virginia.  By understanding my micro-watershed and the effects of its land use, I am hoping I can educate the local community of steps they can take to reduce erosion and improve land management.