Intro
Greetings respected colleagues: I have started a blog to explore various stormwater and watershed topics. Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts and if you have ideas or topics that you’d like to explore together.
A Conversation With Task A
I glance at my to-do list full of tasks. I am glad for the list, but also feel overwhelmed. How about you?
We in the environmental biz are in it for more than a transactional relationship with individual tasks to check off. However, our everyday experience can oscillate between the higher calling and the compulsion to just get some stuff done, and the load feels like a burden. It seems lately my conversations with colleagues are imbued with this sentiment. It makes we wonder if my relationship with my to-do list is merely a transaction, or something more; something about what we want to express about ourselves in the world?
Carousing in Karst
We donned our navy-blue coveralls, helmets, headlamps, and gloves and headed up Cave Hill on the trail. After short steep hike, the cave gaped open behind a locked gate to the right. We descended some stairs hued into the limestone rock by long-ago adventurers, and soon were in a giant room filled with various formations.
The Grateful Dead — Troubadours of Stormwater
The turning of the new year made me nostalgic for the Grateful Dead. This is odd, as I was never a committed Dead Head (but there was that amazing show at RFK Stadium with The Dead, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan, along with the giant mud pit). I think my nostalgia was fueled by the realization that The Dead were the original Troubadours of Stormwater — a little known fact, even in the water resources biz.
Do You Know the Stokes Brothers? A Clean Water Act Backstory
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act. Three years prior to that milestone, on June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. As the narrative goes, this conflagration was one of the chief galvanizing events to build support for cleaner water in the country. A river
Following the Threads: Rayon, Mercury, and the South River Watershed
This is a story that includes several threads. One, appropriately, is a fabric known as Rayon. That thread is interwoven with two others: the chemical mercury and the South River Watershed in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It is indeed a complex weave of science, history, changing economic forces, and an exceptional river.
Another Dam Done Gone
Another Dam Done Gone
The crowd of close to 3,500 gathered on the riverbank of the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, VA on February 23, 2004. They had come to see the explosion. The atmosphere was celebratory, even jubilant, with dignitaries and media buzzing around. The crowd had come to see the Embrey Dam be blown up by an Army Engineering team from Fort Eustis, ultimately opening up 700 miles of river and tributary waters to migratory fish and creating a unique river paddling experience. John Warner, a U.S. Senator from Virginia at the time, donning his floppy brimmed fishing hat, pushed the symbolic demolition plunger, and the crowd held its collective breath.
The Best Lecture I Heard in College: How to Tie a Canoe Onto A Car
Recently, I had the occasion to put a canoe in the water, which of course involved getting the canoe on and off of the car. When it came to lashing the boat to the car, my companions for the day just stood back and watched. They observed the placement of the canoe on the racks, the positioning of the ropes, and finally the slip knots that sealed the deal. One actually muttered softly, “oh, that’s how you do it,” as if I were performing a magic trick.
I assure you, there was no sleight of hand involved. Far from it – it was the direct product of the best lecture I heard in college, delivered by the renowned lake researcher, Dr. Daniel Livingstone.
The Dam Keeper’s Dilemma
The Dam Keeper’s Dilemma
On the September 17, 2018, the remnants of Hurricane Florence had moved inland from the North Carolina coast and up into the Shenandoah Valley. As he did during all major storm events, Michael was in his Soil and Water District truck patrolling the water levels at several flood control dams. At the Tom’s Branch dam, Michael realized that things were a bit different with this storm. The water level had already topped the 40 foot gauge and water was flowing through the emergency spillway. Plus, the access road below was underwater, so Michael couldn’t drive out. He spent the night there, in constant contact with County emergency services crews and his District co-workers in case mandatory evacuations had to be enacted.
Packera Pursuit
Packera Pursuit
I am being followed. Or, rather, I am following. I keep glancing over my shoulder to see if it is still there. Not because I feel threatened, but because it is cheering me along, whether on foot or bicycle. The subject is Packera aurea, known commonly as golden ragwort or golden groundsel. Packera is unflinchingly cheerful. If you are following Packera, you are likely in a wooded setting on a rocky ridge or a floodplain or maybe a rain garden, and it may be early or late Spring. How fortunate for you!
The 25 Cent Part That Breaks the Million Dollar Machine
The $0.25 Part That Breaks the Million Dollar Machine
Recently, two seemingly incongruous things happened on the same day. The first was that I turned on my kitchen faucet and water sprayed all over the kitchen. The second was an online presentation that included an academic review of the deficiencies of stormwater practice inlets. Ah ha, I said, the 25 cent part that breaks the million dollar machine!