Does the warm weather, birds singing, and flowers blooming have you seeing green all around? What about in the water?
On the evening of April 30th, ICPRB staff, in coordination with our West Virginia partners, deployed a bright green dye into the lower Lost River. Although we’re a little late for St. Patrick’s Day, the dye will help scientists understand how water travels underground in a complex geological environment.
During dry weather, the Lost River disappears underground and reappears as the Cacapon River. The geological connection between the two rivers is not fully understood.
As the food grade dye sinks into the cracks and fissures in the Lost River, ICPRB scientists will monitor and map the color as it reemerges at springs throughout the Cacapon watershed. To help us track the dye, staff installed passive carbon pack collectors (essentially fish tank carbon filters) throughout the watershed.
The safe dye will degrade and wash away in only a few days, leaving the Cacapon as it was before (if a bit less festive).
If you are familiar with the geology in the region, you can help our scientists by identifying springs and ground water sinks in the Lost River Valley, Rio Valley, or Upper Cacapon.
Watershed moments — What to celebrate this week: Drinking Water Week
What do your coffee maker, a brewery, and you have in common? They all need clean drinking water to function properly. Drinking Water Week is a time to celebrate our most vital resource and those who work to protect it.
Ways to celebrate Drinking Water Week (May 5-11):
Learn where your drinking water comes from
Discover new ways to be more water efficient
Participate in a local river clean up
Thank you to all the water resource professionals who work hard to make sure our taps work when we need them (and our coffee maker, too!). Join the conversation using #drinkingwaterweek on your favorite social media platforms.
If you have visited the ICPRB website recently you might have noticed some changes. In our continued effort to make the website more accessible to a wider audience, we are excited to announce a couple new features.
Clicking a button at the top right of the website immediately translates the website’s content into other languages. Readers can choose from ten of the most common languages spoken within the Potomac River watershed, including Spanish and French.
Clicking the person icon at the bottom right of the website provides audio and visual options to make the website more accessible to people living with a disability. Readers will find a menu with eight different accessibility profiles to choose from, including motor impaired, color blind, and visually-impaired. Among other options, visitors can choose to have the website read aloud or change the look of the site (color contrast, text size, etc.) to better suit an individual’s needs.
Watershed moments — what to celebrate this week: Rx Take Back Day
One simple way to protect our waterways is to properly dispose of medication (NEVER flush it down the drain!). This Saturday there will be collection sites conveniently located throughout the region where anyone can safely offload unneeded medication as part of the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
ICPRB Webinar: Water Resources Impacts of Data Centers and Solar Fields and Tools to Mitigate Impacts
Interested in the intersection of data centers, solar fields, and water resources in the Potomac River watershed? Join ICPRB for a webinar on Friday, May 10 at noon to learn about the water resources impacts of data centers and solar fields in the Potomac watershed. We’ll also discuss tools to mitigate and prevent those impacts. The panel will feature speakers from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and Loudoun Water.
Earth Day is Monday, April 22. One impetus for the national push for a this day to inspire environmental action was Silent Spring, a groundbreaking book which linked pollution to real impacts to both the environment and human health. The book was written by biologist and writer Rachel Carson, a resident of the Potomac River basin.
Looking for ways to celebrate? Here are just a few of many options:
Each month, April through October, the staff at ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac put together a Water Supply Outlook. The report explores the possibility of water supply releases from upstream reservoirs and looks at the overall precipitation status of the Potomac basin.
April’s Water Supply Outlook calls for a below normal probability that we will need to rely on the upstream reservoirs to provide water for the DC Metro area. Although the Potomac basin is 3.8 inches below average for the past 12 months, the year has started out at near-normal levels. If low-flow conditions develop, the Washington metropolitan area is protected from a water supply shortage owing to carefully designed drought-contingency plans.
Nusrat Noor will be joining ICPRB remotely from her home base of Durham, NC where she is working on her Master of Environmental Management at Duke University. She has experience curating and cataloging large collections of aquatic and marine invertebrates at both the Auburn University Museum of Natural History and the Florida Museum of Natural History.
At ICPRB, Ms. Noor will be working closely with the CO-OP team to retrieve and analyze remotely sensed water storage data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to improve hydrological modeling and forecasting during low flows in the Potomac basin. She is also working to make historic, handwritten water quality datasets held by ICPRB available in electronic format.
Nusrat is originally from Florida and currently lives with her two cats. She enjoys hiking, crocheting, and buying toys for her cats that they never use.
Risa Fish hails from Phoenix, Arizona, where she advocated for clean water and sanitation practices for an organization conducting water projects in Cusco, Peru. She also conducted research and educated the public on water conservation at the Water Conservation Department of the City of Chandler. Already holding a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Public Policy (Sustainability) from Arizona State University, Ms. Fish is now working on her Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management at Georgetown University, where she expects to graduate this summer. She hopes to remain in the DMV area post-graduation as she has loved living on the East Coast.
During her internship at ICPRB, she will be working on a Spatial Statistical Network modeling project as well as making improvements to our water quality data inventory. As a self-proclaimed “water nerd” she is eager to continue to expand her expertise in the water field and is looking forward to the experiences ICPRB can provide her with.
This is ICPRB’s third year since starting the internship program that educates and encourages future water resources professionals. Check out our YouTube page to see the great work of previous interns.
One Down, Many More to Come
Thank you to our guides, Paul Kreingold and Jon Wolz, and everyone that joined us for our first Walk in the Woods of 2024. We learned the fascinating history of the quarry along the Potomac that supplied the statuesque columns for Statuary Hall in the Capitol. See pictures of our walk (and Potomac marble!) on Facebook.
Did you miss your chance to register for Saturday’s *sold out*Walk in the Woods: Potomac Marble near Dickerson, MD? Don’t worry, we’ve got a spot for you. If you would like to join us for this 5-mile guided trek to discover the stone that rebuilt Washington, D.C., we’re extending extra spots to anyone signed up for our newsletter. The event is free to attend, but we ask that you register by responding to this email.
Last week, ICPRB staff joined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), DC Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) for a tabletop exercise to review — and improve — our collective response to a hypothetical threat to our water supply system.
ICPRB staff utilized our Emergency River Spill Model to support the exercise scenario, and discussed spill notification, modeling, and communication protocols. Events like these are important for building processes and relationships for a more efficient and effective response to emergency situations.
A newly published pamphlet, Potomac Basin Trends in Water Use, summarizes forecasted reported water withdrawals and consumptive use in the Potomac basin. Understanding current and anticipated water use is vital for sustainable water resources planning today and into the future. Consumptive Use (CU) is the portion of water withdrawn from a resource and not returned for subsequent use. Examples of CU: evaporated irrigation and cooling water, bottled drinking water, and water consumed by people or livestock.
ICPRB Report Explores Future Water Use Across the Watershed
A newly published pamphlet, Potomac Basin Trends in Water Use, summarizes forecasted reported water withdrawals and consumptive use in the Potomac basin. Understanding current and anticipated water use is vital for sustainable water resources planning today and into the future.
The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment’s (DOEE) Fisheries Research Branch is conducting their annual creel survey and encourages local anglers to participate. The goal of the survey is to better understand recreational angling efforts, perceptions, and harvests within Washington D.C. The information obtained from the voluntary survey will be used to inform fisheries management decisions and regulations. DOEE encourages anglers to fill out the form after every fishing trip.
The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) recently published an update to a comprehensive planning document that it hopes will be used as a tool to protect water supplies, drinking water sources, water quality, and aquatic life.
At this week’s ICPRB Quarterly Business Meeting, the ICPRB Commissioners formally adopted the 2023 Updates to the Potomac Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan. The document is the result of a yearlong stakeholder process that evaluated progress during the first five years of implementation and developed the workplan for the next five years.
A section of the report includes how the public can get involved:
Encourage and participate in stewardship activities that improve watershed conditions, such as trash pickups, reducing winter salt use, and picking up pet waste.
Share the plan with local politicians, water suppliers, environmental organizations, and civic organizations.
Federal Funding to Protect and Preserve the Potomac River Watershed
ICPRB received $650,000 in the recent funding package passed by Congress.
In making the announcement, ICPRB Executive Director Michael Nardolilli stated, “We are glad to see the federal government acknowledge the important work of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River.”
The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) will use this as a tool to protect water supplies, drinking water sources, water quality, and aquatic life, and encourages other organizations to do the same.
Population changes in the Potomac River watershed (2010-2020).
“The Potomac River watershed is home to 6.9 million people. As the saying goes, we all live downstream. Practices and policies throughout the watershed impact our waterways. We expect this updated plan to continue to serve as a catalyst for sustainable water resources management throughout the watershed,” explains Michael Nardolilli, Executive Director of ICPRB.
The plan addresses water resources challenges to the watershed, including sustainable water uses and supplies, protecting and improving water quality, sustainably managing human land use, and protecting ecological health.
The Potomac River watershed includes parts of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, as well as the entire District of Columbia. According to Nardolilli, most of the residents in the watershed rely on the Potomac River or its tributaries for drinking water.
The planning document, titled Potomac Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan, was originally published in 2018. The 2023 updates were the result of a yearlong review process by an advisory committee composed of regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. It was officially adopted by the ICPRB Commissioners at the business meeting on March 12, 2024.
“The population in the Potomac River watershed has increased by 13% since 2010. With this immense growth, it is more important than ever that we practice smart and sustainable water resources planning. We think this Comprehensive Plan is the tool to achieve that vision,” says Nardolilli.
According to Nardolilli, milestones from the initial 2018 plan are mostly complete. New goals developed in the recent update are expected to begin in the spring of this year.
“It takes a watershed-wide effort to protect and preserve the Potomac River and its related resources. Through a diverse stakeholder group, the plan provides a voice for people and organizations throughout the basin. Further, the update highlights the need to reach the wonderfully varied communities of the basin, with particular focus on those disproportionately affected by water resources issues,” states Dr. Heidi Moltz, Director of Program Operations at ICPRB and an author of the plan.
Dr. Moltz shares some of the ways the public can get involved which are suggested in the new report:
Encourage and participate in stewardship activities that improve watershed conditions, such as trash pickups, reducing winter salt use, and picking up pet waste.
Share the plan with local politicians, water suppliers, environmental organizations, and civic organizations.
Renee Bourassa, Communications Director
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin | Rockville, MD rbourassa@icprb.org | 301.417.4371 | ICPRB
The 2023 Updates to the Potomac River Basin Comprehensive Plan can be found on ICPRB’s website at: https://bit.ly/basin_plan
The ICPRB is an interstate compact commission established by Congress in 1940. Its mission is to protect and enhance the waters and related resources of the Potomac River basin through science, regional cooperation, and education. Represented by appointed commissioners, the ICPRB includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the federal government. The ICPRB affirms the importance of fostering diversity equity, inclusion, and justice in all activities. The Potomac belongs to all.
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