A popular access site on the Potomac River in West Virginia will remain open while a water plant improvement project is completed, the Division of Natural Resources said.
A popular access site on the Potomac River in West Virginia will remain open while a water plant improvement project is completed, the Division of Natural Resources said.
Parking near the boat ramp will be limited while the work is done, the agency said.
It’s expected the work associated with the water plant project will take about 15 months. Much of the parking area at the access site in Shepherdstown will likely be occupied by construction work.
The Division of Natural Resources is working with the city to improve the access site after construction is finished. Improvements may include increased parking for fishing and boating visitors who use the site, the agency said.
At the end of Vineyard Road in Falling Waters, West Virginia, there is an old, stone and brick structure on the Potomac River. This small, historic building is a hydroelectric power plant owned by Cube Hydro Partners based in Maryland. Beside the structure is ‘Dam #5.’
The dam, owned by the National Park Service, stretches the width of the river – from the West Virginia side to the Maryland side. It is 20 feet tall and was originally built in the 1830s.
While the dam provides electricity, it has also had an unintended consequence.
“Almost 85 percent of the American eel’s upstream habitat has been lost due to dams,” David Sutherland, coastal program biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, said. “So, there’s basically been a coastwide decline in American eel populations.”
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Dam #5 at Falling Waters, W.Va.
This decline in American eel is why Sutherland and other officials started an initiative 15 years ago called the American Eel Restoration Project. The project works to install things called “eelways” – like byways, but for eels.
An eelway is almost operational at Dam #5. It is an aluminum ramp that is 65 feet long, and it has been secured to the side of the power plant. The ramp will have water running through it, and eels will be able to climb it. Once they reach the top, they will slide down a PVC pipe into a 250-gallon water tank.
“We’ll either be able to monitor them; they’ll be captured in a mesh bag, or if the mesh bag isn’t in there, they’ll be able to migrate right through the tank and upstream through a pipe and then back to the river,” Sutherland said.
The eels are unharmed when caught, and they are always released, Sutherland said.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The eelway will empty into this 250-gallon water tank. A pipe will connect the eelway to the tank, and then another pipe will connect the tank to the river.
The American eel lives most of its life in freshwater, and then migrates back into saltwater to lay their eggs. By the time the eels reach Dam #5 in Falling Waters, they’ve journeyed for 4 to 7 years from the Sargasso Sea, which is located in the Atlantic Ocean.
In the Potomac River, they will grow and mature. Sutherland said the further upstream eel can travel, the safer they are.
“Historically, 25 to 50 percent of the biomass in these headwater streams, upstream of Dam #5 here, used to be American eels. They’re primarily female eels; they metamorphose by the time they get up this far. They’re maturing, becoming silver eels and they’re ready to be out migrating with upwards of 9 million eggs.”
But without access to these headwater streams, these eels have been more susceptible to predators like flathead catfish, walleye, or blue catfish.
That’s why an eelway is important for their survival, especially if a historic dam like Dam #5 is unlikely to be removed.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The top of the 65-foot-long eelway at Dam #5.
The American eel does more for our water than we might realize. American eel help to transport larvae of the freshwater mussel, which help to clean water.
A single mussel can filter 10-15 gallons of water every day, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. But baby mussels can’t travel far without hitching a ride on a fish’s gills, and the American eel offers an appealing one.
“American eels are critical for the ecosystem services they provide, especially with their relationship to freshwater mussels,” Tanner Haid, Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, said.
Haid points out that West Virginia is a headwater state, meaning the water here flows out to many other people in states around us.
He said it’s for this reason that opening more travel ways for American eel and by extension, freshwater mussels, is vital to keeping our water clean.
“No matter where you are in our state, our water is connected to tens of millions of people. So, we have to acknowledge that role and do everything we can to protect that water at the source, and do these sort of habitat restoration projects to protect critical species,” Haid said.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The eelway is secured to the side of Cube Hydro’s power plant.
Once complete,the eelway at Dam #5 is expected to have cost about $150,000. That covers designing, construction, and installation. Sutherland said it will be the first year-round eelway in West Virginia.
5,000 to 10,000 eels are expected to migrate through it a year.
Dam #5’s eelway will also effectively open about 8,000 more river miles to the American Eel, according to Sutherland.
The eelway is expected to be operational by early spring 2020.
**Editor’s Note: This story was edited on Dec. 6, 2019 to correct the amount of water filtered daily by freshwater mussels.
After the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in the Kanawha Valley, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition created the Safe Water WV initiative. The idea is simple: to strengthen a community’s connection to their drinking water and encourage them to work together to better protect it.
A couple years ago, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties decided to build off that initiative in a unique way – using the conservation of farmland and Civil War battlefields as a model for drinking water protection.
About two miles from the heart of Shepherdstown is the site of the bloodiest battle in West Virginia during the American Civil War. More than 600 Union and Confederate soldiers died in a two-day battle in September 1862.
The Battle of Shepherdstown may have been small in comparison to other battles of the Civil War, but historians agree, the battle not only halted the Confederates’ northern invasion, but it also opened the door for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
Since 2011, the site of the Battle of Shepherdstown has been a protected historic landmark. The battle site also happens to be at a unique location – along the Potomac River. The Potomac provides drinking water to Shepherdstown residents, and other nearby areas.
“The Landmarks Commission owns about a half-mile of the Potomac River frontage,” Martin Burke said.
Credit Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board
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This map shows details of the attacks and soldier divisions during the Battle of Shepherdstown. A marker for the cement mill can be seen along the Potomac River.
“We formed the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative to bring together, for the very first time, water utilities, land conservation organizations, and watershed groups to take a collaborative approach to protecting drinking water using the conservation of land, and protecting land forever, to protect our drinking water sources,” Tanner Haid said.
Haid is the Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.
The initiative focuses on using land conservation easements to protect drinking water. A conservation easement is a voluntary private or government contract with a landowner to protect land for ecological reasons – to improve water quality, maintain a historic site, or protect wildlife.
Haid said this approach makes drinking water protections stronger, because land conservation easements help to prevent potential contamination threats or development that could impact a source water intake.
In Jefferson County alone, there are more than 16,000 acres of battlefield land that have been identified, according to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. Only 861 acres of that is currently protected.
Liz Wheeler is the Director of the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board. Her organization administers conservation easements to protect historic farmland and battlefields in Jefferson County.
“When we protect land, we’re not just protecting cropland. We’re protecting woodland, we’re protecting streams, we’re protecting historic resources, so it fits into what we do; to be able to contribute to source water protection,” Wheeler said.
But the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle doesn’t come without its challenges. Finding enough money to protect the land can be the biggest challenge, but so can educating landowners about their options if they qualify for a conservation easement or historic status.
Haid said, in the coming year, he and his team hope to identify and prioritize areas of land in the Eastern Panhandle not currently protected that are close to drinking water areas.
“And then in particular, closest to the water intake or the utilities who draw up the water, because those are the areas most threatened by development and actions that we take on our land that has an impact on our water quality,” Haid said.
Jefferson and Berkeley Counties are among the most successful in the state for land conservation, according to West Virginia Rivers. Together, these counties have protected more than 10,000 acres of land.
West Virginia Rivers said, so far, they haven’t collected data on how water quality has improved through the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle, but over the past two years, they have signed up 30 partner organizations interested in the project.
The group hopes this model – to protect water by conserving land – isn’t just for the Eastern Panhandle but could be used across the state.
A board of high-ranking Maryland officials on Wednesday rejected a proposed pipeline across the western part of the state that would carry natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to West Virginia.
The Board of Public Works voted 3-0 against an easement for TransCanada’s pipeline. It would run under the Potomac River near Hanover, Maryland, and extend 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) from Columbia Gas’ network in Pennsylvania to Mountaineer Gas’ distribution system in West Virginia.
Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, cited testimony that the pipeline could bring Maryland environmental problems without economic benefits. The board also includes Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, a Democrat.
Environmentalists and residents have been vocal in opposing the pipeline.
“Marylanders and many of their leaders have consistently opposed the threats fracked gas pipelines pose to our health, water, climate, and communities,” said Josh Tulkin, Sierra Club Maryland chapter director.
The board’s vote came after more than 60 lawmakers sent a letter urging board members to reject the proposal. The lawmakers noted that Maryland approved a law, which Hogan signed in 2017, to ban the hydraulic fracturing drilling process known as fracking in Maryland. The process is used to extract natural gas. Maryland was the first state where a legislature voted to bar the practice that actually has natural gas reserves.
“Given that Maryland has banned fracking, it defies our state’s existing energy policy to bring the same public health risks to our residents by way of a pipeline,” the letter said. “Moreover, enabling fossil fuel production runs counter to our state’s goals of increasing renewable energy production.”
The letter, which was sent this week, also noted that the pipeline would affect at least 10 wetlands and 19 streams, in addition to the Potomac River.
While the board delayed a vote on the easement at its last meeting, Hogan said the unanimous vote would have happened without the letter from lawmakers.
“It had nothing to do with any letter from the legislature,” Hogan said at Wednesday’s board meeting.
Anne Havemann, an attorney for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said she hopes the board’s vote marks an end to the proposal.
“We’ll see if (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) gets involved or the courts get involved, but for now it’s a welcome delay and we hope a permanent end to this pipeline,” Havemann said shortly after the vote.
On December 3, 1787, spectators gathered in Shepherdstown along the banks of the Potomac River to watch history being made. Inventor James Rumsey stepped aboard a crudely built wooden boat and fired up a steam engine. The waters of the Potomac started churning up, and, suddenly, the boat headed upstream, leaving a stunned crowd in amazement.
Rumsey had tinkered with his invention for years, but he’d struggled to find financial backing. Just three years earlier, he’d been an innkeeper at Berkeley Springs. One day, he showed a model of his steam-powered boat with a frequent visitor to the springs. George Washington formally endorsed Rumsey’s plans. As a result, Rumsey was able to raise the necessary funds for his demonstration on the Potomac three years later.
After the Shepherdstown demonstration, Rumsey traveled to Philadelphia and gained support from Benjamin Franklin, who formed a society to raise money for the venture. However, Rumsey died during a trip to England in 1792 at the age of 49. In 1807, Robert Fulton introduced a more practical design of Rumsey’s idea and is now remembered as the “father of the steamboat.”
Both the Northern and Eastern Panhandles are experiencing flooding this week as rain continues to fall on the two regions. Preparations are also being made across the state to respond to possible heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence at the end of the week.
Northern Panhandle Flooding
Emergency management officials are expecting the Ohio River in the Northern Panhandle to crest Tuesday afternoon at 39 feet – which is lower than previously anticipated, and one foot lower than what’s considered the “moderate flood” level.
Some low-lying areas surrounding the river are expected to take water nonetheless, and cleanup plans are in place to help pump water out of basements and remove any mud and debris.
Officials have been managing minor flooding around swollen creeks in the region, but report that those creeks are now back within their banks.
Eastern Panhandle Flooding
In the Eastern Panhandle, the National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan Counties. The Opequon Creek near Martinsburg and the Potomac River are in flood stage and are expected to remain so for 24 to 48 hours.
The National Weather Service has also issued a hazardous weather outlook for Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Grant, Mineral and Pendleton counties. It will remain in effect through Sunday.
Officials with Jefferson County Emergency Management report that despite high water throughout the region, no major issues have been reported.
Hurricane Florence Approaches
Both panhandles and the entire state are preparing for what’s coming at the end of the week – heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence.
Lora Lipscomb, the Public Information Officer for West Virginia Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Hurricane Florence is expected to hit southern West Virginia at the end of this week. She said officials are expecting rainfall from the storm to begin possibly Thursday or Friday.
WV DHSEM officials are also stationing switfwater rescue teams and National Guardsmen in the region and is making resource preparations before the storm lands.
Lipscomb said they do not know yet how bad the storm could be, but the WV DHSEM is in contact with the National Weather Service and statewide emergency officials.
