Rivers in WV more vulnerable than in other states

Clean Water Act Revision: Headwater Streams and Wetlands Could Lose Protections – Comment by 4/15

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to redefine an important part of the Clean Water Act, which protects headwater streams and wetlands. The rule the Trump Administration is proposing to redefine is called “waters of the United States.” It determines what waterbodies are eligible for protection under the Clean Water Act. Learn more here.

By the EPA’s own estimate, the revision would remove protections for 51% of our nation’s wetlands and 18% of streams, making it easier to pollute, pave over or build on

Water quality bill passes without updated human health criteria

Water quality bill passes without updated human health criteria – The Parthenon


Perry Bennett

West Virginia House delegates enter chambers, Saturday, March 9. 

New proposals concerning water quality and protections will not 

be reviewed until the 2020 legislative session.

West Virginia House delegates enter chambers, Saturday, March 9. New proposals concerning water quality and protections will not be reviewed until the 2020 legislative session.

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In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency recommended West Virginia update 60 of its 94 water quality standards to reduce present toxins and carcinogens, but this weekend, the state legislature passed a bill including none of the recommended protections.

Delegate Evan Hansen (D- Monongalia, 51), minority vice chair of natural resources, said the standards in Senate Bill 163, ultimately determined by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, rely on data from the 1980s.

Hansen proposed an amendment to the bill to re-include the updated protections that were removed, but the amendment failed in a 34-64 vote.

“The reason legislators did not update the standards is because they were lobbied by the West Virginia Manufacturers Association,” Hansen said. “It’s very clear, and the Manufacturers Association was not secretive about it.”

Many of the pollutants meant to be controlled by the standards are carcinogens, Hansen said, so while the state’s cancer rate may not directly increase, it is likely to at least remain higher than it should be

Upper Potomac Riverkeeper - Downstream movie event

Join PRKN President Nancy Stoner and Friends of Cabin John Creek for their featured EcoMovie 2019 Keeping the Potomac: The Politics of Water showcasing our work protecting the Potomac watershed. 

Nancy will be joined by the film’s producer, Elizabeth Herzfeldt-Kamprath, on Sunday, March 17, from 3 – 5 pm at the Clara Barton Community Center, 7425 Macarthur Blvd, Cabin John, MD 20818. 

Jennifer Jones: Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust

Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust, Inc.
March 7

From the new Executive Director Jennifer Jones:

It is with much gratitude that I greet you as the new Executive Director of the Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust.

The words “Land” and “Trust” will be my guiding stars. As a Land Trust our job is to preserve as much of the natural land and heritage of the Cacapon River watershed as possible. We can only do that we if have the trust of the landowners that live here and others who understand the urgency and importance of our work.

I’ve had the privilege of working with landowners all over the country and just over the ridge in Virginia. I’ve listened to them talk about their struggle to hold onto their land and engage the next generation. And, I’ve heard them talk about how their land defines their sense of place and their identity.

It’s a love for the land -- and all the challenges that come with it -- that brings me here, to be in service to you, to earn your trust and to help conserve this unique and vital resource.

The Cacapon watershed is one of the most ecologically-beneficial tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay because of its water quality, filtered clean by the forested landscapes that surround it and graced by a vast array of wildlife and plants. This is a landscape held together by generations of farmers who