We're in the clear, but the river will rise

WV Water Resources Concerns

register-herald.com

Water rich, water poor: WVU professor shares his views on the state's most important resource

When bean counters tabulate the profitable natural resources of West Virginia, calculations are made about the coal that is hauled out of the rugged and rural mountain landscape or the natural gas being captured from thousands of wells in increasing volumes. There remains a vast supply of timber, too.

But for Nicolas Zegre, an associate professor of forest hydrology at West Virginia University and the director of the university's Mountain Hydrology Laboratory, the most important and largely overlooked commodity in the state is water.

Zegre is studying the state's water security, how climate change could impact the state's supply and how the state can position itself to benefit from what he believes is its most valuable resource.

On April 1, Zegre presented the media with the work, some findings and future possibilities for the Mountain Hydrology Laboratory at WVU's Academic Media Day in Morgantown.

The hydrology professor said that his lab's work centered on predicting climate in the state and the greater Appalachian region by compiling modeling of climate patterns and possibilities.

***

According to Zegre, the historical temperature range of West Virginia falls between

Hampshire man pleads to EPA crimes

Friday, April 5-7, 15 min ago
MAKING HEADLINES

Hampshire man pleads to EPA crimes


MARTINSBURG — A Springfield man has pled guilty to discharging untreated sewage into the North Branch of the Potomac River.

Timothy Peer, 55, faces 3 years in prison and upwards of $500,000 in fines for charges of falsifying reports, violating his permit, polluting and mail fraud.
Peer admitted in Martinsburg federal court Wednesday that he failed to maintain a treatment plant he owned at Mountainaire Village near Ridgeley and that he falsified quarterly reports.

Visit www.HampshireReview.com or Hampshire Review every day for the latest news of importance here.

White Horse Mountain fundraising

bayjournal.com

Bay Journal

Hugging the slow s-curves of road winding into a mountainous sliver of West Virginia’s Hampshire County, I remembered why they call this portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed “wild” — and why clean water advocates were desperate to keep it that way.

I was headed to White Horse Mountain, an almost entirely tree-covered heap of rocky hills hugging and draining into the South Branch of the Potomac River. It’s one of the largest undeveloped forestlands remaining in the region, home to rare wildflowers and habitats, hike-worthy vistas and the occasional bobcat or black bear. And it’s only recently been reopened to the public.

Five years ago, the Potomac Conservancy began raising more than $3 million — twice the nonprofit’s annual operating budget — to buy White Horse Mountain and keep its 1,730 acres of hardwood forest, rocky outcroppings and shady streams from being developed into 70 homes. Their fundraising efforts trumpeted the importance of preserving the

It's that time of the year..

Copperheads are common along the South branch. They are generally "shy" and will avoid humans and dogs. But if trapped they may strike to protect themselves, much like adult black snakes. But unlike young black snakes, young (especially very young) copperheads strike at almost anything that moves.