Enjoying this Beautiful Day on the Daughter of the Stars
I saw a lot of fellow river rats today while I was out collecting the water samples with our summer intern Monica Werner. Early tomorrow morning I will be heading out to Passage Creek in the Elizabeth Furnace Day Use area to collect water samples. When I get back to the lab, I will […]
Surprised by lower E. coli levels than expected
While the River was not running exceptionally high, it was moving swiftly, caring debris, silt, and sediment making the water turbid and discolored in most of the areas that we visited yesterday to collect water samples. Despite this, the E. coli levels on a whole, while elevated, were lower than expected. At two of the […]
E. coli levels on the Rise
E. coli levels crept up at all of the sites that we collected water samples from yesterday. At three of the sites, the E. coli levels exceeded the previous Virginia water-quality standard threshold of 235 E. coli colony-forming units per 100 mL of water sample for primary recreational use. FW36 – Manassas Run upstream of […]
Stream Under Siege Update
These are the bacteria concentration results for the water samples that I collected yesterday from the stream that runs on the westside of Needy Road and from the pond overflow that the stream feeds into. FOSR Bacteria Concentration Results Needy Rd WV 06.07.2021 To give you a point of reference, previously in Virginia, if a […]
Stream Under siege in Martinsburg WV
Today I accompanied Bill Howard, with The Downstream Project, to a small stream off Needy Road in Martinsburg WV to collect water samples to measure the E. coli levels. This stream has recently been exposed to various man-made contamination stressors. A few weeks ago, there was a sewage overflow spill that contaminated the stream. Now there […]
FOSR’s 2021 Summer E. coli Results through 06.03.2021
These are the E. coli results for the water samples collected yesterday, Thursday, June 03, 2021. FOSR 2021 Summer Quantitative E. coli Concentration Results through 06.03.2021 The thing that was most noticeable yesterday when we were out collecting the water samples at the various sites was the low water levels for this time of year. […]
Only with YOUR SUPPORT
You may have seen the recent article, “Environmental group: Use Shenandoah River with caution” by Mickey Powell in the Winchester Star. According to the article, one should think twice before jumping in the Shenandoah River to cool off. For the past four summers, the Friends of the Shenandoah River have been measuring E. coli levels […]
Welcoming Summer 2021: FOSR’s 1st Summer E. coli Results
The thunderstorms that passed through Wednesday afternoon made for a beautiful day on Thursday to be out collecting the water samples for FOSR’s first 2021 Summer Quantitative E. coli Test Results at public recreational use sites on the Main Stem, South Fork, and North Fork of the Shenandoah River and the Opequon Creek. Unfortunately, at […]
Crucial public awareness and comment opportunity on the water-quality assessment methods used by DEQ for Virginia’s waters
There is a very important opportunity for the public to submit comments on Virginia’s draft 2022 Water Quality Assessment Guidance manual through February 18, 2021. A public webinar to review updates to the 2022 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual will be held on Feb. 11, 2021, from 2-4 p.m. Link to register for the […]
Only with your support
This past year has seen a monumental increase in the use of public natural areas. The community has come to rely on the weekly E. coli concentration results updates from FOSR’s annual summer E. coli testing program at public access and recreational sites on the Shenandoah River. The goal of this program is to provide […]