May/June 2003; Vol. 59, No. 3 |
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This issue's content:
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| Students,
teachers, and parents gather at the Northeast Branch of the
Anacostia to learn about herring restoration, and collect eggs
to grow in the classroom (Photo by C.
Dalpra) |
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Migratory Fish Restoration
Programs Continue to Grow Fish, Awareness
Efforts to restore American shad and river herring populations in
the Potomac watershed, led by ICPRB, are helping restore both the
fisheries and their value among the region's residents.
The ICPRB's American shad restoration program also benefitted the
neighboring Rappahannock watershed in Virginia.
The American shad and river herring restoration programs share
the goal of restoring depleted stocks of both historically and
economically important species to the river and some tributaries.
Both fisheries share a legacy of decline from pollution, loss of
historical habitat, and fishing pressure. Both programs include
important educational elements, which use volunteers to assist in
the work, and provide a wealth of opportunities for students to
learn more about the fish in the context of a hands-on ecology
curriculum integrated into their school work.
The American shad project, which began in 1995, has exceeded its
goal of placing more than a million shad fry in the Potomac River
each year. Each year, ICPRB staffer Jim Cummins and waterman Lewis
Harley, with the help of volunteers, cast drift nets from a boat
during spring nights in the vicinity of Mount Vernon. The nets
intercept the migratory American shad, swimming up the Potomac from
the sea to spawn. The fish are stripped of their milt and eggs,
combined, and the fertilized eggs taken to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife
hatchery in Virginia. After the fish hatch, the fry are treated with
a chemical that allows identification as fish raised by the program.
Other eggs are given to school groups, which raise the fry in the
classroom for release into the river.
The fry are released in Mather Gorge, a ten-mile segment of the
Potomac between Little Falls and Great Falls. For decades, the dam
at Little Falls blocked the migration of the shad, denying them
those miles of high-quality spawning and nursery habitat. A major
goal of the project was completed in early 2000, when the dam was
modified to allow the passage of fish upstream.
The 2003 season called for a continuation of the netting
operation, primarily to monitor fish stocks, and search for evidence
of the returning hatchery-reared fish. (Fry eventually swim
downriver to the sea, returning to the river spawn after several
years.) This year's netting operation took on a new priority when a
request for assistance came from biologists working to restore
American shad to the Rappahannock River. Plans on the Rappahannock
called for a similar restocking operation, timed with the removal of
blockages to migration, but biologists were unable to capture enough
shad on the river. The Rappahannock program made use of about
1.4-million Potomac fry to jump-start operations on the Virginia
river.
Biologists suggested that Potomac stocks were a closer genetic
match with Rappahannock populations than with those of the James
River. The Rappahannock and Potomac rivers also are more similar
physically, noted Tom Gunter, a Virginia fisheries biologist who
coordinates the state's shad restoration efforts.
Efforts are
underway to remove blockages by dams by 2006 on the Rappahannock,
and Gunter is aiming for a restored population in 10 to 15 years.
"American shad are important economically and ecologically," Gunter
said. "Shad are the number three species caught on the James,"
he noted, adding that the recreational fishery at the fall line
on the James is valued at about $168,000 per year. Ecologically, the
species is important in many ways, including as a forage fish for
other species, such as tuna. "We're very excited about the program
on the Rappahannock. This program is built on a partnership among
many agencies and organizations. It would be hard to succeed without
the help of organizations such as ICPRB," Gunter said.
Cummins also noted that the Potomac experienced an exceptionally
strong run of American shad in 2003, following the great 2002 spawn.
"We were able to get the eggs for the Rappahannock with less fishing
effort because of the strong run," Cummins said. As a way of gaging
the strength of the spawning run, researchers look at the number of
fish captured in each set of the drift net. In 2002, the Potomac
effort yielded 50 American shad per net set; the level climbed to
93.4 in 2003.
Rainfall in the spring probably helped the run in the Potomac,
Cummins said. "High waters are good for shad. Historically, shad and
herring benefitted from spring "freshets that allow for easier
passage upstream. Those rains bring higher levels of plankton (food
for the fry), and turbid waters can mean less predation by other
fish," Cummins said. The large volume of fish returning also makes
for a population that is large enough to withstand years with poor
weather or other stressful conditions, Cummins added.
The spring weather, which has lasted into summer, hindered
efforts to find the fish previously released into Mather Gorge. High
water has made it all but impossible to search the river just
downstream of Great Falls for signs of the fish released through the
program, although several fish were captured last year, and it is
likely that even more returned this season. Funding considerations
also limited the involvement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
which monitored populations in the tidal river last year.
The commission's efforts with shad were lauded this year by the
Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, comprised of members of
Congress with interests in the outdoors, and the American Fly
Fishing Trade Association. Jim Range, the association's government
affairs advocate, and a former ICPRB commissioner, helps plan an
annual event on the Potomac to raise congressional awareness in
outdoor resources. An award was made to Cummins at the event held on
the river, where Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton lauded the
"tireless efforts promoting shad restoration on the Potomac."
In partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments, the ICPRB effort to restore river herring to Anacostia
River tributaries also was successful. This year, about 2.9-million
herring fry were placed in Anacostia watershed streams and Rock
Creek, bringing the total for the four years of the project to
11.3-million fry. The Anacostia tributaries are benefitting from the
removal of stream blockages to migration, with fry being seeded in
the upstream areas, similar to the American shad project. The
numbers of fry stocked were down somewhat from the previous year due
to the persistently high flows from the wet spring. While related to
American shad, the river herring seek out smaller streams to spawn,
and those streams are more affected by the higher flows. Monitoring
of the fish populations also was problematic, again due to the wet
spring and high streams. The river herring project is funded through
environmental mitigation for the loss of habitat in the construction
of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement span.
Both of the restoration efforts share a strong education and
outreach component. This year, 16 schools in classes from
kindergarten to 12th grade assisted through the "Schools in Schools"
program, which is run by the Living Classrooms Foundation with help
from Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Anacostia Watershed Society.
More than 1,400 students participated in capturing fish, hatching
eggs, and growing out the fry in their classrooms. The project
includes teacher training, allowing the effort to become an integral
part of students' science curricula. The lateness of the spawning
run and spring break limited the work of the two schools working
with river herring. Students raising shad again held a release
ceremony to place their fry in the river and send them off on their
long journey.
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The Pull of Spring
It is timeless. Winter ends, and nature begins its inevitable
spring pull. Snow melts, the temperature rises, buds poke from the
ground, and the shad and herring begin their relentless journey from
the sea up the Potomac to spawn. It is a constant that has spanned
many centuries.
This year, not only the shad returned to the river, but two of
the first students who participated in the Schools in Schools
program in 1996. They met with the current year's students at the
annual sendoff of fry into Mather Gorge. Julia Robbins and Nick
Richman, now high school seniors preparing for college, watched as
students carefully released their shad fry to the Potomac, and spoke
to them about what they had leared from the program.
The project inspired Robbins "We calculated that we would be
seniors when [the fry] came back, and they have," Robbins said. When
we released our baby shad, we knew it would be a long journey back.
They had to travel all the way to the Atlantic ocean and back."
Richman noted that "We somehow knew that they would make it up the
fish passage and back here." Both of the students attribute a
greater sense of environment to their experience. Robbins who crews
a rowing shell at school, wonders about the shad she raised every
morning during rowing. "I know they are down there, and I look for
them," she smiled. In high school she is raising aquatic grasses
with the ecology club.
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Education Program Seeks to
Curb Poaching
Poaching, the illegal taking of fish, has been recognized as a
growing problem, particularly in the metropolitan Washington area. A
growing population of non-English speaking residents adds to the
complexity of the problem. The introduction of a new campaign to
stop illegal fishing on the Potomac River focuses on educating
fisherman about the regulations and how sustainable fishing works
for all of us. In April, the Potomac Conservancy, in cooperation
with the National Park Service and the BoatU.S. Foundation, hit the
river banks to get the word out about fishing regulations and to
encourage litter control along the Potomac.
Fishing regulations along the Potomac River are different in each
of the jurisdictions, and create confusion. Obtaining the correct
license can be a challenge, especially for residents who do not read
English. Matt Beres of the Potomac Conservancy recognized the need
to make the regulations simpler to understand and is working in
cooperation with the two agencies to bring educational outreach to
fishermen. Dana Dirks, a supervisory park ranger at George
Washington Memorial Park, stated that there has to be "education
along with enforcement" in order to control illegal fishing and
encourage sustainable use of the resource.
The solution was to develop informative packets explaining the
regulations for all areas of the Potomac. Packets include a plastic
ruler for measuring the catch, a D.C. regulations booklet with color
pictures of fish for easy identification, two brochures clearly
mapping out license requirements for the different areas of the
Potomac, trash bags, and a sheet of size limits matched to color
pictures of the fish. Information is available in both English and
Spanish to accommodate a growing Hispanic population in the
Washington metro area. Beres, who has helped hand out packets near
Fletcher's Boat House, said the "message has been very well-received
thus far" and the Hispanic fishermen he had spoken to were "enthused
to have resources available to them."
Dirks reported that the more popular sites, such as the area near
Fletcher's Boat House, Chain Bridge, and Great Falls, tend to be
problematic because of the number of visitors. The U.S. Park Police,
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Maryland
Department of Natural Resources, the D.C. Harbor Patrol, and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are all part of the Task Force
Potomac, a multi-agency group developed to control poaching and
public use violations. Dirks reported that over the course of two
weekends in early May, tickets were issued for 160 violations,
including the use of cast nets, snagging, license violations, and
the illegal taking of striped bass and American shad.
Regulations are set to sustain fish populations in the Potomac.
The protection of American shad and striped bass, among other fish,
is important to sustaining the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Without
regulations to protect certain species, fish stocks could plummet.
American and hickory shad, as well as sturgeon catches are
prohibited in an effort to restore their stocks. The ICPRB has been
involved in restoring American shad populations in the Potomac
River. Now that the stocking has been completed, ICPRB staff will
continue to monitor the population (see related article). There are
no large-scale efforts to stock the river with hickory shad or
sturgeon, but a moratorium on the fisheries will aid in
recovery.
The National Park Service will be working to train Potomac
Conservancy volunteers several times this summer to spread the
educational awareness throughout the season. Dirks stated that they
have had good response from volunteers and are looking for more. The
bilingual packets are also being distributed to partners and parks
around the George Washington Memorial Park so that they can hand
them out to fishermen. In the future, Dirks and Beres hope to obtain
more funding to print the fishing packets in Vietnamese and create
bulletin boards throughout the park displaying information about
fishing regulations and trash removal.
If you are interested in volunteering for this educational
endeavor, please call Matt Beres at 703.276.2777 or Dana Dirks at
703.289.2552 for more information.
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Monocacy Residents Learn of
River Up Close
More than 500 people of all ages participated in a week-long
journey along the Monocacy River, a major Potomac tributary. The
paddlers who signed on for just a day or the whole trip, experienced
the history of the landscape, conservation of the river, and how to
support their watershed. This year marked the third anniversary of
the Monocacy River paddle, hosted by Community Commons of Frederick,
Md. The ICPRB was among the partner organizations that supported
citizen involvement in the watershed event. Other partners included
local businesses and organizations.
Community Commons has been "working since 1978 to enhance and
preserve the natural and social resources of the Monocacy River
watershed," according Community Commons' Executive Director, Hilari
Varnadore. Thus far, Community Commons has been involved in projects
such as the Monocacy River Trail and the Monocacy Basin Stream
Monitoring Project, as well as organizing the Green Living Lecture
and Workshop series and the annual Monocacy paddle. The purpose of
the paddle is to offer hands-on lessons for local middle-school
students, a forum for regional landowners to express conservation
concerns, and to monitor the health of the river. At the end of each
paddle, local farmers, conservationists, government officials and
others held discussions about the Monocacy basin and its
conservation issues.
The Monocacy River is the largest Maryland tributary to the
Potomac River. Near the Mason-Dixon line in Frederick County at the
confluence of Marsh and Rock Creeks, begins the Monocacy River. The
river meanders its 58 miles through Frederick County before it
empties into the Potomac, passing through forests, the City of
Frederick, neighborhoods, and farms. The paddle enlightened
participants about the varied landscapes of the Monocacy River.
The trip started on Monday, May 12th with a "Pass the Paddle"
ceremony in which Harry Stokes, an Adams County, Pa., commissioner,
passed a paddle to Leonard Thompson, a Frederick County, Md.,
commissioner, exemplifying the regional support for the Monocacy
watershed. In addition, Joe Hoffman, ICPRB executive director, spoke
about the importance of regional cooperation to bring together
citizens, local organizations, and government for the good of the
basin. He went on to say, "Watersheds do not know state bounds," and
that these trips "help us to understand the importance of regional
cooperation."
Though Monday was windy and cloudy, it did not stop veteran and
novice paddlers from going on the sojourn. Eric Johnson, a repeat
participant in the annual event, showed his support for the
education that everyone gains from a trip like this. "There are a
lot of people who have never been on a river that get something out
of the paddle, like understanding the concept of a watershed," said
Johnson. He also made the point that everyone benefits from the
comradery and contributes something to the group.
Among the educational talks and activities throughout the week
was one lunch discussion led by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) representative. His discussion focused on projects, such as
bank restoration, that the USFWS leads to help protect the Monocacy
watershed as well as others. Many of the participants agreed that
the educational talks and activities were excellent and encourage
conservation efforts in the watershed.
The week-long paddle ended early because of flood conditions on
the Monocacy River and its tributaries. A make-up day will be
scheduled. However, that did not stop several participants from
finding other rivers to paddle. Tim Goodfellow, a Frederick County
planner, took advantage of the high water with a raft trip down the
Potomac River. He reported that the water was "moving fast and the
rapids were big", but it made the trip enjoyable. He joined the rest
of the paddle participants at the River Jam and Barbeque, the
traditional ending for the paddle, where about 60 participants
celebrated the Monocacy River despite the continued rain and wind.
The festivities included dinner, a raffle for prizes, live music
from the BOA, and the presentation of the Spirit of the Monocacy
Award. This year's award was presented to Kim Roberts, a Frederick
County citizen, for her outstanding volunteer efforts as a graphic
designer who created eye-catching posters, brochures, and fliers for
Community Commons.
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Potomac Basin Builds Green
In addition to the traditional clean-ups, tree plantings, and
stream monitoring to help clean the bay, more citizens are
discovering an even bigger role at home and work. According to
sources at the Virginia Housing and Environment Network, Maryland's
Green Building program, and Arlington County Department of Planning,
low-impact housing and commercial real estate, also known as "green"
building, is becoming a priority for environmental homeowners and
business people who recognize the ecological value of their spaces.
Building green is a concept for the entire space, not just the
edifice, to bring together the concepts of pollution control,
invasive species control, recycling, wise water use, and enhanced
water quality into a single yard or city block. By including native
plants in the landscape to minimize erosion, water use, and
chemicals, situating buildings for energy efficiency, and building
the structure from natural materials, green spaces are a systematic
solution to many of the bay's environmental problems, including
nutrient pollution and sedimentation.
Interest in learning to live and work sustainably and comfortably
is growing. Arlington County, Va., in particular, is in the
forefront of green design. Joan Kelsh, a planner with Arlington
County, stated that their new county buildings are all designed to
meet the highest ecological standards. These buildings are certified
by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). From the
ground up, these buildings will provide the best in indoor and
outdoor air, water, and aesthetic qualities and the highest energy
efficiency available. In addition, Arlington County is taking the
opportunity to educate builders by requiring them to submit
information about the "greenness" of their plans in order to get the
permits. By building to meet LEED standards, the county offers
incentives, such as density credits for about 5% additional space,
depending on the plan. Kelsh explained that though only one builder
thus far has altered his plans to take advantage of incentives,
Arlington County is hopeful that others will follow his good
example.
Sean McGuire of Maryland Green Building Network, a group created
by the state's Department of Natural Resources, is excited about the
upward trend of green building in the metro area. The network is a
group of builders interested in applying green methods to their
buildings. According to McGuire, there is a strong move to give
local government buildings a green design, but the trend has not yet
caught on with homeowners. "Until homeowners request green building,
home builders will not embrace it," says Annette Osso of the
non-profit educational organization, Virginia Housing and
Environment Network (VaHEN). The U.S. Department of Energy has
awarded VaHEN a grant for eight Virginia builders to build energy
efficient homes, one of them in northern Virginia. Certainly the
unique qualities of the green homes and government buildings will
gain the attention of local communities.
Sigi Koko of Down To Earth, a green design and consulting group,
has worked on both residential and commercial projects that focus on
using natural, sustainable building materials, such as straw infill
and lime plaster. Koko says the two major benefits to the homeowner
associated with green design are the long-term money savings and
overall personal health. Straw-bale homes are well-insulated with a
rating of R42 as opposed to the typical R12 rated insulation of
traditional homes. In addition, the walls are made of breathable
plaster, which allows moisture to escape for better control of mold.
Depending upon the homeowner or business, homes and offices are
built to meet specific needs inside and outside the building. To see
examples of Down To Earth designs, visit their website at
www.buildnaturally.com.
Koko explained the five main areas of green design: site issues,
water conservation, energy conservation, resources, and indoor air
quality. According to Koko, water conservation is the easiest of the
five to tackle because it can be achieved with native plants, low
flow fixtures, composting (no flush) toilets, and even living roofs.
When asked about retro-fitting homes, Koko said that it can be done
and that water conservation would be a good place to start for the
homeowner. The energy savings of green spaces are the most appealing
to the homeowner and the straw bale home has plenty to offer.
Coupled with energy tight windows, radiant heating and cooling, and
better insulation, the straw bale home is a sound alternative to the
traditional variety.
There are other options for achieving green spaces. Because it is
a systematic approach, the goal is to best match the local
environment, which may be straw, concrete, or even recycled
materials. An exemplary green space in the Potomac basin is
ThorpeWood, an environmental education center nestled in the
mountains of Thurmont, Md. ThorpeWood is owned by Thorpe Foundation,
a private non-profit organization. This ecologically sensitive
building is fully equipped with composting toilets, a graywater
recycling system, and was created from recycled building materials,
in addition to being energy efficient. The building itself "is
cooled naturally, situated on a favorable aspect, under the tree
canopy, not far from a hollow, and the building is designed to use
and create convection current circulation patterns," says Sam
Castleman, executive director of Thorpe Foundation. Although there
are no wind turbines on site, ThorpeWood relies on 100% wind power
from West Virginia and New York for all electrical needs. Roof
runoff is directed to natural depressed areas of native wetland
plants. The gardens were designed to best follow the original
landscape. Native plantings attract butterflies, bees, birds, deer,
snakes, and even bears. There are many other aspects that make the
space green, including cement insulation and wood burning furnaces.
Staying true to green space design principles, the building works in
conjunction with nature and takes little from it. To learn more
about ThorpeWood, visit their website at www.thorpewood.org.
Not all of us are able to afford to renovate or build to meet
green building standards, but we can rejuvenate spaces and fixtures
in and around our homes for low or no cost. Green spaces are a
sensible way to live in the basin and means greening up our pocket
books as well as our landscapes. For more ways to give your home a
"green" makeover, visit the "Get Involved" section of our website at
www.icprb.org.
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Watching the River Flow
The flow of the Potomac River continued to reflect the wet
conditions throughout the basin, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey.
In April, daily flow of the Potomac measured near Washington,
D.C., averaged about 18.9 billion gallons per day (bgd), or about
176 percent of the historical average of about 10.7 bgd. Daily
extremes ranged from a high of about 48.8 bgd on April 13 to a low
of about 8.8 bgd on April 30. Metropolitan area water suppliers
withdrew about 370 million gallons per day (mgd) during the month,
about nine percent less than April 2002. Total freshwater inflow to
the Chesapeake Bay averaged about 104 bgd, about 11 percent more
than the historical average. The Potomac contributed a near-average
22 percent.
May was even wetter, with flow for the month averaging about 22
bgd, or about 232 percent of the historical average of about 9.5
bgd. Daily extremes ranged from a low of about 7.9 bgd on May 2 to a
high of about 51.7 bgd on May 17. Metropolitan water supply
withdrawals averaged about 379 mgd, about eight percent less than
May 2002. Total inflow to the bay averaged about 87 bgd, or about 36
percent more than the historical average of about 64.1 bgd. The
Potomac contributed an above-average 30 percent of the total.
Water supply reservoirs are full, and groundwater levels
throughout the basin are at normal or above-normal levels.
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Virginia Hosts Public Forum
The Forum will bring together leaders and decision-makers in the
private and public sectors to explore the latest information on
tributary strategies, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), and water
supply issues. The Potomac Council and Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation will host its third Potomac Watershed
Forum at George Mason University's Prince William Campus in Manassas
on August 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This forum is a continuation of
Virginia's efforts to meet the Chesapeake Bay Program goals. The
first Potomac Watershed Forum resulted in the Potomac Roundtable, a
quarterly meeting for participants to discuss issues in the
watershed. This year's forum will provide a platform for discussion
of goals that need to be met and what needs to be done to meet them.
The tributary strategy teams, a major focus of the forum, will
organize plans for future work. Two full hours will be dedicated to
the tributary strategies, including time for public discussion about
local goals for the Potomac watershed. Tributary strategies
discussions will be lead by Jack Frye, Director of the Soil and
Water Division of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and
Marc Aveni, Regional Manager of the Potomac Watershed Office of the
Department of Conservation and Recreation. Water supply issues will
be discussed by Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources and
drought coordinator, David Paylor.
Stakeholder groups are encouraged to voice local concerns and
help formulate plans to meet goals and develop solutions to address
the issues. The forum is a good opportunity for representatives to
network with agency officials and to understand the approaches that
are being suggested for meeting the Chesapeake Bay Program goals for
Virginia's Potomac basin.
Cost for attending the Potomac Watershed Forum is $20, and
includes continental breakfast and lunch. The registration deadline
is July 28. To download the registration form, please visit
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/potomacforum.htm. Contact Andrea
Ceisler of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation
District at 703.324.1460 and conservationdistrict@fairfaxcounty.gov
or Marc Aveni of the Department of Conservation and Recreation at
maveni@dcr.state.va.us with questions.
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