CRPA Programs

• River Monitoring
• Education
• Adopt-A-Stream

The River Monitoring Program
CRPA volunteers conduct water quality monitoring in the Cowpasture River Watershed to engage local community members to become water quality stewards, to establish and augment current water quality baseline data, to document water quality changes over time, and to identify potential water quality problems. CRPA conducts two types of biological monitoring, benthic macroinvertebrate and bacterial.

Benthic macroinvertebrate are organisms that live on the bottom of a body of water (benthic), lack a backbone (invertebrate) and are visible to the eye (macro). They are good indicators of water quality because:

• They are affected by the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the stream.
• They show the effects of short and long-term pollution events.
• They may show the cumulative impacts of pollution.
• They may show impacts from habitat loss not detected by traditional water quality assessments.
• They are important in the food web of the stream.
• Some are very intolerant of pollution; while others are tolerant of pollution.
• They are relatively easy to monitor.

(taken from the Virginia Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Program Methods Manual, July 2003)

Our volunteers use the Modified Virginia Save our Streams Method to monitor for benthic macroinvertebrate. This process generally involves getting into the stream, using a net to collect the organisms, sorting and identifying the catch, and using easy calculations to determine an ecological score for water quality.

CRPA's bacterial monitoring program measures the presence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) which is considered an "indicator" species of bacteria. E. coli is found in fecal waste from humans or other warm-blooded animals and can enter a waterbody from various sources including faulty wastewater treatment plants, livestock, malfunctioning septic systems, untreated sewage discharge, pets, stormwater runoff, wildlife, or boat waste. The presence of E. coli in the water suggests that the water may include pathogenic microorganisms that pose a health risk. To monitor the level of E. coli in the Cowpasture River Watershed, CRPA uses a testing media known as Coliscan Easygel.


The Education Program
CRPA strives to educate the entire Cowpasture River Watershed about water quality issues to encourage protection of the water quality and to promote appreciation of the river. CRPA hopes to raise young community members' awareness of the importance of water quality and conservation by supporting environmental education in the local school systems and conducting an annual scholarship program to support area students interested in environment-related fields. CRPA hopes to engage adult members of the community through environment-related programming by collaborating with local organizations to promote environmental education opportunities in the area.


Adopt-A-Stream
CRPA has joined the Adopt-A-Stream program through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Twice annually (Spring and Fall), CRPA will coordinate river cleanup activities at the Walton Tract in Bath County. Please contact Caroline Bott at directorcrpa@gmail.com or (540) 460-0268 if you would like to help.