West Virginians Get Engaged in Water Quality Monitoring

Earlier this month, the CMC went to Harpers Ferry to talk to folks about initiating their own water quality monitoring program. We were part of a water symposium that focused on groundwater, the future climate of the local watershed, and water quality. The hosts, the Rural Agricultural Defenders of West Virginia, are a grassroots organization of concerned citizens working to protect the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers in Jefferson County, WV. They formed their local organization, are motivated to educate themselves on water quality, and and eager to begin monitoring. A major manufacturing plant is currently being fast tracked for construction in their county. If it gets built, the plant would significantly impact water and air quality for the county itself as well as the DC metro area and everyone downstream on the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay.

This event was a great opportunity for the CMC to connect with the organizations already engaged in water quality issues in West Virginia, and it was a first step in working with this community to build a network of monitors whose future data could enable change on a local level.

Learn more at www.radwv.org and www.stoptoxicrockwool.com

Aerial of Harper’s Ferry, WV. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons