Articles

"Since June of 2024, West Virginia is experiencing one of the most severe droughts in a quarter-century, with water supplies and soil moisture failing to recover fully from prior dry spells. As we confront these environmental challenges, understanding the interaction between drought and water quality has never been more important."

Private support from the Colcom Foundation for West Virginia University and the West Virginia Water Research Institute is providing $3.5 million in financial resources to help bolster environmental sustainability and water research efforts at WVU and throughout the region.

Private support from the Colcom Foundation for West Virginia University and the West Virginia Water Research Institute is providing $3.5 million in financial resources to help bolster environmental sustainability and water research efforts at WVU and throughout the region.

The 2023 ORBA/ORBCRE Summit took place on October 5th-6th, 2023 at Embassy Suites Cincinnati RiverCenter, located in Covington, KY. The Ohio River Basin Alliance (ORBA) and the Ohio River Basin Consortium for Research and Education (ORBCRE) have hosted this annual summit since 1985 to provide an opportunity for academia, industry, and regulatory agencies to come together to discuss water issues across the basin. The summit had a feature keynote speaker, Colonel Jayson Putnam, Commander of the Huntington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. From 3RQ, Melissa O’Neal (Associate Director, WVWRI) and Rachel Spirnak (Water Resources Specialist, WVWRI) gave presentations. 

Registration is open for both Three Rivers QUEST Virtual Roundtable Series and WVWRI Virtual Seminar Series!

Building successful remediation projects is accomplished through a combination of reliable data, healthy partnerships, and sufficient funding. There is often a gap between researchers with expertise in water issues and realized stream restoration projects. A hurdle to many small colleges and universities is a lack of funding, time, or connections to state agencies and other key stakeholders involved in stream restoration. Generating Awareness for Project Success (GAPS) is a collaboration between the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds (FPW) and Three Rivers QUEST (3RQ) to assist small colleges and universities carrying out real-world stream restoration projects. Not only does this enhance student learning, but also grows university-community partnerships. In turn, faculty and students provide their local expertise and hands-on assistance. Utilizing over 15 years of experience in coordinating researchers, grassroots groups, and state agencies regarding stream restoration projects, 3RQ will provide the funding and technical expertise needed to set up a successful remediation project. The aim of GAPS is to collect the baseline data and information needed to secure funding for the engineering and construction of stream remediation projects.

Today, 3RQ held its final Virtual Roundtable series, Presenters came together to discuss projects occurring within the Ohio River Basin. Huge thank you to Jason Heath, John Wenzel, and John Detisch for sharing their time with us!

A new study by WVU and West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) researchers utilizes 3RQ data to analyze how management changes have impacted water quality in the Monongahela River Basin. The study focuses on twelve sites on the Monongahela River and its major tributaries that, as part of the 3RQ program, have at least monthly water quality data dating back to 2009. Researchers examine water quality trends from 2009-2019 under the lens of three key management changes that occurred within this time period. These management changes include a voluntary discharge management plan developed by the WVWRI and implemented by the coal industry (2010), Pennsylvania’s prohibition of produced wastewater in publicly owned treatment facilities (2011), and construction of a reverse osmosis treatment facility (2013). Since the implementation of these changes, primarily the voluntary discharge management plan which encompasses most of the watershed, TDS in the Monongahela has not exceeded the EPA′s secondary drinking water standards. The results from this study have demonstrated how bromide, chloride, sulfate, and TDS trend changes coincided with discharge and critical water quality management alterations to the Monongahela River Basin. While individual management decisions may be effective, combining multiple watershed-scale decisions targeting contributing constituents of TDS can lead to greater overall effectiveness. Published to Water in February of 2023, the article, entitled "Effective Management Changes to Reduce Halogens, Sulfate, and TDS in the Monongahela River Basin, 2009–2019," is free and open to the public.