Stream Processes and Ecology Workshop assesses W.Va. Environment

Morgantown, WV, June 25, 2007: West Virginia University’s Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is using its resources to teach methods of analyzing local rivers and streams.

In a recent workshop entitled “Introduction to Stream Processes and Ecology Workshop 2007,” participants learned how to assess streams and rivers in various ways. They analyzed the physical, chemical and biological inputs from adjacent land-use and watershed conditions, for example, the effects of agricultural run-off in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

They also determined the geological history, on-going processes, land uses—especially urbanization, mining, forestry and agriculture and “restoration” goals unique to the Mid-Atlantic Highland rivers and streams. In addition, they characterized bed load sediment, assessed bank stability, and performed habitat work focusing on overall stream health and channel units and those features suitable for targeted aquatic species.

Participants, mostly from the West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways and the West Virginia Conservation Agency, used methods of fluvial geomorphology and hydraulic geometry to assess the rivers and streams. These methods aid anyone working in the monitoring, assessment or design of stream restoration or reclamation projects. Fluvial geomorphology analyzes how rivers and streams affect a landscape, and how they evolve into their current condition. Hydraulic geometry is concerned with the shape and size of rivers and streams within a designated space.

The instructors included Dr. Steven Kite, associate professor in WVU’s Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Todd Petty, associate professor in WVU’s Division of Forestry in the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, Dr. Donald Gray, professor in WVU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Neal Carte from the West Virginia Division of Transportation.

The event included two workshops on May 14-17 at the Lakeview Resort in Morgantown, W.Va., and May 29-June 1 at Blackwater Falls State Park in Davis, W.Va.

WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences collaborated with WVU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. For more information, please contact Dr. Steven Kite, associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geography, at Steve.Kite@mail.wvu.edu.

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