New Hope for Trout in Spout Run

Carter Hall Spring

April 25, 2016

Downstream of Project Hope’s Carter Hall spring, students from Ms. Robin Coutts lower school science class at Powhatan School released trout fry they had raised from eggs into Spout Run. For the last several years, the school has participated in Trout Unlimited’s “Trout in the Classroom” program as part of an environmental science curriculum focused on habitat and water quality.

Bordered by Spout Run and Page Brook, Powhatan is ideally situated in the heart of the Spout Run watershed. In 2011, the school received a donation of 46.8 acres along Spout Run (Crocker Conservancy) which will be in perpetual easement for education and recreation. This will allow the school to expand is focus on environmental science and nature study.

Releasing trout back into the wild is a small but symbolic event culminating three years of restoration work in this stretch of the stream by Trout Unlimited and the C Spout Run partnership. Work has included extensive stream bank restoration to reduce sedimentation and numerous tree plantings by volunteers to restore habitat and tree cover — all to help protect and cool the waters. Hopefully, these trout fingerlings will now find suitable conditions to grow and reproduce.

Kudos to Ms. Coutts and the students of Powhatan!

Putting Down Roots on Spout Run (video journal)

Carter Hall Spring
November 8, 2014

It was a crisp November morning and over 20 volunteers from Clarke County and the surrounding community gathered on the banks of Spout Run to plant over 150 native trees and shrubs to improve habitat and do their part to restore this unique spring creek. On the heels of the stream restoration work completed in May, this volunteer tree planting was one of the last steps for this targeted restoration project on  Spout Run near Carter Hall.  Passionate volunteers young and old, including many TU members, enjoyed getting their hands a little dirty to make a difference for clean water.  Thirteen species of trees and shrubs—all native to VA—were planted including American hazelnut, pin oak, black gum, and red osier dogwood.

Prior to this project, this reach of Spout Run suffered from unstable streambanks and signification streambank erosion.  In the long term, the streambank stabilization and instream habitat restoration activities completed in May will be successful once a riparian buffer is established. Permanent rooted vegetation along streambanks is the most important factor for stream stability in the Shenandoah Valley.  The trees these dedicated volunteers planted will help hold the streambanks in place, provide shade to the stream and cover for native brook trout.

Funding for this project was made possible by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with support from Rapidan and Winchester Chapters of Trout Unlimited, and Project Hope.

High Water Earns High Marks for Stream Restoration Efforts

A potentially record-breaking and damaging storm surge came down Spout Run earlier this month along with monsoon rains, just two days after this restored reach of Spout Run at Carter Hall spring below Millwood had been staked and seeded.

The Downstream crew joined stream restoration specialists, Seth Coffman and James Fulcher from Trout Unlimited, to document how well the site and intended improvements held up. It is estimated that over 130 cubic yards of sediment were deposited over the newly established flood plain area and kept from washing further downstream to the Shenandoah River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

We love it when a plan comes together. Congratulations to Seth and James for a great design and execution.

Spout Run Restoration begins below Millwood

Stream restoration specialist, Seth Coffman, from Trout Unlimited describes progress on the first targeted streambank restoration project on Spout Run, just below Millwood and the Carter Hall spring.

In May of 2013, we captured video of Seth and James Fulcher recording topographic information as we witnessed the severity of the vertical and incised banks which contribute heavily to the sedimentation of the stream. The before-and-after segments in the latest video journal entry show the remarkable improvement and future benefits of this work in progress.

C Spout Run to be featured at Water Quality Summit

vcwq-poster
Virginia Citizens for Water Quality (VCWO) presents “The Muddy Mystery” —2013 Annual Summit and Movie, (Union First Market Bankshares, Ruther Glen, Virginia) – November 9, 2013.

Join our project team representatives Nesha McRae (VADEQ), Seth Coffman (TU), and Bill Howard (The Downstream Project- TDP) who will be presenting a keynote address—C Spout Run: Inspiring Successful Watershed Planning in the Shenandoah Valley.

Learn and enjoy from other partner groups and the state offering presentations focused on uncovering the mystery of runoff pollution.

Registration is now open! $15 includes lunch and refreshments.

Check out the draft agenda by clicking –> here.

Register online here:
https://www.elleevance.com/beventLive.aspx?EventID=NBI15646650

Questions? Contact Anna Mathis at amathis@allianceforthebay.org or 804-775-0951.

Map Link to venue.

Trout raised in Powhatan classroom released to Spout Run

Powhatan School
May 14, 2013

Follow this blog post and check out the video of students at Powhatan School, with the help of Mark Zimmerman of Trout Unlimited, celebrate the release of several young “fingerling” brook trout, raised from eggs in the classroom, into Spout Run. Tracy Smith, who served as the parent coordinator of this valuable educational program, explains the importance of this 7th grade service project.

This flagship program of Trout Unlimited’s Youth Education efforts, Trout (or Salmon) in the Classroom (TIC or SIC) offers students of all ages a chance to raise salmonids in a classroom setting and then release them into a nearby stream or river. Caring for the fish starts to foster a conservation ethic in the students, and the act of walking to a streambank and directly releasing the fish into the water makes a concrete connection between caring for the fish and caring for the water.

Restoration Planning: TU topographic studies

Stream restoration specialists, Seth Coffman and James Fulcher, from Trout Unlimited take elevation and survey measurements to develop a targeted restoration plan for the stream below Millwood at Carter Hall.

Tall vertical banks contribute a tremendous amount of sediment to Spout Run and the restoration plan will ease the height and slope in targeted locations. Plantings will also help to stabilize the ground to minimize soil erosion.

Clarke County Recipient of NFWF Small Watershed Grant

Clarke County, Va. will receive $141,600 (plus $87,800 in matching funds) to improve water quality and restore eastern brook trout habitat in Spout Run by working with farmers and residential landowners to stabilize stream banks, install fencing and convert turf to trees. As a partner in this effort, The Downstream Project videotaped the NFWF press conference in Arlington, Virginia.

Watch Announcement: remarks by David O’Neill, Eastern Partnership Office Director, NFWF; Jeffrey Corbin, Senior Advisor for the Chesapeake Bay and the Anacostia River, U.S. EPA; The Honorable James P. “Jim” Moran, U.S. Representative

NFWF News Release (download PDF)
ALL NFWF Grant Recipients (download PDF)

[Read more…]

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Supports Spout Run Cleanup

Clarke Daily News

Dear Editor,

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation congratulates everyone engaged in the Spout Run watershed cleanup. It takes just such communitywide, public-private partnerships to restore local streams, as all of us contribute in some way to the pollution of our waterways, and all of us can play a role in cleaning them up. The Spout Run partners are to be commended for moving forward to restore clean water to their community, those downstream, and ultimately to the Chesapeake Bay.

Success will mean a healthier, safer stream, a more vibrant local economy, and better quality of life for local residents and future generations. Kudos to all involved: Clarke County, local residents, farmers, Trout Unlimited, Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District, The Downstream Project, Piedmont Environmental Council, Friends of the Shenandoah River, and the Virginia Departments of Environmental Quality and Conservation and Recreation.

Ann F. Jennings
Virginia Executive Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Notice of Public Meeting

The TMDL document will be available on the DEQ website the day of the meeting for public comment and review:

The final public meeting on the development of these TMDLs will be held on Wednesday February 24, 2010. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) seek written and oral comments from interested persons on the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for the Spout Run watershed in Clarke County. Spout Run was listed on the 1998 303(d) TMDL Priority List and Report as impaired due to violations of the State’s water quality standard for bacteria and violations of the State’s general (benthic) standard for aquatic life. The benthic and bacteria impairments on the South Fork Shenandoah extend for 3.7 miles from the confluence of Page Brook and Roseville Run downstream to the confluence with the Shenandoah River. In addition, Page Brook was listed on the 2004 303(d) TMDL Priority List and Report as impaired due to violations of the State’s water quality standard for bacteria. This impairment extends for 8.78 miles from the headwaters downstream to the confluence with Roseville Run.

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act and §62.1-44.19:7.C of the Code of Virginia require DEQ to develop TMDLs for pollutants responsible for each impaired water contained in Virginia’s 303(d) TMDL Priority List and Report.
The public comment period for the final public meeting and TMDL document will end on March 29, 2010. The public notice appears in the Virginia Register of Regulations on February 15, 2010. [Open Meeting]