Stream Walk 2009

Stream Walk 2009 – The Elks Run Study Group is sponsoring the Elks Run Watershed Stream Walk on Sunday, November 8 from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Elks Run is the stream that provides Harpers Ferry and Bolivar with drinking water and is a vital part of our environment.

The tour starts at the Bolivar Community Center on Panama Street with a general orientation. Participants will travel to several Elks Run stream sites throughout Jefferson County, West Virginia. Speakers will be at each site to discuss the watershed and the importance of the Elks Run and Elk Branch streams, and to provide information on protecting the quality and quantity of our drinking water. Maps and informational materials will be provided. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will supply trash bags, gloves and vests so that participants can remove any litter that might be discovered along the way.

Enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise, learn more about our environment, and help protect our water source. The event will be held rain or shine. Dress for the weather. For more information contact Barbara Humes at 304-535-2503.

Watershed Celebration Day: November 14, 2009
The Elks Run Study Committee will provide an informative table-top display at the West Virginia Annual Watershed Celebration Day on November 13-14 at Blackwater Falls State Park. The display, consisting of maps, photographs, and text, will describe the Elks Run watershed and the educational projects that have been initiated by the Committee.

Stream Walk 2008

The Elks Run Study Committee sponsored the Elks Run Watershed Stream Walk on Sunday, November 9, 2008 from 1:30 – 3:30.

The event started at the Bolivar Community Center with a general orientation. Participants traveled to four Elks Run stream sites throughout Jefferson County. At each of the four sites, a speaker presented an informative topic of interest.

At Duffields MARC Train Commuter parking lot located along Elk Branch, speaker Paul Burke, President of the Stewards of the Potomac Highlands, spoke about sediment pollution from construction sites and raw sewage from leaking sewer pipes and provided participants with information about how to report problems to the proper authorities.

The Blue Farm, a bucolic rural scene of productive farmland and contented cows, was the site of a discussion by Study Group Member Dan Riss on non-point source pollution.

At Engle Switch, the site of old Jefferson County limestone kilns, Jim Cummins, a member of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, talked about the biological health of Elks Run and described the value of and the vulnerabilities of the Karst landscape.

The final site was the Harpers Ferry Water Treatment Plant where local science teacher Jim Jenkins conducted a macro-invertebrate study of water quality. Jim provided water nets, hip length water wading boots, microscopes, and tweezers for catching and viewing bugs to all willing participants – truly a hands-on adventure!

The trip concluded with a tour of the water treatment plant conducted by John Paul Heafer, Chief Plant Superintendent.

Eco-friendly, cloth grab bags were distributed, filled with a map of the watershed and educational materials including how to protect water sources and how to construct a rain garden. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection supplied trash bags, gloves and vests so that participants could remove any litter discovered along the way.