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Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Division |
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Environmental Programs |
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West Virginia Department of Agriculture |
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This page last modified on September 19, 2006 © WVDA 2006 |
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News
West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Programs Section still going strong after 10 years
The For the past ten years, the West Virginia Department of Agriculture Environmental Programs Section in Moorefield has been monitoring the water quality in the Eastern Panhandle. This program was established in July 1998 in response to concerns about the environmental effects of the expansion of the poultry industry in the Panhandle. In order to address these concerns, Gus R. Douglass, Commissioner of Agriculture began one of the most ambitious water quality monitoring programs ever attempted in the state.
Throughout the last ten years, the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Programs Section has collected samples at one hundred thirty (130) sites, on twenty-two (22) streams, one to five (1 to 5) times a month, twelve (12) months per year. Since the inception of this water monitoring program, the Department has collected and analyzed over twenty four thousand (24,000) samples.
The water quality program has continually evolved over the years to meet the needs of not only the West Virginia Department of Agriculture but also our State and Federal partners, local non-profit groups and all West Virginia citizens. Through better communication and data sharing, the Department is working to meet the needs of not only the agricultural industry, but all groups who will benefit from knowledge about the water quality in the Eastern Panhandle.
This water quality monitoring program has had the unique opportunity to show a strong baseline of water quality data to decision makers, and also, provide input for future decisions affecting the watersheds sampled. The water quality data is currently being used as part of the decision matrix for the West Virginia Chesapeake Bay Implementation Committee and for the Chesapeake Bay Program load predictions from West Virginia. Lessons learned from this program are also being used to help guide other water quality initiatives, such as the Ohio River Sub Basin focus to reduce nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico.
Employees of the Environmental Programs Section at Moorefield also actively promote water quality education to local civic and community organizations, as well as, school and 4-H groups, throughout the year.
If you have any questions about the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s water quality monitoring program, please contact Matt Monroe, Environmental Coordinator in Moorefield at 304-538-2397 and look for our report detailing a decade of sampling and data due to be published by the end of 2008.
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