RappFLOW Leaders Attend Watershed Protection Institute

©Rappahannock News 2005

Three leaders of Rappahannock Friends and Lovers of Our Watershed (RappFLOW) participated in a five-day intensive institute on watershed protection held at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia from March 28 through April 1. Beverly Hunter, Jill Keihn, and Sarah Gannon were among sixty participants in this training, provided by the Watershed Protection Center. They are now applying their lessons to a study of Rappahannock County’s watersheds.

Institute topics included impacts of land development on aquatic systems, basic methods of watershed protection, forecasting the impact of land use change, land conservation tools, how streams work, stream and forest assessment, strategies to conserve wetlands, stormwater management, protecting streamside buffers, changing watershed behavior, agricultural best management practices, and scoping a watershed plan on a shoestring. Overall, however, the strong message Beverly Hunter took away from this experience was, “Watershed protection is far more fun and less costly than restoration after the damage is done. Rappahannock County has a chance now to protect its water and land for future generations.before it is too late.”