Posted by Chuck Frederickson

Quite a storm for "just a nor'easter". I talked to one of my friends in Pequoson and he told me that the water at his house on Friday was within five inches of the the Hurricane Isabell level. If we would have had Isabell's sustained winds, it would really have been a mess. I went on a short tour yesterday and was pleased to see that there did not appear to be much damage from the storm. The river was still running high and there was a lot of debris but all in all, not too bad. It's not the logs floating on top that worry me, it's the one that is about six inches below the surface that you can't see that will take out a lower unit. Just be careful out there.

Lots of Water

Yesterday was a great day to see the amazing power of streams at their strongest. I visited a number of spots in the Rockfish River valley and saw the impacts of the heavy rains during the last several days. A good sign is that, even with so much runoff reaching the North Fork of the Rockfish and the creeks feeding it, the streams were still not loading with mud like you could see in many streams yesterday. This is a good demonstration of the value of relatively protected watersheds and forests.

I could see that in some other streams the weakened and erodes banks were being eaten away at a great rate. Streams have by far their greatest power to tear away at the bed and banks when flows are at bank-full levels. The importance of controlling both the quality and quantity of water running off the land is clearly demonstrated during these kinds of conditions.

Sedalia Center - Riverkeeper's Revenge Chili

Yesterday I had a great time at the Chili Cookoff at the Sedalia Center near Big Island. Along with team members and supporters from the James River Float Company in Madison Heights, the Upper James Riverkeeper represented JRA as one of dozens of entrants in the contest. Chris from JR Float Company was the chef and creator of our unique creation - "Riverkeeper's Revenge." Although we didn't walk away with a prize we did get lots of praise from attendees and a lot of attention for JRA and the Riverkeeper's work. About 40 people signed up to receive information from JRA and expressed their interest in helping us protect and improve the River and its tributaries in the Lynchburg and Bedford County areas.

Thanks especially to Mason Basten for helping us get involved in this event and for being our constant guide in the Lynchburg community.