Maria Russo, West Virginia State Lead for the Choose Clean Water Coalition, connected with Kay Schultz, Organizer and Steering Committee Member of the Town Run Watershed Group. Thank you to the Watershed Group for their efforts, and for providing information on the impetus and the recent successes of the group.
The Town Run Watershed Group was officially started in 2023, following the announcement that the Potomac River would be mixed with the Town Run, to serve as the town of Shepherdstown's drinking water source. Formerly, only water from the Potomac River was used. Additionally, in the currently expanding Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, a new housing development is under construction directly adjacent to the Town Run. These shifts ignited the founding members to begin meeting and discussing how they can support the water quality, stream flow, and overall public health of their beloved community.
Some of the biggest issues faced in the watershed are increased development, stormwater management, high levels of bacteria, invasive plant species and septic system maintenance.
The group's purpose is "Stewardship of Town Run for the Shepherdstown community, our downstream neighbors, current and future generations, human and other living beings."
The group has created an ongoing campaign of public awareness, complete with community events, informational signage, stream cleanups, stream restoration projects, and more.
Recently, the Town Run Watershed Group received both a Stream Partners Grant from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection as well as an Advocacy Grant from the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. This additional funding will help expand the already growing public education campaigns!
Through their efforts, the group hopes that they can:
Mitigate pollution of groundwater from septic systems and other sources.
Address runoff from streets, parking lots, and lawns.
Stabilize stream banks, by planting trees and addressing erosion.
Remove invasive plants and replace them with vegetated buffers.
Promote stream restoration efforts to spread awareness that the Run is critical to community health!
Over the last few months, the Watershed Group has invited the community to join their efforts. More than 80 people have signed up on their website as "Friends" of Town Run, indicating what kind of volunteer skills they can offer.
The group is partnering with other nonprofits in the area on a variety of projects. This includes Bee City Shepherdstown for the restoration of Back Alley, Historic Shepherdstown for a lecture on the colonial era history of Town Run, and the Master Naturalists of the Potomac Valley Audubon Society for stream clean-ups. Other partners include The Downstream Project, the Shepherdstown Community Club, and the Shepherd University Student Environmental Club.
Town Run Watershed Group holds regular stakeholder meetings, which include participation from individuals and groups such as the Mayor of Shepherdstown, the local water utility, nonprofit organizations, local government agencies, and interested residents. With the assistance of this diverse group of stakeholders, they have collected information on the parks, roads, railroad, sewered areas, wetlands, ponds, and other distinct characteristics of the watershed. They have compiled this information into an interactive map to monitor local water quality.
The group has evolving plans for how their work will grow in the future, including the development of a Watershed Management Plan, a Tree Canopy Plan, and Land Conservation Plans. They also want to promote farmland preservation, increase rainwater harvesting for irrigation, and continue to educate private and institutional property owners on Bay-friendly landscape practices.
This education continued recently when the Town Run Watershed Group partnered with Friends of the Run for a special presentation titled "Risks and Resiliencies for Water Security in Town Run" at Shepherd University. Led by Dr. Nathaniel "Than" Hitt, Senior Scientist with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the program explored the critical role of Town Run in Shepherdstown's future water supply and the challenges it faces. Attendees also learned how karst geology, a defining feature of the local landscape, impacts Town Run and other municipal water supplies across the region and the potential effects of climate change and land use on water security.
With Shepherdstown preparing to blend water from Town Run with the Potomac River as its primary drinking water source, understanding the risks and resiliencies involved is more crucial than ever. Water resource management presents ever-evolving challenges, but Town Run Watershed Group is dedicated to helping residents learn how they can play a vital role in safeguarding the future of the Town Run watershed.
The Town Run Watershed Group is "walking the walk" and "talking the talk" on how to be a phenomenal upstream neighbor. They are listening to the concerns of their neighbors and using their collective resources to respond to these pressing issues. We hope their work inspires you to get involved and help protect water quality in the community you love.
Don't forget–we all live downstream!
