Hitting the ground running
Hello friends!
First off, thank you everyone for the warm welcome as your new Riverkeeper! I am just so honored to have this wonderful opportunity and to work with you all in the protection of our water quality. I have certainly hit the ground running....fast. I am learning as much as I can while focusing on important issues we will be working hard on this year. I want to send out a big thank you to Larry Kent from the NC Cooperative Extension who was kind enough to take me out with him yesterday to go water sampling along the New River. We traveled to 14 different sites recording the dissolved oxygen concentrations, the salinity levels, and the temperatures. What is really interesting to note is that the salinity levels are much higher than they should be more inland. This has a lot to do with the lack of rainfall we have had. Because of this, the depth of the river is much lower than it has been. This is especially more obvious the more inland you go where the river is much more narrow. Let's hope for rain this Spring!
I also met some wonderful homeowners in the Maple Hill/Haw's Run Community who are all concerned of a likely Rock Quarry site coming to their neighborhood. Rock Quarry's can pose serious environmental impacts like drainage of the water table, sink holes, and destruction of important wildlife species including The Cape Fear Threetooth (threatened species) and Venus Flytrap (species of concern). Read more about the Maple Hill Rock Quarry and to see the list of more rare plants and animals within 1 mile of the project can be found here.
Stay tuned for deveolping news in the coming weeks as I meet with fellow Riverkeepers, tackle on more issues, and get wet out on the water!
