Virginia anglers fish for clues to acid rain

A University of Virginia student gathers a water sample from a trout stream in Virginia in a study to access the effect of acid rain on the state's waterways and marine life.

By Environmental News Network staff

May 1, 2000
Web posted at: 12:12 p.m. EDT (1612 GMT)

Virginia anglers, 250 strong, are collecting water samples from nearly 400 local trout streams in an effort to determine whether acid rain is damaging the state's waterways and marine life.

The water sampling is part of the Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study 2000 coordinated by the Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited and sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Anglers collected samples through April and delivered them to University of Virginia's Department of Environmental Sciences lab for analysis.

"I remain impressed by Virginia TU's commitment to this project and their home waters," said Rick Webb, a research scientist with University of Virginia's Department of Environmental Sciences and VTSSS Project Coordinator. "Twelve years ago, TU helped UVA organize and coordinate 165 sample collectors for this groundbreaking research. This year they have helped recruit, organize and train 250 volunteers to help UVA conduct this important acid deposition study."

The brook trout, Virginia's state fish, is more acid-tolerant than other trout, and the decline of brook trout populations due to acid rain is a sign that many other species in Virginia's aquatic and forest ecosystems have suffered as well.

Losing fishing in St. Mary's River 15 years ago to the effects of acid rain is a motivating force behind the University of Virginia study. The river, nestled in George Washington National Forest, was a pristine waterway before it suffered dramatic losses of aquatic insects and trout. Pollution was suspected, but fishery biologists later discovered that the St. Mary's blue ribbon trout fishery had fallen prey to a silent killer, acid rain.

"St. Mary's was a great loss, but it could be an important indicator of a much larger problem in similar habitats in Virginia," said Catharine Tucker, who is helping coordinate volunteers from Trout Unlimited. "As an angler, I rely on healthy trout streams and the solitude of Mountain streams to escape from the stresses of everyday life. The St. Mary's was a particular favorite where my son, then 8 years old, caught his first native trout on a fly he had tied himself. By volunteering in this study, we will help collect scientific data that will prove critical to maintaining the long-term health of Virginia's brook trout streams."

The blue dots represent water sample sites on public lands in western Virginia.

Through VTSSS 2000, 344 Virginia brook trout streams sampled in 1987 will be re-sampled to determine changes in acidity levels. The new water samples will provide a basis for examining long-term changes related to acid rain while taking into account the effects of season, stream flow and other sources of short-term variation.

This research diagnosed 6 percent of Virginia brook trout streams as "chronically acidic," no longer able to host viable populations of brook trout.

Virginia Trout Unlimited members are well aware of the destruction caused by acid rain in New York's Adirondack Park and are anxious to determine the extent to which their home trout streams are vulnerable. While more than 500 Adirondack lakes and ponds cannot support the plant and animal life they once did, acid rain is not limited to this region. In fact, acid rain continues to destroy aquatic ecosystems throughout the greater Appalachian region.

"This study gives Virginia a head start," said Jay Henderson, Virginia TU council chairman. "Something our fellow anglers in New York probably would have appreciated were the science available back then. I think it is our responsibility to monitor and protect the health of Virginia trout streams."

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 requires periodic acid-rain measurements to evaluate the effectiveness of mandated emission reductions. The study will help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who funded the study with the National Park Service, gather critical and scientifically credible data to help evaluate current environmental standards and whether the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 provide enough protection for acid-sensitive watersheds in western Virginia.

Copyright 1999, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study 2000
study overview
Trout Unlimited
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UVA's Department of Environmental Sciences
The brook trout

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