SWAS-VTSSS

Contact Info

Shenandoah Watershed Study
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Virginia
Clark Hall, 291 McCormick Road
P.O. Box 4000123
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123 USA

Download PDF of Clark Hall location map

Project Co-Directors

James Galloway;   jng@virginia.edu;   434-924-1303

Jack Cosby;    bjc4a@virginia.edu;   434-924-7787

Project Investigators

Todd Scanlon;   tms2v@virginia.edu;   434-924-3382


Project Staff

Projects Coordinator:   Rick Webb;   rwebb@virginia.edu;   540-468-2881; 540-290-0913 (c)

Laboratory Manager:   Suzanne Maben;   sw2e@virginia.edu;   434-924-0589
  

Program Overview

The Shenandoah Watershed Study (SWAS) program is the longest continuously conducted watershed research and monitoring program in the National Park System. The SWAS program was begun in 1979 as a cooperative undertaking of Shenandoah National Park and the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. The initial focus of SWAS was the harmful effects of acidic deposition from the atmosphere on the park’s sensitive streams, most of which support reproducing populations of the native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Over time the SWAS program has evolved to address additional issues that challenge watershed ecosystems in the park, including the legacy of past land use, the impact of forest defoliation by the gypsy moth, and the depletion of nutrients in watershed soils.

SWAS data collection within Shenandoah National Park is coordinated with the Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study (VTSSS), which extends watershed research and monitoring to native brook trout streams throughout the mountains of western Virginia. Regional-scale analysis has allowed identification of biologically important trends that are obscured on less extensive scales by variation due to lithology, forest disturbance, and other local factors. The integrated SWAS-VTSSS data collection framework represents (1) spatial variation through a site selection strategy based on differences in landscape properties, and (2) temporal variation by collecting data at different frequencies.

 

 

Current SWAS data collection in Shenandoah National Park includes a combination of quarterly, weekly, and higher-frequency water quality sampling on 14 streams, continuous discharge measurement on 5 streams, and determination of precipitation amount
and composition at 2 locations. Current VTSSS data collection includes quarterly water quality sampling on an additional 51 streams located mostly in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.

Logistical and financial support for the SWAS-VTSSS program are provided by the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and Trout Unlimited.

SWAS-VTSSS Study Watersheds

Study Watersheds in Shenandoah National Park

Study Watersheds in Western Virginia

Interactive Map of Shenandoah National Park and Study Watersheds

PowerPoint Maps of
Intensively Studied Watersheds in Shenandoah National Park

Water quality analysis for samples collected at SWAS-VTSSS program sites includes: pH, conductivity, acid neutralizing capacity, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, calcium ion, magnesium ion, sodium iion, potassium ion, ammonium ion, silica, dissolved organic carbon, and monomeric aluminum fractions.

The SWAS-VTSSS watershed study network includes long-term monitoring sites on 65 streams that are sampled for water quality analysis on at least a quarterly basis (January, April, July, and October). These long-term monitoring sites are a subset of sites sampled in synoptic surveys of native brook trout streams (n = 450) conducted in 1987 and 2000. This subset was selected to represent relatively pristine forested mountain watersheds and the distribution of the major watershed bedrock types in the region's mountain watersheds.
The black labels indicate streams that are sampled quarterly (January, April, July, and October). The blue labels indicate streams that are sampled weekly. The red labels indicate streams that are sampled weekly and at higher frequency during high-runoff conditions. Discharge gauging is maintained on streams with red and blue labels (excepting Deep Run). Precipitation monitoring is maintained for sites in or adjacent the North Fork of Dry Run and White Oak Run watersheds.

PDF Documents and Presentations

Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park
Report for National Park Service - 2006

Predicting the Vulnerability of Streams to Episodic Acidification and Potential Effects on Aquatic Biota in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
USGS Scientific Investigations Report - 2006 (Abstract and TOC)
Complete Report (5.73 mb)

Effects of Stream Water Chemistry on Mercury Concentrations in Brook Trout in Shenandoah National Park
Report for National Park Service (review draft) - 2006 (1.24 mb)

Identification of Native Brook Trout Streams That Are Impaired by Acidification
(1) Report to Virginia Water Resources Research Center - 2005 (201 kb)

Identification of Native Brook Trout Streams That Are Impaired by Acidification
(2) National Water Research Symposium: Balancing Water Law and Science - 2005 PDF of PowerPoint Presentation (1.2 mb)

Effects of Acidic Deposition on Aquatic Resources in the Central Appalachian Mountains
A Shenandoah Watershed Study Report - 2004 (3.9 mb)

Are Brook Trout Streams in Western Virginia and Shenandoah National Park Recovering from Acidification
Environmental Science and Technology Article - 2004. (143 kb)

Response of Surface Water Chemistry to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
2003 U.S. EPA report on recent changes in the acid-base chemistry of streamwaters in the eastern U.S. - including SWAS-VTSSS study streams in western Virginia (5.3 mb)

Assessment of Air Quality Related Values in Shenandoah National Park
Report for National Park Service - 2003

Have U.S. Surface Waters Responded to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments?
Environmental Science and Technology Feature Article - 2004. (371 kb)

A Red Flag to Regulators: Lack of Recovery From Stream Acidification in Western Virginia Trout Streams
Presentation for 2003 Congressional Briefing on Air Pollution Threats to National Parks, sponsored by the National Parks Conservation Association. (406 kb)

Documentation of Landuse and Disturbance History in Fourteen Intensively Studied Watershed in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia: 1920s to Present
2003 Shenandoah Watershed Study Report. (3.8 mb)

Terrestrial and Aquatic Effects Technical Reports
Southern Appalachian Intitative - 2002

Lithology-Based Landscape Classification for the Aquatic Effects Assessment of the Southern Appalachian Mountian Initiative (SAMI)
2001 Report for the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative. (1.9 mb)

Current and Projected Status of Fish Communities in the Southeastern U.S. in the context of Continued Acidic Deposition
1998 Report for Trout Unlimited. (419 kb)

SWAS-VTSSS Advisory Council

The Shenandoah Watershed Study-Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study Advisory Council was established in 2005.

Its charge is to:

  1. Provide a broad perspective on the issues facing Appalachian watersheds.

  2. Insure that stakeholder concerns are considered and that the program has both policy relevance and scientific value.

  3. Act as a sounding board for research ideas in the context of #1 and #2.

Advisory Council members are:

Pamela Faggert, Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer, Dominion Resources

Jeff Gleason, Deputy Director, Southern Environmental Law Center

Gordon Olson, Supervisory Biologist, Resource Management, Shenandoah National Park

Leon Szeptycki, Eastern Conservation Director and General Counsel, Trout Unlimited

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Content for id "FISH-TOC" Goes Here
Content for id "SAMI-TOC" Goes Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                      

The Virginia Mountain Streams Symposium

The Shenandoah Watershed Study celebrated its 25th anniversary in the fall of 2004 by hosting the Virginia Mountain Streams Symposium.

The Symposium focused on the challenges facing mountain streams due to changes within their watersheds (e.g., logging, fire, insect defoliation) and due to external stressors (ozone, acid rain, climate change).

The Symposium included a poster session and program information displays in the morning for both the scientific community and the interested public. In the afternoon there were presentations reflecting the perspectives of scientific, state, federal, industrial and not-for-profit stakeholders concerned with Virginia's mountain streams. Approximately two hundred people attended.

Funding and other support for the symposium was provided by the National Park Service, Trout Unlimited, Canaan Valley Institute, Southern Environmental Law Center, Dominion Resources, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Symposium Presentations

Fall 2009 Seminar Schedule

Thursdays, 12:00-1:00
Odum Room, 3rd floor Clark Hall
Department of Environmental Sciences, UVA
all are welcome

October 1
Resiliency of Brook Trout Habitat to Climate Change
Brad Trumbo, Department of Biology, James Madison University

October 22
Spatiotemporal Population Dynamics of the Gypsy Moth in North America
Kyle Haynes, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia

November 4
From Emissions to Deposition to Streams: What Can Analysis of Dual Isotope Tracers Tell Us About the Sources and Transformations of Nitrate?
Doug Burns, Watershed Research Section, U.S. Geological Survey

November 12
Carbon Transformations and Flux in an Appalachian Mountain Watershed
Danny Welsch, Canaan Valley Institute and West Virginia University

November 19
The Shenandoah Watershed Study Contribution to EPA's 2009 Acid Rain Assessment Report
Jason Lynch, Clean Air Markets Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

December 3
How Old is Stream Water?
Kevin McGuire, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech

 

The Shenandoah Watershed Study Seminar Series includes presentations related to the biogeochemistry of watersheds.

The seminars are up to an hour long, they are informal, and you are invited to bring your lunch. All are welcome.

Click here for a printable version of the schedule.

Click here for a map showing the location of Clark Hall and providing directions to the Odum Room.

If you are not receiving seminar notices and you would like to, contact Rick Webb.

If you would like to make a presentation or if you can recommend speakers, please let us know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Session Chair: George Hornberger (Associate Dean for the Sciences, UVA) 
  • Shenandoah National Park : Gordon Olson (Supervisory Biologist) 
  • Keynote/Intro: Gene Likens ( Institute of Ecosystem Studies)
  • Shenandoah Watershed Study Program: Jim Galloway (SWAS Program Co-Director)
  • Federal regulatory agency: Rona Birnbaum (U.S. EPA, Clean Air Markets Division)
  • Federal resource agency: Julie Thomas (National Park Service, Air Resources Division)
  • Industry: Pam Faggert (Dominion Resources, Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer)
  • Federal resource agency: Mark Hudy (Forest Service, National Aquatic Ecologist - East)
  • State resource agency: Larry Mohn (Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries)
  • Conservation organization: Leon Szeptycki (Trout Unlimited)
  • Conservation organization: Steve Talley (Canaan Valley Institute)
  • Advocacy organization: Jeff Gleason (Southern Environmental Law Center)
  • Shenandoah Watershed Study Program: Jack Cosby (SWAS Program Co-Director)