Monday, February 18, 2019

Episode 460 (2-18-19): Voting on Water in the 2019 Virginia General Assembly


Click to listen to episode (5:24).

Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images

Extra Information
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).

Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-15-19.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 18, 2019.

MUSIC – ~16 sec

That’s an excerpt of “The Race,” by the Harrisonburg, Va.-based group, The Steel Wheels.  During the third week of February 2019, the Virginia General Assembly was racing to finish work on the Commonwealth’s budget and on over 2700 other bills and resolutions—doing work that, to paraphrase The Steel Wheels’ lyrics, may make many “ripples” in the Commonwealth’s “sea of time.”  About 130 of this year’s measures concern water resources, either directly or indirectly through impacts on water from energy production, transportation, or other land uses.

This week is Virginia Water Radio’s annual episode giving you a chance to imagine being an Assembly member, and to consider how you’d vote on five of those water-related bills.  I’ll give you brief descriptions of the bills, followed by a couple of seconds to decide if you would vote for or against the idea.  Then I’ll use these two sounds [SOUNDS – ~3 sec – bell and buzzer] to indicate the bills’ status as of February 15; the bell means the bill passed or was still alive, and the buzzer means it had failed.  Ready?

No. 1: Senate Bill 1355 would require the closure of ponds storing coal combustion residuals, or coal ash, at four power stations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with the ash either recycled or deposited in permitted and lined landfills.  [SOUND – ~4 sec - bell]  The bill had passed the Senate and the House.

No. 2: Senate Bill 1573 would prohibit state leases or permits for oil or gas exploration or drilling in the beds of any Virginia waters in the Atlantic Ocean, and repeal the Commonwealth’s support for federal exploration or permitting efforts more than 50 miles offshore.  [SOUND – ~4 sec - buzzer]  The bill failed in a Senate committee.

No. 3: House Bill 2358 would create an advisory board and a laboratory to monitor the effects of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow, or SWIFT, Project being undertaken by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, in which the district is studying using treated wastewater to recharge of the Potomac Groundwater Aquifer.  [SOUND – ~4 sec - bell]  The bill had passed the House and Senate.

No. 4: House Bill 2761 would change the existing Cave Protection Act to the Karst Protection Act, adding sinking streams and other features to caves and sinkholes as the karst resources subject to state anti-pollution law and Department of Conservation and Recreation efforts in education, data-collection, and protection.  [SOUND – ~4 sec - buzzer]  The bill failed in a House committee.

And No. 5: House Bill 2008 would require the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from renewable and conventional energy industries, to establish an energy career cluster as its 17th approved career cluster for technical education.  [SOUND – ~4 sec - bell]  The bill had passed the House.

This short game obviously can’t capture the scope of the General Assembly’s potential impacts on a subject as complicated and important as water.  Any bill involves more information and details than you heard here.  The General Assembly’s Web site, virginiageneralassembly.gov, has tools to help you get the details and to express opinions to Assembly members.

Thanks to Soundbible.com for making the ticking clock sound available for public use.  Thanks also to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “The Race.”

MUSIC - ~18 sec

SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“The Race,” by The Steel Wheels, is from the 2013 album “No More Rain,” used with permission.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.

The ticking clock sound was recorded by Kevan GC and made available (10/25/10 upload) online at the Soundbible.com Web site, http://soundbible.com/1580-Ticking-Clock.html, for public use under the Creative Commons “Public Domain” dedication.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.

IMAGES

Voting board during the floor session of the Virginia House of Delegates on January 31, 2018.


Voting board during a meeting of a subcommittee of the Virginia House of Delegates’ Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, January 31, 2018.


Virginia Senate in floor session on January 31, 2018.

EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT LEGISLATION MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Following are Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS) summaries of the bills mentioned in this episode, as of 2/15/19, accessed at http://lis.virginia.gov/ (edited in some cases for space or clarity).  The bill numbers are hyperlinked to the respective LIS pages for each bill.

SB 1355 – Coal combustion residuals impoundment; closure.
“Requires the owner or operator of any coal combustion residuals (CCR) unit, defined in the bill to include a coal ash pond or landfill, within the Chesapeake Bay watershed at Bremo Power Station, Chesapeake Energy Center, Chesterfield Power Station, and Possum Point Power Station to close such CCR unit by removing all of the CCR for (i) recycling, known as encapsulated beneficial use, or (ii) deposition in a permitted and lined landfill that meets certain federal standards. The measure requires that any owner or operator beneficially reuse no less than 6.8 million cubic yards in aggregate of such removed CCR from no fewer than two of the sites. Such a closure project shall be completed within 15 years of its initiation and shall be accompanied by an offer by the owner or operator to provide connection to a municipal water supply for every residence within one-half mile, or if such connection is not feasible, the owner or operator shall offer to provide water testing for any such residence. …

“The measure provides that all costs associated with closure of a CCR unit shall be recoverable through a rate adjustment clause authorized by the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) provided that (i) when determining the reasonableness of such costs the Commission shall not consider closure in place of the CCR unit as an option; (ii) the annual revenue requirement recoverable through a rate adjustment clause shall not exceed $225 million on a Virginia jurisdictional basis for the Commonwealth in any 12-month period, provided that any under-recovery amount of revenue requirements incurred in excess of $225 million in a given 12-month period shall be deferred and recovered through the rate adjustment clause over up to three succeeding 12-month periods. The bill provides that costs may begin accruing on July 1, 2019, but no approved rate adjustment clause charges shall be included in customer bills until July 1, 2021; any such costs shall be allocated to all customers of the utility in the Commonwealth as a non-bypassable charge, irrespective of the generation supplier of any such customer; and any such costs that are allocated to the utility's system customers outside of the Commonwealth that are not actually recovered from such customers shall be included for cost recovery from jurisdictional customers in the Commonwealth through the rate adjustment clause. The measure prohibits cost recovery for any fines or civil penalties resulting from violations of federal or state law.”

SB 1573 – Offshore oil and gas drilling; prohibition.
“Prohibits the Marine Resources Commission or the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy from granting any lease or permit for oil or gas exploration or drilling, or the construction of oil or gas infrastructure, in the Atlantic Ocean in the beds of any waters of the Commonwealth. Current law authorizes the granting of oil and gas leases on such state-owned bottomlands, which generally are those subaqueous lands lying within three miles of the shore. The bill also repeals a section of the Code of Virginia stating the Commonwealth's support for federal efforts to explore for natural gas more than 50 miles off shore.”

HB 2358 (and identical companion bill SB 1414) – Potomac Aquifer recharge monitoring; advisory board; laboratory established; SWIFT Project.
“Creates an advisory board and a laboratory to monitor the effects of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) Project being undertaken by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD).  The bill establishes a 10-member advisory board called the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Oversight Committee (the Committee), directing it to ensure that the SWIFT Project is monitored independently. The bill provides that the Committee shall consist of the State Health Commissioner, the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, the Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the two Co-Directors of the Laboratory, the Director of the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, two Virginia citizens appointed by the Governor, and two nonvoting members. The Committee is required by the bill to meet at least quarterly during the initial three years of its existence. The bill also authorizes the Committee to appoint a science and technical advisory council and directs the Committee to request funding from HRSD for the first three years of monitoring of the recharge of the aquifer.

“The bill also creates the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Monitoring Laboratory (the Laboratory) at a location to be selected in the Hampton Roads region, placing it under the co-direction of one Old Dominion University faculty member and one Virginia Tech faculty member. The bill provides that the Laboratory shall monitor the impact of the SWIFT Project on the Potomac Aquifer, manage testing data, and conduct water sampling and analysis.  The bill authorizes both the Commissioner of the Department of Health and the State Water Control Board to issue emergency orders to halt injection or make any change to any facility of the SWIFT Project.”

HB 2761 – Cave and karst protection; penalty.
“Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to include karst and related landscape features, defined in the bill, in various functions related to cave protection, including education of public agencies and private landowners, collection of data, and protection of groundwater flow from pollution. The bill makes pollution of any sinking stream, swallet, or other karst feature a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

HB 2008 (and identical companion bill SB 1348) – Department of Education; energy career cluster.
“Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career cluster;…base the knowledge and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor; …and require the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy career cluster.”

SOURCES

Used for Audio

Hampton Roads Sanitation District, “SWIFT—Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow,” online at http://swiftva.com/.

U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, “Oil and Gas Leasing,” online at https://www.boem.gov/Federal-Offshore-Lands/.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, “Virginia Natural Heritage Program/Cave and Karst Protection,” online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/karsthome.

Virginia Department of Education, “Career Clusters,” online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/career_technical/career_clusters/index.shtml.

Virginia General Assembly, online at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/.  This site offers several useful features, including member lists, session calendars, links to the video of floor sessions, and information on legislative processes).

Virginia Legislative Information System, online http://lis.virginia.gov/.  This is the online location for following the legislation of General Assembly sessions.

For More Information about the Virginia General Assembly

To learn about Virginia’s legislative process, see the “Capitol Classroom” link at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/capitolClassroom.php?secid=23&activesec=5.

To express an opinion on legislation, citizens can find their representatives and their contact information by using the online “Who’s My Legislator” service, available at http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/; or find members’ contact information at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/membersAndSession.php?secid=1&activesec=0#!hb=1&mainContentTabs=0.

Virginia Water Central News Grouper posts on the Virginia General Assembly are available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/?s=General+Assembly.

The Virginia Water Resources Research Center’s “Virginia Water Legislation” page, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/virginia-water-legislation/, has inventories of water-related bills since 1998.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Community/Organizations” subject category.

Following are links to previous episodes on the Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 143, 1/7/13 – Music for the Past and Present of the Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 147, 2/4/13 – Committees Guide the Flow of Bills in the Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 196, 1/13/14 – The Virginia Legislature on its 396th Opening Day, January 8, 2014.
Episode 247, 1/5/15 – January Means State Budget Time in the Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 252, 2/9/15 – Voting on Water in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 297, 1/4/16 – Water’s on the Agenda—Along with a Whole Lot Else—When the Virginia General Assembly Convenes.
Episode 302, 2/8/16 – Voting on Water in the 2016 Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 350, 1/9/17 – Old English Music Helps Preview the Old Dominion’s 2017 General Assembly.
Episode 353, 1/30/17 – Voting on Water in the 2017 Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 359, 3/13/17 – Subcommittees are Where Many Proposed Virginia Laws Start to Float or Sink.
Episode 402, 1/8/18 – The Virginia Legislature Begins Its 400th Year in 2018.
Episode 405, 1/29/18 – Voting on Water in the 2018 Virginia General Assembly.
Episode 410, 3/5/18 – Virginia Electricity Regulation and Water.
Episode 454, 1-7-19 – The Virginia General Assembly, from Jamestown in 1619 to Richmond in 2019.

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

The episode—the audio, extra information, or sources—may help with the following Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

2013 Music SOLs

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2010 English SOLs

Reading Theme
8.5, 9.4, 10.4, 11.4 – symbols, imagery, figurative language, and other literary devices.

2010 Science SOLs

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions regarding the environment.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
4.5 – ecosystem interactions and human influences on ecosystem.
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.1 – current applications to reinforce science concepts.
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.
ES.10 – oceans, including economic and policy decisions affecting oceans, the coastal zone, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Biology Course
BIO.1 – current applications to reinforce science concepts.
BIO.2 – water chemistry and its impact on life processes.

Chemistry Course
CH.1 – current applications to reinforce science concepts.

2015 Social Studies SOLs

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.18 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.

Monday, February 11, 2019

Episode 459 (2-11-19): Abraham Lincoln and the James River


Click to listen to episode (4:27).

Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).


Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-8-19.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 11, 2019.  This week, in honor of Presidents Day [on February 18], we present a revised 2014 episode about Abraham Lincoln and the James River.

SOUND – ~7 sec

That sound of the James River at Richmond sets the stage for hearing the story of Abraham Lincoln’s trip to Richmond in the final weeks of the Civil War.  We start with music composed in the 1860s about the hard road of conflict in Virginia in the years before the President’s visit.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds.

MUSIC - ~42 sec

You’ve been listening to part of “Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel,” performed by Bobby Horton on the 1988 album “Homespun Songs of the C.S.A., Vol. 4.”  First published in 1863, the lyrics recall the series of unsuccessful attempts by the Union Army to capture Richmond in the first two years of the Civil War.  In 1861, Richmond had replaced Montgomery, Alabama, as the capital of the Confederacy, which of course made Richmond a prime objective of the Union.  As our musical excerpt notes, that was a hard objective to accomplish.

The James River played a large role both in Union advances toward the city and Confederate defenses of it.  By the spring of 1865, Union successes allowed President Lincoln to travel to General Ulysses Grant’s headquarters at City Point, now the city of Hopewell, where the Appomattox River flows into the James.  During the president’s stay from March 24 to April 8, the Union took Petersburg, leading the Confederates to evacuate Richmond, accompanied by fires and explosions set to keep materials out of Union hands.

On April 4, Lincoln traveled up the James to visit the evacuated Richmond.  As Lincoln came ashore at Rocketts Landing, he encountered several former slaves who gathered around to thank him.  According to the Lehrman Institute of American History, after Lincoln assured the group that he would not allow their return to slavery, one man used the following water metaphor to explain their enthusiastic reaction to the president, saying that “after being so many years in the desert without water,” it was “mighty pleasant to be looking at last on [their] spring of life.”

Thanks to Bobby Horton for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel.”

MUSIC - ~17 sec

SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This episode replaces Episode 201, 2-17-14, which has been archived.

The sound of the James River was recorded February 17, 2014, at Brown’s Island in Richmond.  The island was the site of a Confederate ammunition factory during the Civil War.  Thanks to Michael Martz for providing this recording.

“Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel,” from the 1988 album “Homespun Songs of the C.S.A., Vol. 4,” is copyright by Bobby Horton, used with permission.  Part of that piece was also featured in Virginia Water Radio Episode 164, 6-3-13, a Memorial Day episode.  More information about Mr. Horton is available online at https://bobbyhorton.bandcamp.com/.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.

IMAGES

Below are four images related to Richmond during the Civil War, from the National Park Service, “Richmond National Battlefield Park/Places,” online at https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/places.htm, accessed 2/11/19.  Specific Web addresses for each image are listed below the images.


Drawing of Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Richmond on April 4, 1865. Image accessed at https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/lincvisit.htm.


Civil War view of the James River from within Confederate Fort Darling at Drewry’s Bluff, along the river seven miles south of Richmond. Photo accessed at https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/drewrys-bluff.htm.


Civil War view of Richmond. Library of Congress photo accessed at https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/richmond-story.htm.


Statue by Louis Frech of Abraham Lincoln and son Tad, at the Historic Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, placed in 2003 to commemorate Lincoln's 1865 visit to the captured Confederate capital.  National Park Service photo, accessed online at https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/lincvisit.htm.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

“City Point of James River—Hopewell, Virginia,” 1 min./44 sec. video online at http://www.walkinlincolnsfinalfootsteps.com/video/grant-3/.  This and other videos are part of “Walk in Lincoln’s Final Footsteps,” a joint project by the following Virginia localities: Chesterfield County, the City of Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie County, the City of Hopewell, the City of Petersburg, and Prince George County; home page at http://www.walkinlincolnsfinalfootsteps.com/.

Encyclopedia Britannica, “Richmond, Virginia, United States,” online at https://www.britannica.com/place/Richmond-Virginia.

The Lehrman Institute of American History, “Civil War/Entering Richmond,” online at http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=84&subjectID=3.   This article is part of the project, “Mr. Lincoln and Freedom,” online at http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/. More information about the Lehrman Institute’s work on Abraham Lincoln is available online at http://abrahamlincoln.org/.

National Park Service/Richmond National Battlefield, online at https://www.nps.gov/rich/index.htm; and specifically “Lincoln’s Visit to Richmond,” online at http://www.nps.gov/rich/historyculture/lincvisit.htm.

National Park Service/Petersburg National Battlefield, “President Lincoln Visits City Point and Petersburg—March 24-April 8, 1865,” online (as PDF) at http://www.nps.gov/pete/parknews/upload/Lincoln-at-Pete-and-CPrev2.pdf.

New York Times Archive, front page of April 5, 1865, online at http://www.nytimes.com/1865/04/08/news/richmond-visit-president-lincoln-richmond-his-interview-with-prominent-citizens.html.

Patrick T. Reardon. “Lincoln's Last Trip,” Chicago Tribune, 12/6/09.

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Encyclopedia Virginia:
“City Point During the Civil War,” by Emmanuel Dabney, online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/City_Point_During_the_Civil_War;
“The James River During the Civil War,” by Kenneth M. McFarland, online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/James_River_During_the_Civil_War;
“Richmond During the Civil War,” by Mary DeCredico and Jaime Amanda Martinez, online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Richmond_During_the_Civil_War; and
“Richmond during the Colonial Period, by Matthew Gottlieb, online at https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Richmond_During_the_Colonial_Period.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “History” and the “River, Streams, and Other Surface Water” subject categories (in the latter category, see the “James River” entry).

Following are links to some other episodes on history at Richmond or along the James River.
Episode 87, 11/7/11 – Falls of the James.
Episode 265, 5/11/15 – An introduction to geography, featuring the James River watershed.
Episode 273, 7/6/15 – Virginia’s Peninsula and Historic Triangle.
Episode 373, 6/19/17 – James River Batteau Festival.
Episode 458, 2/4/19 – History of Richmond’s James River location.

Following are links to other episodes focusing on rivers in the American Civil War and the American Revolutionary War, and also featuring other music performed by Bobby Horton.
Episode 101, 3-5-12 – Rivers in the Civil War, featuring “All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight.”
Episode 164, 6/3/13 – Role of rivers in Union attempts to take Richmond during the Civil War, featuring “Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel.”
Episode 390, 10-16-17 – History on the York River, featuring “The Surrender of Cornwallis.”

Following are links to other episodes for Presidents Day or presidents’ birthdays.
Episode 304, 2-22-16 – George Washington, Walter Johnson, and the Rappahannock River.
Episode 355, 2-13-17 – Abraham Lincoln’s roots in the Shenandoah Valley.

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

The episode—the audio, extra information, or sources—may help with the following Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

2013 Music SOLs

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2010 English SOLs

Reading Theme
8.4, 9.3, 10.3, 11.3, and 12.3 – knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative language to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.

2010 Science SOLs

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

2015 Social Studies SOLs

Virginia Studies Course
VS.1 – impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history.

United States History to 1865 Course
USI.2 – major land and water features of North America, including their importance in history.

Virginia and United States History Course
VUS.7 – knowledge of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Episode 458 (2-4-19): Nonesuch in the History of Richmond's James River Location


Click to listen to episode (5:01).

Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).


Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-2-19.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 4, 2019.

MUSIC – ~5 sec

This week, that music opens an episode about an early colonial Virginia riverside settlement with an unparalleled name and a capital legacy.  Have listen for about 30 more seconds.

MUSIC - ~31 sec

You’ve been listening to part of “Nonesuch,” an English dance tune first published in 1651, and performed here by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Va.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines “nonesuch” as “something which is unparalleled, incomparable, or unrivalled.”  For historical significance, Virginia’s Nonesuch might just fit that bill.

In 1609, two years after English colonists founded Jamestown, Captain John Smith established a settlement called Nonesuch on land acquired from the Powhatan Confederacy.  The spot was near the falls of what colonists called the James River and the native tribes’ confederacy called Powhatan—both names honoring each group's respective king.  Smith described the location as “No place we knew so strong, so pleasant and delightful in Virginia, for which we called it Non-such.”   With fertile land and riverfront access, Nonesuch was a successful inland port for colonial Virginia.  After Robert Rocketts established a ferry there in 1730, the location came to be known as Rocketts Landing.  In 1733, the surrounding area was established as the town that would eventually become Virginia's capital: Richmond.

As Richmond grew, so did the role of Rocketts Landing as a transportation center, connecting Richmond and points beyond to Atlantic Ocean trade.  Before the Civil War, a tragic and terrible part of that role was as the arrival and departure point for tens of thousands of slaves sold in markets in Richmond.  When the Union captured the Richmond in April 1865, Rocketts Landing was the arrival site for the Union general who took control of the Confederate capital, and for Abraham Lincoln, who visited the city the next day.  Through the rest of the 1800s and into the early 1900s, the area was home to various enterprises, including a cedar woodworking factory, a power plant that supplied Richmond trolley cars, a beer brewery with riverside beer-storing caves, and possibly a steel mill.  By the end of World War II, in the face of railroad competition and other factors, the area had lost its residents and industries, while retaining a burden of environmental contamination.  Twenty-first Century environmental remediation started a new chapter for Rocketts Landing, and today the Village of Rocketts Landing is a residential and commercial redevelopment.

Has any other single riverside location in Virginia had such a history and evolution?  Perhaps, none such.

Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Nonesuch.”

MUSIC - ~10 sec

SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The “Nonesuch” version heard in this episode is from the 2006 album “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.

IMAGES

View of Rocketts Landing and James River from Libby Hill, sometime between 1861 and 1865. Photo from the collection of the Library of Congress, online at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014645770/.


View of Richmond from the James River downstream of the city, June 22, 2007.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

Encyclopedia Virginia, “Richmond during the Colonial Period, by Matthew Gottlieb, online at https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Richmond_During_the_Colonial_Period.

Brandon Fox, Exploring Richmond's Beer Caves at Rocketts Landing, Style Weekly, 2/18/16.

Historical Marker Project, "Rocketts Landing," online at https://www.historicalmarkerproject.com/markers/HM113K_rocketts-landing_Richmond-VA.html.

Harry Kollatz, Richmond’s Moving First, Richmond Mag, 5/4/04.

Andrew Kuntz & Valerio Pelliccioni, “The Traditional Tune Archive/Nonesuch,” online at https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Nonesuch_(1).

Oxford English Dictionary, “Nonesuch” online at http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/128123?redirectedFrom=nonsuch#eid.

T. Tyler Porterfield, Nonesuch Place: A History of the Richmond Landscape, The History Press, Charleston, S.C., 2009.

Richmond Slave Trail Commission, “Richmond Slave Trail” (undated brochure), accessed 2/2/19 online (as PDF) at http://www.richmondgov.com/CommissionSlaveTrail/documents/brochureRichmondCityCouncilSlaveTrailCommission.pdf.

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Details for Public Notice: Voluntary Remediation [at Village of Rocketts Landing], 11/9/18.

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Getting to Know: Richmond Slave Trail, 10/16/16.

Rockett’s Landing, “Right Around the River Blog/The History of Rocketts Landing, Part 1: The Land of New Opportunity,” 7/3/14, online at http://rockettsvillage.com/blog/07/2014/the-history-of-rocketts-landing-part-1-the-land-of-new-opportunity; and “The History of Rocketts Landing, Part 2: An Industrial Community Thrives,” 8/1/14, online at http://rockettsvillage.com/blog/08/2014/history-of-rocketts-landing-part-2-an-industrial-community-thrives.

Style Weekly, Look Away, Look Away, 5/7/08.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “History” and the “River, Streams, and Other Surface Water” subject categories (in the latter category, see the “James River” entry).

Following are links to some other episodes on history at Richmond or along the James River.
Episode 87, 11/7/11 – Falls of the James.
Episode 164, 6/3/13 – Role of rivers, including the James, in the Civil War.
Episode 201, 2/17/14 – Abraham Lincoln and the James River.
Episode 265, 5/11/15 – An introduction to geography, featuring the James River watershed.
Episode 273, 7/6/15 – Virginia's Peninsula and Historic Triangle.
Episode 373, 6/19/17 – James River Batteau Festival.

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

The episode—the audio, extra information, or sources—may help with the following Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

2013 Music SOLs

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2010 English SOLs

Reading Theme
6.4 and 7.4 – meanings of unfamiliar words.
8.4, 9.3, 10.3, 11.3, and 12.3 – knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative language to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.

2010 Science SOLs

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.

2015 Social Studies SOLs

Grades K-3 Civics Theme
2.7 – relationship between environment and culture of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo peoples.

Grades K-3 Geography Theme
1.2 – Virginia history and life in present-day Virginia.
2.3 – lives and culture of Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo peoples.

Grades K-3 Economics Theme
2.8 – natural, human, and capital resources.
3.8 – understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services.

Virginia Studies Course
VS.1 – impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history.
VS.2 – physical geography and native peoples of Virginia past and present.
VS.3 – first permanent English settlement in America.
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

United States History to 1865 Course
USI.2 – major land and water features of North America, including their importance in history.
USI.3 – early cultures in North America.
USI.5 – factors that shaped colonial America and conditions in the colonies, including how people interacted with the environment to produce goods and service.

World Geography Course
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.4 – types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.
WG.15 – past and present trends in migration and cultural diffusion, including effects of environmental factors.

Virginia and United States History Course
VUS.2 – early European exploration and colonization and interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American Indians.
VUS.6 – major events in Virginia and United States in first half of 19th Century.
VUS.7 – knowledge of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
VUS.8 – industrialization after the Civil War.
VUS.13 – changes in the United States in the second half of the 20th Century.
VUS.14 – political and social conditions in the 21st Century.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.