CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:46).
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 7-9-21.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 12, 2021. This revised episode from April 2017 is part of a series this year of episodes related to watersheds and river basins.
SOUND – ~4 sec
This week, we drop in on a group of Virginia middle-school students giving
citizens a vocabulary lesson on watersheds, the water cycle, and a challenging nationwide
water issue. Sound unbelievable? Well, just have a listen for about 35
seconds.
GUEST VOICES - ~36 sec – “Water cycle; watersheds; evaporation;
transpiration; condensation; precipitation; rainfall intensity; infiltration;
runoff; groundwater; surface water; impervious surface; divides; drainage
areas; tributaries; river basins; the ocean.
You’ve been listening to Christiansburg Middle School students who attended Stormwater
Education Day on April 12, 2017. The vocabulary list you heard
included processes of the water cycle, also known as the hydrologic
cycle; along with geographic features of watersheds, a term that people
often interchange with drainage areas, drainage basins, or river basins.
Water cycle processes and watershed features are key elements in stormwater,
affecting when, where, and how much of it occurs. Stormwater results when
rainfall or other precipitation can’t seep—or infiltrate—into the ground,
particularly when the precipitation lands on pavement or other impervious
surfaces. Stormwater runs off over the land surface into water
bodies or into drains and pipes that eventually lead to water bodies.
During that runoff, stormwater can pick up various water pollutants, and
high-volume stormwater can cause flooding and erosion. Such impacts, and
the laws and regulations implemented in response, have made
stormwater-management a far-reaching water issue, affecting local governments,
homeowners, and businesses all over Virginia and the nation.
Back in Christiansburg, students learning now about the water cycle,
watersheds, potential contaminants, and the filtering potential of different
materials will be the future idea-generators and decision-makers who’ll deal
with this widespread and complicated issue.
Thanks to Christiansburg Middle School students, teachers, and volunteers for
lending their voices to this episode. We close with some appropriate
sounds and music for stormwater. Here’s
some rain and thunder, followed by about 30 seconds of “Runoff,” composed for
Virginia Water Radio by Torrin Hallett, a 2021 graduate of Lamont School of
Music in Denver.
SOUND - ~8 sec – rain and thunder
MUSIC - ~ 28 sec – instrumental
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
This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 365, 4-24-17.
The voices of sixth-grade students (and some adults) from Christiansburg
Middle School in Christiansburg, Va., were recorded April 12, 2017, during
Stormwater Education Day, held on the grounds of the Christiansburg/Montgomery
County, Va., chapter of the Izaak Walton League. Thanks to Patricia
Colatosti of the Town of Christiansburg and to Patricia Gaudreau of the
Montgomery County School Division for organizing the event and for allowing
Virginia Water Radio to participate.
Learning stations at the April 2017 Stormwater Education Day were the
following:
Montgomery County – groundwater model;
Skyline Soil and Water Conservation District, Christiansburg, Va. – runoff
boxes;
Town of Christiansburg/Town of Blacksburg/Virginia Tech Department of
Biological Systems Engineering – stream table;
Virginia Cooperative Extension/Montgomery County Unit – pet waste and streams;
Virginia Cooperative Extension/Virginia Tech Department of Biological Systems
Engineering – groundwater models;
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation/Karst Program – karst,
springs, and groundwater;
Virginia Tech Facilities – watershed model;
Virginia Tech Forestry Graduate Student Association – sand filters and
stormwater;
Virginia Tech Learning Enhanced Watershed Assessment System (LEWAS) lab –
runoff boxes;
Virginia Tech Museum of Geosciences Outreach – watershed model;
Virginia Water Resources Research Center/Virginia Water Radio – recording terms
related to stormwater.
The thunderstorm sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., on September 28, 2016.
“Runoff” is copyright 2021 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission. Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York, and a 2021 graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett. Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio. To hear the complete piece (50 seconds), please click here.
Following are other music pieces composed by Torrin
Hallett for Virginia Water Radio, with episodes featuring the music.
“A Little Fright Music” – used in Episode
548, 10-26-20, on water-related passages in fiction and non-fiction, for
Halloween.
“Beetle Ballet” – used in Episode
525, 5-18-20, on aquatic beetles.
“Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – used in Episode
537, 8-10-20, on conditions in the Chesapeake Bay.
“Corona Cue” – used in Episode
517, 3-23-20, on the coronavirus pandemic.
“Geese Piece” – used most recently in Episode
440, 10-1-18, on E-bird.
“Ice Dance” – used in Episode
556, 12-21-20, on how organisms survive freezing temperatures.
“Lizard Lied” – used in Episode
514, 3-2-20, on lizards.
“New Year’s Water” – used in Episode
349, 1-2-17, on the New Year.
“Rain Refrain” – used most recently Episode
559, 1-11-21, on record rainfall in 2020.
“Spider Strike” – used in Episode
523, 5-4-20, on fishing spiders.
“Tropical Tantrum” – used most recently in Episode
580, 6-7-21, on the 2021 Atlantic tropical storm season preview.
“Tundra Swan Song – used in Episode 554, 12-7-20, on Tundra Swans.
“Turkey Tune” – used in Episode
343, 11-21-16, on the Wild Turkey.
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
Virginia’s major watersheds (river basins). Map by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, accessed online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/wsheds.shtml.
EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IN VIRGINIA
The following information is quoted from the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), “Stormwater,” online at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/stormwater.
“DEQ is the lead agency for developing and implementing the Commonwealth’s
statewide program to protect water quality and quantity from stormwater
runoff. Under the Virginia Stormwater
Management Program (VSMP), the agency issues permits, certifies land disturbers
and offers compliance assistance.
“Stormwater
occurs after precipitation and consists of runoff from streets, lawns, parking
lots, construction sites, industrial facilities and other impervious
surfaces. Stormwater may enter surface
waters directly or through natural and constructed channel systems. Pollution, such as automobile oil, grease,
metals, sediment, bacteria from animal waste, fertilizers and pesticides, even
deposits from airborne pollutants can contaminate the runoff.
“Unmanaged stormwater can cause erosion and flooding. It can also carry excess nutrients, sediment,
and other contaminants into rivers and streams.
Properly managed stormwater can recharge groundwater and protect land
and streams from erosion, flooding, and pollutants.
“DEQ regulates stormwater as a ‘point source’ of pollution, which means its
source can be located. This includes
stormwater discharges from [the following]:
Municipal
separate storm sewer systems (MS4s);
Construction
activities;
Industrial
discharges.
“MS4s
are publicly owned systems, such as storm drains, pipes, ditches or swales that
collect or move water to surface waters.
They must obtain permit coverage and develop a stormwater-management program.
“Coverage under a state permit may be required to discharge stormwater from
construction activities. In addition,
local governments may manage their own stormwater-management permit programs,
which are separate from the state permit program and from local
land-disturbance permits.
“During construction, a separate permit may be required for erosion and
sediment control. These land-disturbance
permits are issued by localities as part of their erosion and sediment control
programs, which DEQ periodically reviews.
The agency offers training for both erosion control and stormwater plan
reviewers and land disturbers.
“Industrial discharges are covered under industrial stormwater permits and
require management practices and monitoring to protect the quality of the
waters receiving the stormwater discharges.
“
Stormwater runoff that is not confined to a single point source is considered
nonpoint source pollution, which is mainly controlled through erosion and
sediment control.
“Local governments are key partners in the VSMP program, administrating erosion
and sediment control programs as well as some stormwater discharges.”
SOURCES
Used for Audio
Code of Virginia,
“Virginia Stormwater Management Act,” online via the Virginia Legislative
Information System at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title62.1/chapter3.1/article2.3/.
King County, Washington, “Stormwater glossary of terms and abbreviations,” online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/stormwater/glossary.aspx.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “NPDES Stormwater Program,” online at https://www.epa.gov/npdes/npdes-stormwater-program; and “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System General Permit Remand Rule,” published in The Federal Register on Dec. 9, 2016, online (as a PDF) at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-12-09/pdf/2016-28426.pdf.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “Water Science School/The Water Cycle,” online at https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html; and “The Water Cycle for Schools and Kids,” online at https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids.html.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Stormwater,” online at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/stormwater.
Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central Newsletter,
February 2000, “An Introduction to Urban Stormwater,” by Rich Wagner (pages
1-7), available online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49316.
Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central Newsletter, August 2010, “Wherever You Are, Stormwater’s On Your Street” and “Stormwater Information Sources,” by Danielle Guerin (pages 3-7), available online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49363.
For More Information
about Watersheds and River Basins
Natural Resources Conservation Service/Virginia, “2020 Virginia Water Resources Progress Report,” online at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/va/programs/planning/. This report has descriptions of projects in many Virginia watersheds. The 2017 report is online at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/va/programs/planning/wo/.
Radford University, “Virginia’s Rivers, online at http://www.radford.edu/jtso/GeologyofVirginia/VirginiasRivers/Drainage-1.html.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “How’s My Waterway,” online at https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/hows-my-waterway.
U.S. Geological Survey, “Water Science School/Watersheds and
Drainage Basins,” online at https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/watersheds-and-drainage-basins?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, “Hydrologic Unit Geography,” online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/hu; and “Virginia’s Major Watersheds,” online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/stormwater_management/wsheds.shtml.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Commonwealth
of Virginia State Water Resources Plan,” April 2015, available online at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/water-quantity/water-supply-planning/virginia-water-resources-plan;
“Status of Virginia’s Water Resources,” October 2020, online (as a PDF) at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/2119/637432838113030000;
and “Water Quantity,” online at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/water-quantity.
Virginia Places, “The Continental (and Other) Divides,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/divides.html.
Virginia Places, “Rivers and Watersheds of Virginia,” online
at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/index.html.
Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central Newsletter, February 2000, “Divide and Confluence,” by Alan Raflo (pages 8-11), available online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49316.
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). Please see particularly the “Rivers, Streams,
and Other Surface Water” subject category.
Following are links to some other
episodes on stormwater.
Stormwater introduction – Episode 182, 10-7-13.
Rainfall amounts and stormwater pipes – Episode 338, 10-17-16.
Stormwater drain markers – Episode 468, 4-15-19.=
Following are links to some other episodes on watersheds and Virginia rivers. Please note that some of these episodes are being redone in summer 2021; in those cases, the respective links will direct you to the updated episodes.
Big Otter River introduction (Roanoke River watershed) – Episode 419, 5-7-18.
Big Sandy River watershed introduction – Episode
419, 5-7-18.
Blue Ridge origin of river watersheds – Episode
583, 6-28-21
Bullpasture and Cowpasture rivers introduction (James River
watershed) – Episode 469, 4-22-19.
Hazel River introduction (Rappahannock River watershed) – Episode 339, 10-24-16.
Headwater streams – Episode
582, 6-21-21.
Jackson River introduction (James River watershed) – Episode 428, 7-9-19.
Madison County flooding in 1995 (on the Rapidan River, in
Rappahannock River watershed) – Episode 272, 6-29-15.
Musical tour of rivers and watersheds - Episode
251, 2-2-15.
New River introduction – Episode 109, 5-7-12.
Ohio River basin introduction – Episode 421, 5-21-18.
Ohio River basin connections through watersheds and history
– Episode 422, 5-28-18;
Passage Creek and Fort Valley introduction (Shenandoah River
watershed) – Episode 331 – 8/29/16.
River bluffs – Episode 173, 8-5-13.
Rappahannock River introduction – Episode 89, 11-21-11.
Shenandoah River introduction – Episode 130 – 10/1/12.
Smith River and Philpott Reservoir introduction (Roanoke
River watershed) – Episode 360, 3-20-17.
South Fork Holston River introduction (Clinch-Powell/Upper
Tennessee River watershed) – Episode 425, 6-18-18.
Staunton River introduction (part of the Roanoke River) – Episode 374, 6-26-17.
Virginia rivers quiz – Episode 334, 9-19-16.
Virginia surface water numbers – Episode 539, 8-24-20.
Virginia’s Tennessee River tributaries – Episode 420, 5-14-18.
Water cycle introduction – Episode
191, 12-9-13; and water cycle diagrams reconsidered – Episode
480, 7-8-19.
Watersheds introduction – Episode
581, 6-14-21.
Water quantity information sources – Episode
546, 10-12-20.
Werowocomoco native people’s civilization history, centered
in the York River watershed – Episode
364, 12-12-16.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs)
that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other
information included in this post.
2020 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.”
2018 Science SOLs
Grades K-5: Earth and
Space Systems
3.7 – There is a water cycle and water is important to life
on Earth.
Grades K-5: Earth Resources
3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.
4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources.
Grade 6
6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in
the natural and human-made environment.
6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems.
6.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can
influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment.
Life Science
LS.9 – Relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and
human activity.
Earth Science
ES.6 – Resource use is complex.
ES.8 – Freshwater resources influence and are influenced by
geologic processes and human activity.
Biology
BIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations,
communities, and ecosystems, including that natural events and human activities
influence local and global ecosystems and may affect the flora and fauna of
Virginia.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Civics and Economics Course
CE.6 – Government at the national level.
CE.7 – Government at the state level.
CE.8 – Government at the local level.
CE.10 – Public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – How selected physical and ecological processes shape
the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their
environment and are influenced by it
Government Course
GOVT.7 – National government organization and powers.
GOVT.8 – State and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – Public policy process at local, state, and national
levels.
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.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school
and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for
elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water,
for 3rd and 4th grade.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about
Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.
