The Buckhannon River Watershed Association, the local watershed association, will be attending the annual Maple Syrup Festival in Pickens on March 16-17. The organization will have a table upstairs in the firehall (uphill to your left before the pancakes). Come and learn the importance of a clean watershed to your community and how you can be a part of it.

BRWA, now 18 years old, is a citizen-run org based in Buckhannon that engages in projects that help clean up and benefit the watershed. The City of Buckhannon Water Department uses water from the Buckhannon River to serve a total population of around 22,000 people in Upshur and parts of our neighboring counties served by the Hodgesville, Elkins Road, and Adrian public service districts, and the Mount Hope Water Association.  

Bull Run, a tributary of French Creek with headwaters that border Lewis County, runs from Abbott to Adrian where it enters French Creek and flows into the Buckhannon River.  Bull Run is impacted by bacteria (fecal coliform) from humans and domestic and wild animals, along with acid mine drainage leaching over decades.  Currently, it is not safe to wade, swim, fish or drink the water in Bull Run.

BRWA’s latest project is to inform and engage the community, enlisting their help to improve the water quality in Bull Run and the watershed, with potential assistance from cooperating agencies.

Residents may be seeing BRWA members out in the Bull Run area soon with information on how people may work together to clean up the watershed and protect the precious water supply. Clean water is at the heart of a healthy community.

If you want to enjoy the Buckhannon River and help to protect it, they welcome you to join the Buckhannon River Watershed Association. Dues are only $5/year for individuals, $25 for organizations, and the dues are tax-deductible. They meet once a month at WVWC. 

Learn more at http://www.buckhannonriver.org or find them on Facebook.