Appalachian Watershed

 

This week I am zooming in on Welch, WV to look at the flood plains. My earlier post " Changing Weather Patterns: Flooding in McDowell Co Watershed " focuses on historic flooding events and highlights gauges throughout the county's watershed, so be sure to check that out if you are interested in learning more. According to Risk Factor , " There are  1,678  properties in  Welch  that have greater than a  26%  chance of being severely affected by flooding over the next 30 years. This represents  44%  of all properties in Welch." Risk Factor also has a variety of maps highlighting these at-risk properties near Welch (as seen by the blue and dark blue dots below where the darker blue represents grater risk of flooding).  Risk Factor also finds that 41 of 63 miles of road near Welch are at extreme risk for flooding. Smart Site Plan has some free tools powered by Esri and WV.gov that show maps of the 100 year flood plains near Welch, WV. As you can see in this map belo

  This week I am focusing not on an invasive plant or animal, but on an invasion fungus. Enjoy!

   

 

 

  In the McDowell County part of the Tug Fork watershed there are four different sites where that the National Oceanic  and Atmospheric Administration  has gauges .  Floods in McDowell County are more common than droughts since it is situated in the mountains. However, currently, all of the gauges are displaying slightly low but relatively normal river levels. USGS also has data at the Welch gauge, which provides a graph from the water level this past year. The three gauges shown in the map above as green diamonds have the May 02, 2002 flood listed as the all time historical crest since they've been installed. This flood went over the major flood stage in downtown Welch, the county seat of McDowell county.  This news article explains that residents in McDowell county thinking that the increases in floods may have been caused by the strip mining in their region. The article also points out that it was the second major flood in 10 months, which can be seen from looking at the gauge

McDowell County, VW sits in two major coal fields: Pocahontas Coalfield and Williamson Coalfield. According to the WV Office for Miners Health Safety and Training , in 1883 the Norfolk and Western Railroad lines were completed which led to the growth of the commercial coal industry. Shortly thereafter, mining began in McDowell, WV. The Norfolk & Western Historical Photograph Collection on VT Libraries showcases images of 34 distinct mines in McDowell County from the 1920s to the 1950s (see later blog post for these pictures). Those 34 mines can be seen in the map below as green dots. Coal Heritage Highway Authority in WV depicts 41 coal camps and 4 abandoned coal camps in McDowell County.  When the coal companies came into West Virginia, they would set up whole community with general stores for the workers to live. However, many workers lived in debt to the coal company and never were able to generate enough wealth to make it out of poverty. AP News emphasizes the terrible cond

 Expanding on my previous blog post "Where is the Tug Fork Watershed?"in this post I aim to draw my own boundaries of the watershed I wish to study rather than relying on previous delineations from the USGS and the USDA. 

  According to the US Department of Agriculture , McDowell County, WV is primarily in plant hardiness zone 6b (minimum average temperatures of -5 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit), with the higher elevation areas being in zone 6a (minimum average temperatures of -10 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit). See photos below. These hardiness zones determine what kind of plants can survive in this watershed. According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia , "West Virginia is the 3rd most forested state ... with about 90 species of forest trees" and, as of 2000, McDowell county was 93% forested. The following trees are not necessarily the most common (like various oaks, hickories, maples, birches, walnuts);  however, you certainly are likely to encounter them when walking through McDowell County: Sassafras American Sycamore Black Locust Northern Red Oak Sugar Maple (WV state tree) Sweetgum Sourwood Pawpaw  Eastern Hemlock Yellow Poplar (Tulip tree) (KY state tree) Bonus: American Chestnut (While you likely

Tug Fork is a river in central Appalachia. It begins in southern West Virginia, very close to the Virginia border as two distinct rivers, one starting in Vallscreek and the other starting in Jenkinjones before they join together in laeger. All three of these communities are in McDowell County. As the river flows northwest, it briefly forms the westernmost section of the West Virginia and Virginia border. Then, it makes up the entire border of West Virginia and Kentucky - although in Louisa, KY/ Fort Gay, WV Tug Fork joins with Levisa Fork to form the Big Sandy River. The Big Sandy, then, serves as the border between West Virginia and Kentucky the rest of the way north to the Ohio border - the Ohio River. Thus, the waters of Tug Fork eventually flow into the Mississippi River watershed and the Gulf of Mexico.  The US Geological Survey (USGS) Watershed Finder assigns Tug Fork watershed the hydrologic unit code (HUC) 05070201, meaning the Tug Fork watershed is inside of the Big Sandy wat

 Hello! My name is Emma and throughout this blog I will be diving deep into the watershed that encompasses McDowell County: the Tug Fork watershed. My interest in this watershed location is twofold. My family is from Appalachia and my love of the region encourages me to keep learning more about it. Hence, as a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering, I am applying my studies to water access in Appalachia (as well as some other water insecure areas in the US). This past year, working with a team of scholars through the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment at VT and a community non-profit, we surveyed households and collected water samples in McDowell County, West Virginia. Coming from a quantitative, mathematical background, I am extremely excited to learn more about the watershed in this county and couple that knowledge with our water quality findings and information on which waterways are used as collection points for household water.