Call for Presenters — 2024 Potomac River Conference: Reeling in the Challenge of Aquatic Invasive Species
We are looking for presentations and posters for the 2024 Potomac River Conference, which will be held on October 17, 2024, at The River View at Occoquan in Lorton, Virginia. The conference will expound on the science, policy, and management of invasive fishes and other aquatic species in the Potomac River basin.
If you are interested in speaking or presenting a poster, please submit an abstract by Friday, May 31.
Our relationship with invasive, non-native aquatic species in the Potomac River basin is complicated. Alarms are sounded and eradication efforts mobilized for some species (zebra mussels, blue catfish), while concerns about other non-native species fade as they fill empty ecological niches (Asiatic clams) or become prized fisheries (smallmouth bass). The goal of this effort is to convene a one-day, in-person conference to enhance awareness of the ecological roles that aquatic invasive species have or could assume in the Potomac River basin and the adverse impacts they impart when natural controls are missing.
If you are not interested in speaking but would like to get informed when registration is released, please sign up to stay informed.
How is our Water Supply Doing?
Each month during the dry season, staff at ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac produces a Water Supply Outlook report. They look at the probability of the need for releases from upstream reservoirs to supplement drinking water in the DC Metro area.
So far for 2024, the water supply outlook is good. April ended with 0.4 inches of rain above average. The extra rain has helped us close the deep gap from the 12-month cumulative average developed from last year’s dry weather. Streamflow is currently near normal, and groundwater levels are mostly normal.
Click here to read the full report >>>
If low-flow conditions develop, water from Jennings Randolph and Little Seneca lakes can be used to provide drinking water to downstream communities. The Washington metropolitan area is protected from a water supply shortage owing to carefully designed drought-contingency plans.