Welcoming our summer intern, honoring Juneteenth and Pride Month, Potomac River dolphins, and more in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir >>>

Welcoming Summer 2024 Intern, AJ Villaruel!

AJ is a Junior at Cornell University studying Biological Engineering and Global Development. His academic and career interests lie within the intersection of engineering, sustainability, and community engagement, and how they can be used to equitably improve the lives of those worldwide.

This summer, he will assist the ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac (CO-OP) by enhancing modeling tools with remote sensing data and analyzing GRACE-based drought products to improve drought assessment tools. Additionally, he will support the Aquatic Life Section and the DEIJ committee of the Commission with research objectives.

AJ comes to ICPRB from the Yale Conservation Scholars Program. Welcome, AJ!

June Water Supply Outlook shows low risk of backup water use

Each month from April to October, the ICPRB Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac, or CO-OP Section, produces the Water Supply Outlook, which details the probability of the DC metro area needing a release from upstream reservoirs for its drinking water supply.

Last summer, we were experiencing abnormally dry conditions. This summer, we are in better shape due to heavier rain this spring. The maps below illustrate the spatial variability of rainfall over the Potomac Basin in May. Normalized rainfall anomaly, indicating departure from normal conditions, reveals that rainfall was normal to slightly above normal across the basin.

Read the full Water Supply Outlook for the month of June here > > >

ICPRB is Hiring: Water Resources Planner

ICPRB seeks an enthusiastic, detail-oriented collaborator to be a key member of the Water Resources team. The Water Resources Planner will assist with interesting and challenging projects in this program area, an exciting opportunity to apply diverse technical and participatory skills in a large river basin context. This position will also be responsible for coordinating the Potomac River Drinking Water Source Protection Partnership, to include planning and executing quarterly meetings, administering the partnership, and designing and implementing associated educational events. Applications are due by 5:00 PM on July 5, 2024.

Learn more on our Jobs page >>>

Honoring freedom this week: Juneteenth

What does freedom mean to you? The organization Outdoor Afro, which has a mission of celebrating and inspiring Black connections and leadership in nature, will commemorate Juneteenth next Wednesday, June 19, under the theme of “Freedom to Access Water.”

To honor this day, we encourage you to spend time in nature (whether a nearby beach, swimming pool, or public park for example). Outdoor Afro asks you to discover a nearby water source in your neighborhood for 2.5 hours – to reflect in honor of the 2.5 years that freedom delayed for 250,000 enslaved Black people of Galveston, Texas.

More about Outdoor Afro and their Making Waves program, which has a goal of helping 1,200 Black children and caregivers learn to swim in 2024 > > >

Learn about LGBTQ History in the Outdoors

June is national LGBTQ Pride Month. You might be familiar with the Capital Pride parade and other Pride celebrations taking place this month, but did you know about the places all around the region, including several parks and plazas, that are significant to LGBTQ history?

Learn more about LGBTQ Heritage in the National Capital Region from the National Park Service > > >

ICPRB in the Community

Join ICPRB at one of our upcoming events:

• June 22 – Earth Fest 2024 (Frederick, MD)
• June 29 [NEW DATE] – Walk in the Woods: Mussel Power with Anacostia Watershed Society (DC)
• July 12 – Riverpalooza: Shenandoah Snorkel, Mussel, & Paddle Trip (Bentonville, VA)
• August 24 – Oxon Run Day (DC)

Find even more fun activities on our Events Calendar > > >

Making science more accessible, Rock Creek by any other name, the state of the streams, and more, in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir. > > >

Making Science More Accessible

If you have visited the ICPRB website recently you might have noticed some changes. In our continued effort to make the website more accessible to a wider audience, we are excited to announce a couple new features.

Clicking a button at the top right of the website immediately translates the website’s content into other languages. Readers can choose from ten of the most common languages spoken within the Potomac River watershed, including Spanish and French.

Clicking the person icon at the bottom right of the website provides audio and visual options to make the website more accessible to people living with a disability. Readers will find a menu with eight different accessibility profiles to choose from, including motor impaired, color blind, and visually-impaired. Among other options, visitors can choose to have the website read aloud or change the look of the site (color contrast, text size, etc.) to better suit an individual’s needs.

Start exploring the website today > > >

Watershed moments — what to celebrate this week: Rx Take Back Day

One simple way to protect our waterways is to properly dispose of medication (NEVER flush it down the drain!). This Saturday there will be collection sites conveniently located throughout the region where anyone can safely offload unneeded medication as part of the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

Find a collection site near you > > >

ICPRB in the Community

Below is a list of upcoming events ICPRB is producing or attending.

• April 25 – Careers for Change: Water is Life (Washington, D.C.)
• April 28 – Walk in the Woods: Frederick Municipal Forest (Frederick, MD)
• May 4 – Anacostia Festival (Washington, D.C.)
• May 10 – Webinar: Water Resources Impacts of Data Centers and Solar Fields and Tools to Mitigate Impacts
• May 18 – Walk in the Woods: Mussel Power with Anacostia Watershed Society (Washington, D.C.)

Find even more fun activities on our Events Calendar > > >

Welcoming ICPRB interns, status of the Shenandoah, rockfish in limbo, and more, in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir – April 4, 2024 >>>

Welcoming ICPRB’s 2024 Interns

Nusrat Noor will be joining ICPRB remotely from her home base of Durham, NC where she is working on her Master of Environmental Management at Duke University. She has experience curating and cataloging large collections of aquatic and marine invertebrates at both the Auburn University Museum of Natural History and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

At ICPRB, Ms. Noor will be working closely with the CO-OP team to retrieve and analyze remotely sensed water storage data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to improve hydrological modeling and forecasting during low flows in the Potomac basin. She is also working to make historic, handwritten water quality datasets held by ICPRB available in electronic format.

Nusrat is originally from Florida and currently lives with her two cats. She enjoys hiking, crocheting, and buying toys for her cats that they never use.

Risa Fish hails from Phoenix, Arizona, where she advocated for clean water and sanitation practices for an organization conducting water projects in Cusco, Peru. She also conducted research and educated the public on water conservation at the Water Conservation Department of the City of Chandler. Already holding a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Public Policy (Sustainability) from Arizona State University, Ms. Fish is now working on her Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management at Georgetown University, where she expects to graduate this summer. She hopes to remain in the DMV area post-graduation as she has loved living on the East Coast.

During her internship at ICPRB, she will be working on a Spatial Statistical Network modeling project as well as making improvements to our water quality data inventory. As a self-proclaimed “water nerd” she is eager to continue to expand her expertise in the water field and is looking forward to the experiences ICPRB can provide her with.

This is ICPRB’s third year since starting the internship program that educates and encourages future water resources professionals. Check out our YouTube page to see the great work of previous interns.

One Down, Many More to Come

Thank you to our guides, Paul Kreingold and Jon Wolz, and everyone that joined us for our first Walk in the Woods of 2024. We learned the fascinating history of the quarry along the Potomac that supplied the statuesque columns for Statuary Hall in the Capitol. See pictures of our walk (and Potomac marble!) on Facebook.

Sign up for a future Walk in the Woods on our Eventbrite page > > >

Where to find ICPRB this year, VA out of drought, the stories of the first all-Black rowing team and the first Black yacht club, and more in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir – Feb. 29, 2024 >>>

ICPRB in the Community

Our dance card is getting full for 2024! Check out several upcoming events where you’ll find ICPRB staff:

• March 2 – Sierra Club Catoctin Group Presents Renee Bourassa: “Flowing Through Time: Our Nation’s River” (Virtual and in-person in Urbana, MD) – Renee Bourassa will present the struggles and successes of the Potomac River.
• March 5 – Why so salty? Freshwater Salinization – Trends and Regional Impacts (Virtual) – Michael Nardolilli will take a regional perspective on the impacts of winter salt use.
• March 28 – Walk in the Woods: Potomac Marble (Dickerson, MD) – Join the first guided hike of 2024 to hear author Paul Kreingold and historian Jon Wolz talk about geology, history, and the search for the stone that was used to rebuild D.C. after the 1814 British invasion.
• April 28 – Walk in the Woods: Frederick Municipal Forest (Frederick, MD) – A spring guided hike with Jenny Willoughby, Sustainably Manager for the City of Frederick. We will discuss protecting and managing the Frederick Municipal Forest (w/ some plant ID in the mix).
• May 18 – Walk in the Woods: Flexing Mussels with Anacostia Watershed Society (DC) – Registration coming soon!
• October 12 – Walk in the Woods: Let’s be Smart About Winter Salt (Gaithersburg, MD) – A beautiful fall walk & talk to discover the hidden impact of winter salt use and what we all can do to protect our waterways.
• October 19 – Walk in the Woods: Strawberry Hill Preserve (Fairfield, PA) – Explore the streams meandering through the Strawberry Hill property and gain insights into their critical role in maintaining the health of the waters

We’ll be adding more fun and informative events throughout the year. We also plan to bring our creek critter meet and greet to the Earth Day Celebration (April 20, Frederick, MD), Anacostia River Festival (May 4, DC), Festival del Rio Anacostia (September 21, DC), and many more! Stay tuned by checking out ICPRB Events on our website.

ICPRB Q2 Business Meeting will be on March 12, 2024

ICPRB will hold the second quarter business meeting on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Commissioners will learn about computer models used to predict water quality endpoints and discuss the adoption of the 2023 updates to the Potomac Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan. The public is invited to view the virtual meeting. Please respond to this email for more information on how to attend.

Correction Notice

Editor’s Note: Last week’s newsletter included the news article Virginia Introduces Amended Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit to Protect Chesapeake Bay. We were subsequently informed that information found in the article is not accurate. We regret the error.