Rockymarsh Run

Where wise actions are the fruit of life, wise discourse is the pollination.

-Bryant McGill

Resources
Land & Water Stewardship Plants & Animals Culture Kid's Corner Action

Dear Watershed Neighbors,

The Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute is initiating restoration and protection efforts in Rockymarsh Run with the goal of restoring a native brook trout fishery in the stream and generating other local benefits for the area, while also contributing to regional Chesapeake Bay water quality restoration goals.

The Institute and its partners, Trout Unlimited, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, West Virginia University, and the West Virginia Water Research Institute, will work with local residents to plant trees and restore stream stretches in order to restore trout habitat, while also improving water local quality. These projects will be complemented by other activities including outreach efforts to land developers and decision makers to suggest planning and development approaches that connect development activities to the protection of the environment and neighbors’ property rights.

Source water protection, trout habitat, reduced physical infrastructure costs, protected property values, open/green space protection, and water quality are among the overlapping goals of project activities.

We are interested in your feedback, involvement, and ideas to help shape how and where the various activities are implemented in the watershed and to help build a community of dedicated stakeholders.

On this website you can learn more about ongoing activities in Rockymarsh project and how you can get involved!

Did You Know?

The word “watershed” refers to the entire area of land that flows into a stream or river. Another way of looking at it is all of the land above a point that drains to that point. Watersheds are “nested” from the small to the large. Rain falling on any part of a watershed will make its way into brooks, and then into rivers, eventually flowing into the sea. Human uses of the land anywhere in a watershed can have an impact on the water that flows through it.

What You Can Do...

Rain gardens are aesthetically pleasing plantings that are used to prevent runoff from your rain gutters and impervious (hard) surfaces such as driveways and paths from carrying nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants into streams. Existing low or wet spots are good sites as are areas such as the end of downspouts or other areas that collect significant amounts of rainwater in your yard. These combinations of native plants and mulch work as a filters for runoff and allow it to percolate down into the groundwater instead of entering waterways where it can cause flooding related problems. Grasses are planted as an initial filter strip and other larger plants such as sedges, rushes and shrubs are planted downstream.