Blackwater River (West Virginia)

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Blackwater River
The Blackwater River in Blackwater Falls State Park
The Blackwater River in Blackwater Falls State Park
Country United States
State West Virginia
County Tucker
Major cities Hendricks, Davis
Length 31 mi (50 km)
Watershed 142 mi² (368 km²)
Discharge Davis
 - average 191 ft³/s (5 m³/s) (2005)[1]
Source
 - location Canaan Valley
 - coordinates 39°03′32″N, 79°29′04″W
 - elevation 3,540 ft (1,079 m)
Mouth Confluence with Dry Fork
 - location Hendricks, West Virginia
 - coordinates 39°04′20″N, 79°37′45″W
 - elevation 1,700 ft (518 m)
Major tributaries
 - right North Branch Blackwater River, Little Blackwater River
Map of the Monongahela River basin, with the Blackwater River highlighted.
Map of the Monongahela River basin, with the Blackwater River highlighted.
The Blackwater River Gorge in Blackwater Falls State Park
The Blackwater River Gorge in Blackwater Falls State Park
The Blackwater River in its upper course in the wetlands of Canaan Valley Resort State Park
The Blackwater River in its upper course in the wetlands of Canaan Valley Resort State Park
The North Fork of the Blackwater River in Thomas
The North Fork of the Blackwater River in Thomas

The Blackwater River is a 31 mi (50 km) long river[2] in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia in the United States. It is a principal tributary of the Black Fork of the Cheat River. Via the Cheat, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, the Blackwater is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 142 mi² (368 km²). The river's entire course and drainage area lie in Tucker County.[3]

Contents

[edit] Natural History and Course

The Blackwater River is a true blackwater stream, owing to spruce and hemlock trees in its watershed, the tannins of which impart a tea or amber color to its water.[2] It rises at an elevation of 3,250 ft (991 m)[2] and initially meanders north-northeastwardly through the wetlands of Canaan Valley, passing through the Canaan Valley Resort State Park and the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge,[3] and collecting two short tributaries known as the North Branch Blackwater River[4] and the Little Blackwater River.[5] Below the mouth of the Little Blackwater River, the Blackwater turns west-southwestwardly for the remainder of its course.[3] After passing the town of Davis, it falls 57 ft (17 m) over Blackwater Falls and enters a gorge in Blackwater Falls State Park,[6] forming whitewater rapids of Class IV-V+[7] and collecting the short North Fork Blackwater River,[8] which flows past the town of Thomas. The Blackwater joins the Dry Fork to form the Black Fork of the Cheat River at the town of Hendricks,[3] at an elevation of 1,705 ft (520 m).[2]

[edit] Recovery from acid mine drainage

The limestone treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Blackwater River watershed has received an award from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining for its success.[9] Acid mine drainage is created when sulfite-bearing mineral strata are exposed to air and rainwater, such as when surface mining occurs. The sulfuric acid produced from the sulfite reaction can dissolve metals such as iron, aluminum, and magnesium.[10] By 2004, the combination of acid and dissolved metals drainage had destroyed or damaged about 12,000 miles (19,300 km) of streams in Appalachia,[11] including the Blackwater River and streams in its watershed.

Restoration of the Blackwater River watershed was a costly[12][13] and complex task involving two large projects. The Douglas Highwall Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Project installed 16,000 tons (14,400 tonnes) of limestone in a "Wetland/Anoxic Limestone Drain (WALD) system"[12] on the North Branch of the Blackwater River downstream of Thomas. Although the experimental WALD system did not perform as intended, and "has not generated measurable alkalinity"[12] it did reduce the total acid and metal load in the water discharge from the abandoned mine into the river system.

More successful was a project just upstream of Davis, on Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Blackwater.[14] A six-drum water-powered limestone grinding station adds limestone slurry to the water flowing down Beaver Creek. A Swedish-designed limestone powder dosing system was also installed as backup to the drum system.[13] The five mile stretch of the Blackwater between the limestone station and the confluence with the North Branch of the Blackwater has now become one of West Virginia's premiere catch and release trout streams.[15]

[edit] River water level

Two real time water gauges are available from the United States Geological Survey:

Blackwater River real time water gauge, 2.8 miles northeast of Davis, West Virginia

Blackwater River real time water gauge, 0.4 miles southwest of Davis, West Virginia

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ United States Geological Survey (USGS); Annual average discharge for Blackwater River at Davis, WV. Figure cited is 2005, most recent year for which data is available. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d Hissom, Patricia. 2006. "Blackwater River." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  3. ^ a b c d DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.
  4. ^ Geographic Names Information System entry for North Branch Blackwater River
  5. ^ Geographic Names Information System entry for Little Blackwater River
  6. ^ Kennedy-Venable, Norma Jean. 2006. "Blackwater Falls." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  7. ^ American Whitewater report on lower Blackwater River
  8. ^ Geographic Names Information System entry for North Fork Blackwater River
  9. ^ U.S. Office of Surface Mining 1999 Award web page, accessed August 26, 2006
  10. ^ Sibrell, P.L., Barnaby J. Watten, B.J., Friedrich, A.E, and Vinci, B.J., ARD Remediation with Limestone in a CO2 Pressurized Reactor, 5th International Conference on Acid Rock Drainage, Denver, Colorado, May, 2000.
  11. ^ Williams, T., "Coal Country Trout", Fly Rod & Reel Magazine, July/October 2004.
  12. ^ a b c Skousen, J., Gorman, J., and Ziemkiewicz, P., Long Term Effects of Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Projects on Stream Quality, Proceedings Twentieth Annual West Virginia Surface Mine Drainage Task Force Symposium, Morgantown, WV, April 13-14, 1999.
  13. ^ a b Zurbuch, P.E., Early Results from Calcium Carbonate Neutralization of Two West Virginia Rivers Acidified by Mine Drainage, Seventeenth Annual West Virginia Surface Mine Drainage Task Force Symposium, Morgantown, WV, April 2-3, 1996.
  14. ^ Mineral Information Institute web site, accessed August 26, 2006.
  15. ^ West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Special Fishing Regulations web page, accessed August 27, 2006.

[edit] External links

[edit] Online maps and aerial photos

Mouth or other endpoint (Confluence with Dry Fork at Hendricks)

Source (Canaan Valley Resort State Park)

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