Based in Preston County, WV, Friends of the Cheat (FOC) is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization working to restore, preserve, and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat River watershed. Formed in 1994 in response to a catastrophic coal mine blowout, FOC has spent decades mapping and monitoring abandoned mine seeps, implementing acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment systems in partnership with local landowners, and building coalitions with local businesses and state and federal agencies - all of which has led to the successful remediation of the once devastatingly impaired Cheat River main stem, now home again to sensitive aquatic species such as Walleye, Eastern Hellbender, and most recently, freshwater mussels.
Recognized nationally as a leader in river restoration and recreation, FOC is a two-time recipient of the River Network's "River Hero" award and has twice been named the West Virginia "Watershed of the Year." In recent years, FOC has expanded its conservation work beyond AMD, leading both local and regional economic development initiatives around recreation and tourism, working to bring outdoor enthusiasts back to the Cheat watershed. FOC maintains public river access points to the Cheat Canyon, Upper Cheat River Water Trail, and soon, a new Cheat Narrows public takeout at the Cheat River Trailhead, due to open in the spring of 2023. Construction on a portion of the upcoming Cheat River Rail-Trail will also commence in 2023.
On the first weekend of May, FOC and our extended river community celebrates the rebirth of the mighty Cheat through the Cheat River Festival, FOC’s largest annual fundraiser and outreach event. Join us on May 5-6, 2023 for the 29th annual festival in Albright, WV.
Friends of the Cheat Staff: Amanda Pitzer, Executive Director (2010); Owen Mulkeen, Associate Director (2013); Valorie Dixon, Bookkeeper (2014); Beth Warnick, Media and Outreach Specialist (2015); Madison Ball, Conservation Program Director (2018); Garrett Richardson, Monitoring Technician (2020); Lisa Maraffa, Program Assistant and Events Producer (2021)
Board of Directors: Charlie Walbridge, Interim Board Chair, Miranda Peddicord, Treasurer, Rich Dennis, Secretary, Connie Miller, Ben Hogan, Rick Chaney, Zach Fowler, Michael Strager, Dani Martin, Sarah Hinnant, Justin Reedy, Chris Wade
PARTNERSHIP HIGHLIGHT
BLUE GOLD DEVELOPMENT
Friends of the Cheat has been fortunate to work with Blue Gold Development, LLC within both our Conservation and Recreation programs. The company was awarded the Dream Mountain Phase I construction bid in 2020, and helped turn our vision for a newly renovated passive acid mine drainage treatment site into a reality. The Dream Mountain site treats highly acidic water that flows to Muddy Creek, a home to sensitive trout species above the confluence with Martin Creek.
Based in Rivesville, WV, Blue Gold Development was “founded on the principles of high-quality work, good communication, and commitment to our local community.” FOC experienced these principles in action first-hand on the Dream Mountain project, so we were excited when Blue Gold was awarded the $1.3M project to construct FOC’s Cheat River Trailhead. Blue Gold broke ground on the trailhead in October of 2022. The project is expected to be completed next spring.
“We at Blue Gold Development are excited to work with FOC on the Cheat River Trailhead. During our last project at the Dream Mountain property, we had great success with controlling and cleaning the acid mine drainage in the area. We plan to have another successful project at the trailhead. As a complete site development company, we will do our part in taking the abandoned mine land and converting it to a tourist and recreational destination for our local and out-of -state outdoor enthusiasts. Friends of the Cheat is a great organization to team up with on these projects. We always look forward to collaborating with them and supporting their mission for the Cheat River watershed.” - Stephen Toth, Partner at Blue Gold Development, LLC
BACTERIA PROGRAM UPDATE
FOC’s Swim Guide Program monitors for levels of harmful bacteria. Water samples are collected and tested once a month during October, March, and April, and biweekly from May through September.
FOC monitors 12 popular public access points from Parsons to Cheat Lake, including fan favorites such as the Cheat River Narrows, Holly Meadows, Jenkinsburg, and Cheat Lake Beach. Each access point is monitored for E. coli and total coliform bacteria, as well as temperature, pH, and conductivity. The results are posted to the sites’ corresponding pages here. Users can visit the website or download the Swim Guide app to check current or historical water quality results, and view additional information about the access points, including maps and directions.
FOC staff compiles the data for each site across multiple seasons and water levels in order to draw conclusions about overall safety of recreational opportunities in regards to bacteria levels in the Cheat River. In 2022, we documented a higher rate of failure to meet recreational standards for E. coli than in years past at several of our river access points. Our staff scientists theorize this could be due to the fact that the Cheat River watershed saw many intense rain events throughout the summer. On sampling days following a large rain event, FOC found much higher rates of failure, and more E. coli colonies present in the samples. We will continue to monitor this trend into the future.
As heavier, more intense rain events are likely to continue in the future due to climate change, these poor results may become more frequent. Intense rain events wash agricultural runoff into the streams and can overload municipal storm flow systems sending overflow into the river. The Swim Guide, our partner organization who hosts our results, advises to avoid recreational contact with the water for at least 48 hours after a significant rain event: “During wet weather events, water rushes into our creeks, rivers, lakes, and coasts from urban centers and rural areas. Stormwater can contain human and animal waste, toxic materials, heavy metals, debris, agricultural and urban runoff.”
On the whole, consistent testing shows that the Cheat River remains an excellent choice for river recreation. Choosing sunny days for river activities without significant rain in the days prior is a good way to boost your safety. However, one area to steer clear of is Rowlesburg Park downstream of the paved parking lot, which is the location of a combined sewer overflow (CSO) pipe that has been known to be problematic for many years. The site downstream of this pipe has a higher rate of failure than any of the other sites FOC monitors. Our monitoring shows this issue is typically resolved through dilution before the next popular access site - the Cheat Narrows “Caves” put-in.
A large portion of our Bacteriological Monitoring Program is funded by donations. By sponsoring your favorite access point for $10 a month, your donations will help alleviate the cost of sampling supplies, personnel time, and travel expenses. Sign up using the above button to donate or become a monthly subscriber.
Muddy Creek and Big Sandy Creek Stream Study
Muddy Creek and Big Sandy Creek are two major tributaries to the Lower Cheat River, and have been historically impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD) from abandoned mine lands. For decades, this drainage resulted in low pH and high toxic metal concentrations in portions of the streams.
Recently, Friends of the Cheat had the rare opportunity to study Muddy Creek and Big Sandy Creek, which have been showing signs of recovery. Funded by the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation and the WVDEP, FOC Monitoring Technician Garrett Richardson monitored five sites over 20 times from 2021-2022, allowing us to better understand the water quality characteristics of these streams during all seasons and weather conditions.
The two sites monitored in Big Sandy Creek, Rockville and Confluence, show that pH consistently met water quality standards (listed by the State of West Virginia as between 6.0 - 9.0). Dissolved aluminum, a metal associated with AMD, and toxic to aquatic life, was not detected at any of the Big Sandy Creek sites. Iron levels were also within water quality standards.
At the three Muddy Creek sites, Woolen Mills, Cuzzart, and Orr-Tannery, pH was always within water quality standards. Aluminum and iron levels were within acceptable limits for aquatic life in all but two instances, and the results met Trout Waters standards, which are much more stringent, in the majority of the sampling efforts.
Overall, our sampling reveals the average pH in both Big Sandy Creek and Muddy Creek has risen since the streams were sampled by the WVDEP in the early to mid 2000s. All sites average a pH above 7.0 in our sampling efforts, which is a great bill of health for these streams.
Understanding current stream conditions is vital for protecting our tributaries, and for revealing that our abandoned mine remediation efforts in the watershed have real benefits for the stream system as a whole. Streams that meet water quality standards are often afforded more protections than those that are already impaired, and also tend to have a better reputation as somewhere folks desire to live, work, and play.
FOC will present these findings to the WVDEP, which may result in certain stream segments being moved to ‘Supplemental Table C: Improved Waters’ of the Cheat River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Report. We thank the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation and WVDEP for their critical support for this effort.
FRESHWATER MUSSELS IN THE CHEAT
In light of the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act this year, it is important we remember the Chear River’s history. The river we know and love today was in dire straits over 100 years ago. The impact of landscape-level clear cutting, acid mine drainage, untreated sewage, and toxins from tanneries and other industries served up a deadly cocktail for water quality in the Cheat River through the 1900s.
Fish kills were common, and some of the most sensitive species in the Cheat, like freshwater mussels, were completely lost. Arnold Ortmann, a pioneer in American malacology (study of freshwater mussels), made the following assessment of the Cheat River in 1913:
“I collected above Parsons, Tucker Co., W. Va., in Shavers Fork. Below Parsons the river is badly polluted, and also Dry Fork is polluted through Blackwater River. I have been told that there used to be some shells in the Cheat, below Parsons, but we have no means of ascertaining what species they were." - Arnold Ortmann, 1913
Freshwater mussels play an important role in our freshwater ecosystems. They help improve water quality as they feed on algae in the water column and filter out harmful pollutants in the process. They are often nicknamed the “liver” of the river. Mussels also provide a rich food source for other aquatic animals such as otters, ducks, fish, and heron.
As FOC consistently documents the water quality in the Cheat River improving, our staff wondered about the possibility of restoring our native freshwater mussel populations, and sought expert opinion.
Malacologists with the WVDNR informed us of the history of mussels in the Cheat, and suggested FOC could implement a “silo study.” In a “silo study,” freshwater mussels that would have been native to a water system are put in concrete chambers or “silos” in the river for a period of time to see if they would survive and grow. The silos protect the mussels during this time from predators or from being washed downstream. A grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program allowed us to bring this study to fruition, and funded personnel time for FOC staff to monitor the mussels through the study period.
FOC and WVDNR placed 5 groups of silos in the Cheat River across 35 miles of the main stem, and tracked their progress over the summer. 98% of the mussels survived, and some even grew during their stay, beginning a new chapter for freshwater mussels in the story of the Cheat River.
The mussels in the study were released to begin their new lives in the Cheat, and FOC staff will continue to monitor them to track survival. This project was only achievable through our partners at WVDNR and the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery, which rears native mussels for projects just like ours, and our funder for the study, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.