CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:26). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-30-18.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 2, 2018. This week, we’re joined by guest host Saalehah Habeebah, the spring 2018 intern at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. This week, imagine yourself at my annual dinner celebrating water, where guest are calling out water mystery words.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what the topic of conversation was. VOICES - ~18 sec If you guessed that we were talking about water-quality monitoring, then you’re a water-quality monitoring expert!  All of the words you just heard were different properties we test for in streams, lakes, or estuaries.  Scientists often refer to measured properties as parameters. Water-quality monitoring typically consists of three areas of measurements: biological, chemical, and physical. Biological monitoring uses the presence, absence, numbers, or condition of various organisms to indicate environmental conditions.  Of the words just called out, algae, aquatic insects, fish, and coliforms are all organisms used to monitor water quality.  A particularly important area of biological monitoring is testing for bacteria, which includes coliforms.  Coliforms are used as indicators of possible sewage contamination, because they are found in human and animal feces.   Coliform presence indicates the potential presence of pathogenic, or disease-causing, bacteria or viruses that also live in human and animal digestive systems.  Some other groups of organisms used in biological monitoring are aquatic plants and molluscs. Chemical monitoring assesses whether water contains various chemical substances that affect aquatic health.  Remember when you heard the words dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, and pH?  These are examples of chemical parameters.  Chemical monitoring can test for substances that organisms need—such as dissolved oxygen—as well as for potentially harmful substances, called pollutants or contaminants.  For example, chemical contaminants are one of the complex water-quality issues facing the Chesapeake Bay.  Some other chemical parameters are biochemical oxygen demand, total solids, and metals. Lastly, physical monitoring focuses on non-living and non-chemical attributes of water, as well as tangible, structural materials that affect water bodies.   You heard two physical-monitoring words: temperature and turbidity.  Temperature affects rates of biological and chemical processes; turbidity is a measure of how much sediment water carries, which can affect organisms’ physiology and reproduction.  Some other physical parameters are flow, depth, stream-bottom materials, and streamside vegetation. Thanks to Blacksburg friends for lending their voices to this episode.  We hope this introduction to the biological, chemical, and physical perpectives of water-quality monitoring will help citizens make informed decisions about Virginia’s waters. SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The water-quality terms were recorded by Virginia Water Radio with several Virginia Tech students in Blacksburg on March 28-29, 2018.  We thank those participants for contributing to this episode. Click here if

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:17). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-23-18.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 26, 2018. SOUND – ~5 sec The somewhat spooky trill you just heard is this week’s mystery sound.  Have another listen for about 10 seconds and see if you can guess what’s making this call, late at night on April 3, 2017.  And here’s a hint: hop to it, and upon you the right answer may be bes-TOWED. SOUND - ~12 sec If you guessed an American Toad, you’re right!  One of six species of toads in Virginia, this well-known amphibian is found throughout the Commonwealth, except for the southeastern corner, where the Southern Toad takes its ecological place.  In Virginia, American Toad breeding starts between March and April in temporary pools or ponds, where males advertise to females with mating trills lasting up to 20 or 30 seconds.  Into the breeding pools, females lay long, gelatinous strings containing thousands of eggs, which hatch in about a week into aquatic tadpoles, scientifically known as larvae.  The tadpoles complete metamorphosis into toads in about two months.  These small, still-developing juvenile toads move away from the breeding pools into woods, gardens, or cultivated fields, where they feed on a wide variety of insects, spiders, worms, and other animals.  Two or three years later, these animals will be fully developed adults capable of returning to springtime waters for breeding. To close, we turn to something whimsical about toads: a passage about the Toad of Toad Hall, one of the animal characters in the 1908 children’s novel, The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.   In the chapter “The Further Adventures of Toad,” the book’s conceited amphibian promotes himself with words, instead of a real toad’s trilling calls, saying: “The world has held great Heroes, As history-books have showed; But never a name to go down to fame, Compared with that of Toad!” SOUND - ~ 3 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The American Toad sounds heard in this episode were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., at about 11:45 p.m. EDT on April 3, 2017. The passage quoted from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908, was taken from The Wind in the Willows—An Annotated Edition, Seth Lerer, ed., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England, 2009.  The passage is from Chapter 10, “The Further Adventures of Toad,” page 214 in this edition. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.   More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. PHOTOS American Toad at Cowbane Prairie Preserve in Augusta County, Va., April 1, 2008. A seasonal, temporary pool—such as American Toads might use for breeding—beside a recreation path on the edge of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, March 23, 2018. EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE AMERICAN TOAD The scientific name of the American Toad, more precisely called the Eastern American Toad, in Anaxyrus americanus, formerly Bufo americanus. Here are some points about the American Toad

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:14). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-16-18. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 19, 2018. MUSIC – ~6 sec This week, we revisit a 2012 episode featuring music about an American Civil War battle on the waters of Virginia’s Hampton Roads that was indecisive at the time but had long-term naval consequences.  Have a listen for about a minute. MUSIC ~68 sec You’ve been listening to part of “The Cumberland and the Merrimac,” performed by Tom Roush.  The song tells the story of a new naval era dawning—right in Hampton Roads.  On March 8, 1862, the ironclad CSS Virginia—often called the Merrimac [or Merrimack], because it was constructed upon that wooden ship’s salvaged hull—attacked a Hampton Roads blockade to restore maritime access to Richmond and Norfolk.  With its armor deflecting Union shots, the Virginia sank the USS Cumberland and forced the surrender of the USS Congress.  When the Union’s ironclad ship, the USS Monitor, arrived the next day to defend the blockade, the historic “Battle of the Ironclads” ensued.  Though no clear winner prevailed in that battle, the emergence of the Civil War ironclads forever changed naval warfare.  As for Hampton Roads, one hundred and fifty-six years later the area maintains its relevance as a hub for trade, shipbuilding, military bases, and, of course, history. Thanks to Heather Vereb for developing and writing this episode originally in 2012.  Thanks also to Tom Roush for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “The Cumberland and the Merrimac.” MUSIC - ~20 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode was originally written by Heather Vereb in March 2012.  The episode replaces Episode 104, 3-26-12, which has been archived. The origin of the tune and lyrics of “The Cumberland and Merrimac” are anonymous.  The version of the song heard in this episode was arranged and performed by Tom Roush, used with permission.  The full performance of the song by Mr. Roush is available on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEY62qOSnAA.  More information about Mr. Roush is available online at http://tomroush.us/. PHOTOS  The following images were accessed at the Web site of the U.S. Navy/Naval History and Heritage Command, “The Battle of Hampton Roads,” online at https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/the-american-civil-war--1861-1865/css-virginia-destroys-uss-cumberland-and-uss-congress--8-march-1.html. “Iron versus Wood: Sinking of the Cumberland by the Merrimac. In Hampton Roads, March 8, 1862.” Oil painting by Edward Moran (1829-1901). Accessed online at https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/the-american-civil-war--1861-1865/css-virginia-destroys-uss-cumberland-and-uss-congress--8-march-1/80-g-k-17106-iron-vs-wood.html. “Battle between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 9 March 1862.” Lithograph by Closson Blake, after a painting by W.F. Halsall. Accessed online at https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/the-american-civil-war--1861-1865/css-virginia-destroys-uss-cumberland-and-uss-congress--8-march-1/nh-1053-battle-between-us

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:13). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-9-18. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 12, 2018. MUSIC – ~10 sec This week, that music from Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg opens an episode about a shorebird that’s often seen far inland.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds to a bit more music and to some mystery sounds, and see if you can guess what’s making the peeping calls.  And here’s a hint that includes a rhyme for the name: approach its nest, and you will hear this bird. MUSIC and SOUNDS - ~16 sec If you guessed Killdeer, you’re right!  Kildeer are known for using calls and a pretended broken-wing ploy to draw predators away from their nest.  The Killdeer is one of nine North American species of plovers, six of which occur in Virginia.  In fact, Killdeer have been studied by Virginia Tech researchers to help learn about Piping Plovers, a federally threatened and endangered species. Killdeer are named after their characteristic calls, which one may hear by day or night.  In past centuries the bird has been called “kildee” (again, for its call) as well as Chattering Plover and Noisy Plover, because of its reputation as an especially vocal bird.  Plovers are considered shorebirds, but the Killdeer is the least shore-connected member of the plover family.  The species is found in many open habitats with low vegetation, such as mudflats, gravel bars, and meadows, and in many human-generated areas like construction sites, graveled roads or rooftops, and lawns.   But, according to Cornell University’s “Birds of North America Online,” even in dry habitats Killdeer are “most often found near water of some sort, even if it is a lawn sprinkler.” While Kildeer sometimes feed in water on aquatic organisms, and they’re considered good swimmers, they more commonly feed on the ground, running along and then stopping quickly to seize a variety of insects and other invertebrates.  Writing in the 1800s about this running ability of Killdeer, John James Audubon noted, “On the ground their speed is such that it has become proverbial, and to ‘run like a Kildee,’ is to move with the utmost possible agility.” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. Thank also to Timothy Seaman for this week’s original music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Killdeer in Action.” MUSIC - ~23 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Killdeer in Action” was composed for this episode of Virginia Water Radio by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Va., on March 6-7, 2018.  Click here to hear the full version (1 min./42 sec.).  More information about Mr. Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.  The sounds of Kildeer were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Thanks to Chelsea Weithman for information on Virginia Tech research use of Killdeer, provided in a personal communication on March 7, 2018.  As of spring 2018, Ms. Weithman is a mast

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:42). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-2-18. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 5, 2018. SOUND AND VOICE – ~8 sec – “It is a huge piece of legislation. It is monumental.” That’s the sound of an electricity transmission line and a comment heard on February 8, 2018, in the Commerce and Labor Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates, where the “huge and monumental” legislation under discussion was House Bill 1558, on regulation of electric utilities.  What’s the water story to this big and important bill about electric utility regulation? The answer starts with connections between water and energy in general.  Here are four.   First, substantial water is used in producing energy.  Second, energy is used in providing water.  Third, energy production can generate solid or liquid wastes that affect water.  And fourth, fossil fuel-based energy production generates air pollutants that can eventually affect water.  All of these water impacts are affected the energy source used to produce electricity, whether it’s fossil fuels, nuclear, solar, wind, hydropower, or something else. Now, back to electricity regulation.  In Virginia, this involves regulation primarily of two companies, Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power, which are allowed exclusive service territories in the Commonwealth, and are therefore considered regulated monopolies.  Regulation is by the State Corporation Commission, or SCC, and the General Asssembly sets the laws that determine the SCC’s authority.  A key part of that authority is the timing of SCC reviews of the rates, charges, facilities, and service provision of the regulated monopolies.  Those reviews involve the determination of what the SCC is to consider in the “public interest,” and the determination of what costs by the utilities are “reasonable and prudent.” House Bill 1558, and the companion bill, Senate Bill 966, change the review periods that were set in legislation passed in 2015. The bills also make public interest or reasonable cost determinations on three issues relevant to connections between water and energy: investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency (including weatherization), and grid modernization, including putting transmission lines underground to protect against storm damage.  Much of the discussion of these bills centered on how utility investments in those areas would be addressed in SCC review of electricity rates and potential refunds to customers. As of March 1, House Bill 1558 had passed both houses but with somewhat different versions; and Senate Bill 966 had passed both houses in the same version.  The long and complicated bills attracted lots of attention, proposals for changes, and contrasting assessments, and they’ll likely be among the most significant legislation of this General Assembly.  For more information about these bills, visit the Virginia Legislative Information System, online at lis.virginia.gov; or contact your local delegate or state senator. We close with one more comment from the February 8 House committee discussion, which helps explain why utility rate bills get so much attention: CLOSE – ~8 sec – “Monopoly utility rate-making is an esoteric area of the law, but it has a profound impact on the lives and pocket-books of Virginians.” SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:26). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-23-18.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 26, 2018. MUSIC – ~9 sec This week, that excerpt from “Rusty Piper” by the Blacksburg- and Roanoke-based band No Strings Attached opens an episode about an ecosystem hidden in pipes.  For that story, I'm joined by guest host Brynn O’Donnell. This week we’re diving down to explore an ecosystem hidden beneath the ground, and learn about how our actions in towns can affect water bodies downstream.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to this mystery sound, and see if you can guess what underground ecosystem you’re hearing. SOUND - ~8 sec – Branch of Stoubles Creek under Draper Road in Blacksburg, Feb. 10, 2018 If you guessed a buried stream, you’re right! Take note of your feet, and feel how the soles of your shoes press up against the floor—hard to imagine you've been walking on water, right? In downtown Blacksburg, Va., that’s exactly what people are doing.  The stream you heard runs under buildings, sidewalks, and roadways, and most people don’t even realize it’s there.  In many cities and towns, an entire aquatic ecosystem flows similarly under the pavement—an invisible network of “ghost streams,” streams that once used to run above ground, but we’ve now buried in pipes so that we could construct buildings on top.  Humans have been burying streams since the Roman Empire, but we still don’t fully understand what happens when we do that.  How these streams have changed, and the impacts of those changes on downstream waterways, is the focus of my research at Virginia Tech. Although we’ve buried these streams, we haven’t quite put them to rest.  Ghost streams are still beneath us, and still flowing, but they’re drastically changed from a more natural stream.  Such buried streams aren’t exposed to light or freely moving air, impacting organisms typically on the bottom of a stream or growing alongside of one. If you recall the process of photosynthesis, plants need light, air, and nutrients to grow.  And although we don’t normally think of algae in streams as plants, they conduct photosynthesis, too, and they’re important components of natural streams, particularly in the use of nutrients.  Without light inside pipes, algae and streamside plants can’t survive.  With no life, buried streams can’t remove nutrients, so any nutrients that run off from cities into these streams are shuttled straight downstream.  This helps lead to nutrient buildups in downstream lakes, ponds, or other water bodies, in turn causing too much algae growth.  While algae perform important functions, other life is harmed by an algae over-abundance, such as when one sees a thick, green sludge on top of lakes or ponds. With this possible sequence of events, sometimes it seems as if ghost streams are haunting us.  But moving forward through research and learning more about buried streams, we can understand how to mitigate their impact by promoting the retention of nutrients and the revitalization of life. Thanks to No Strings Attached for permission to use this week’s music, and as a note to stream ecosystems buried beneath us in pipes, we close with a few more seconds of “Rusty Piper.” MUSIC - ~14 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you healt

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:27). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-19-18.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 19, 2018. SOUND - ~5 sec – rainfall in Blacksburg, Va., April 21, 2015 This week, that sound of a Virginia spring rain opens an episode on creatures who show up, sound off, and pair up every year, especially in spring, in temporary ponds and other water bodies.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds to a series of mystery sounds, and see if you can guess what animals are making this variety of clucks, peeps, trills, and croaks.   And here’s a hint: when spring rains come, Virginia’s waters start jumping with these creatures. SOUNDS - ~40 sec If you guessed frogs or toads, you’re right!  Those were the calls of nine frogs and two toads, part of Virginia’s 27 native species of these two groups of amphibians.  As early as late January in the Commonwealth, some species—like the Wood Frog and Spring Peeper—move from overwintering habitats to temporary pools or other wet areas, where males use distinctive calls to attract females for breeding.  As spring and summer progress, Virginia’s ponds, rivers, and other aquatic areas resonate with chorus frogs, tree frogs, pickerel frogs, leopard frogs, bullfrogs, green frogs, and several kinds of toads. Whether or not the weather at the moment looks or feels like spring, frog and toad calls are sure signs of seasonal changes in the air, on the land, and in the water. Thanks to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and to Lang Elliott for permission to use several of this week’s sounds. SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This episode revises and replaces Episode 148, 2-11-13. The calls heard in this week’s audio were the following (in order heard): Wood Frog, Spring Peeper, American Toad and Spring Peeper chorus, Mountain Chorus Frog, Pickerel Frog, American Bullfrog, Carpenter Frog, Fowler’s Toad, Northern Cricket Frog, Green Frog, and Gray Treefrog. The sounds of the Mountain Chorus Frog, American Bullfrog, and Carpenter Frog were excerpted from The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and Lang Elliott/NatureSoundStudio, used with permission.  The CD is part of the VDGIF’s A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia.  For more information, visit https://www.shopdgif.com/product.cfm?uid=1928838&context=&showInactive=N, or contact VDGIF at 4010 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230; phone: (804) 367-1000 (VTDD); e-mail: [email protected].   Lang Elliott’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. The other amphibian sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio, as follows (again in the order heard in the episode): Wood Frog – Huckleberry Trail near Christiansburg, Va., March 9, 2014; Spring Peeper – Blacksburg, Va., March 13, 2010; American Toad and Spring Peeper chorus – Blacksburg, Va., March 29, 2010; Pickerel Frog – Peaks of Otter/Blue Ridge Parkway, April 19, 2011; Fowler’s Toad – Along James River near Howardsville, Va., July 12, 2009; Northern Cricket Frog – Along the Potomac River/C&O Canal Towpath near Boyd’s Landing, Md., July 10, 2010; Green Frog - Leesburg, Va., June 28, 2010;

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:08). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-9-18. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 12, 2018.  We’re joined this week by guest host Saalehah Habeebah, the spring 2018 intern at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. SOUND – ~14 sec This week, that excerpt from a NOAA Weather Radio advisory for parts of southwestern Virginia on February 3, 2018, opens a freezing-water episode intended especially for Virginia high school science students.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds to a series of mystery sounds, and see if you can guess two basic sciences that are at work when winter turns the landscape white. SOUNDS - ~40 sec If you guessed chemistry and physics, you’re right!  You heard a snow shovel, snowmelt salt pellets, and another NOAA Weather Radio excerpt, this time from January 29, 2014, about melting and refreezing potential after an Appalachian snowfall.  The impacts of a snowfall—on transportation, recreation, and water supplies—depend on weather conditions interacting with chemical and physical properties of water and of surfaces and substances in contact with the snow.  One of these properties is snow density, that is, how much water any given snow contains. Snow density determines how much liquid water may result from a given snowpack.  Also, three energy-related properties play key roles in what happens to snow: first, the melting point of water with and without dissolved substances, such as snowmelt salt; second, the light-absorbing and –reflecting capacities of different colors and substances; and third, the capacity of snow and adjacent surfaces to absorb, emit, and conduct heat.  These energy-related properties, combined with snow density, affect how fast the snow will disappear, either by melting or sublimating—that is, turning into vapor without first melting; and whether melted water will evaporate or refreeze onto roadways or sidewalks Snow chemistry and physics are complicated.   But they affect us in very practical ways, such as the recharge of your water supplies by winter snows; the effectiveness of snow-melting chemicals; and the timing for shoveling a sidewalk to get a dry, clear surface instead of a slippery, refrozen glaze. SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 199, 2-3-14. The excerpts from National Weather Service (NWS) winter-weather messages on the mornings of Februrary 3, 2018, and January 29, 2014, were recorded by Virginia Water Radio from broadcasts on those days by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Weather Radio, WXL 60 from the NWS’ Blacksburg, Va., Forecast Office. Information from that office is available online at http://www.weather.gov/rnk/.  Information about NOAA Weather Radio is available online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/. Thanks to Kevin McGuire, Virginia Water Resources Research Center, for providing advice and information for this episode. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at h

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:35). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-2-18.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 5, 2018. MUSIC – ~8 sec This week, that excerpt of “Cold World,” by Kat Mills of Blacksburg, Va., opens a freezing-water episode intended especially for Virginia middle school science students.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds to the following sounds, and see if you can guess what cold-world experience was taking place.   And here’s a hint: the speaker and the water are both on the move. SOUNDS - ~19 sec If you guessed, wading into an icy river, you’re right!  You heard me wading—very quickly!—into the partially iced-over New River in Giles County, Va., on January 1, 2018.  After nighttime temperatures in the teens or lower for several days, about half of the river’s surface in some locations on that New Year’s morning was covered in ice. Rivers throughout Virginia will freeze during notably cold winter spells, but it’s not a routine occurrence.  River freeze-ups are really noteworthy in the tidal sections of the James, Rappahannock, and other Commonwealth rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; in those sections, the water is somewhat salty, called brackish, so it has a lower freezing point. When rivers do freeze, ice typically forms first at the river edges, where in slow currents surface water can lose heat to colder air and not be mixed with warmer, deeper water.  This border ice can also form in slower currents around rocks or other obstacles well away from shore.  In stronger currents that keep the water mixed, if the whole water column drops just below the freezing point, ice can form around tiny particles; this type of ice is called frazil.  Sometimes frazil gets transported to the river bottom and attaches there, forming what’s known as anchor ice.   If the water keeps losing heat to colder air, these and other kinds of ice can accumulate horizontally and vertically, eventually covering the river and perhaps filling much of its depth. Ice may also be carried along by the current, particularly after warming temperatures break up a solid ice cover.   If these ice floes get blocked by natural or human-made structures, ice jams can occur.  Ice jams can block a river’s flow, leading possibly to upstream flooding.  And when an ice jam eventually breaks, it can suddenly release large amounts of water and ice, causing possible hazards downstream. Thanks to Blacksburg friends for recording the New Year’s Day New River wade-in.  Thanks also to Kat Mills for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Cold World.” MUSIC - ~18 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The New River wade-in sounds were taken from a video recording on January 1, 2018, below McCoy Falls in Giles County, Va.  Thanks to Virginia Water Radio friends Sarah, John, and Alan for making the recording possible. “Cold World,” on the 2003 album “Long Time,” is copyright by Kat Mills and Sweetcut Music, used with permission.  This music was featured in Virginia Water Radio Episode 253, 2-6-15.  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.sweetcut.com/kat/ and at https://www.facebook.com/katmillsmusic. Click here if you’d

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:26). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-26-18. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 29, 2018. SOUND – ~8 sec. That’s Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds speaking in the Virginia General Assembly on January 25, 2018, to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, on behalf of two bills related to natural gas pipelines.   In the 2018 Assembly session, Virginia’s 100 delegates and 40 senators were considering about 2900 bills and resolutions, along with the proposed biennial budget for 2018 to 2020.  About 170 of the measures concern water resources, either directly or indirectly through impacts on water from energy production, transportation, or other land uses. This week is Virginia Water Radio’s annual episode giving YOU a chance to imagine being an Assembly member, and to consider how you’d vote on five water-related bills.  I’ll give you brief descriptions of the bills, followed by a few seconds during which you can decide if you would vote for or against the idea.  Then I’ll let you know the bills’ status as of January 26. Ready? House Bill 182 would require by July 2020 the closure of any surface impoundments, or lagoons, in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that store coal combustion residuals, also referred to as coal ash. SILENCE - ~2sec The bill was in the House Commerce and Labor Committee. House Bill 346 would prohibit personal watercraft on lakes smaller than than 50 acres. SILENCE - ~2sec The bill had passed a committee and moved to the House floor. House Bill 1082 would prohibit Virginia’s environmental regulatory agencies from adopting any regulation or standard that is stricter than any relevant federal law, regulation, or guidance document. SILENCE - ~2sec The bill was in a the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources. House Bill 1270 would prohibit the governor or any state agency from any establishing or participating in a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program, unless the General Assembly approves the program. SILENCE - ~2sec The bill was in the House Commerce and Labor Committee. Senate Bill 552 would require any crab pots used or sold in Virginia to have two marine-biodegradable escape panels, which allow animals to escape from pots no longer being actively attended. SILENCE - ~2sec The bill passed a committee but failed on the Senate floor. This short game obviously can’t capture the scope of the General Assembly’s potential impact on a subject as complicated and important as water.  Any bill involves more information and details than you heard here.  The General Assembly’s Web site, virginiageneralassembly.gov, has tools to help you get the details and to express opinions to Assembly members. But don’t wait too long: The 2018 Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on March 10.  Much of the last couple of weeks will be taken up with the proposed budget.  Before then, committee dockets and floor sessions will be full of all the other matters, including water-related ones.  If you’ve got an opinion, be sure to voice it before you hear this…“I’ve been informed that clears the docket.  With no further business, the committee will rise.” [Spoken by chair at the end of the January 18, 2018 meeting of the Virginia Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee.] SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Al