CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:24) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-8-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 11, 2016. This week, we feature another series of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what all of these sounds have in common.   And here’s a hint: the current time is perfect for coming up with an answer. SOUNDS - ~ 23 sec If you guessed stream flow measurements, you’re right!  You heard a stopwatch; students measuring a stream’s current; the small flow of Craig Creek, a James River tributary in southwestern Virginia; and the large flow of the James itself at Richmond.  All are aspects of the science and significance of measuring flowing water.  Past, present, and future volumes of water flowing in a given stream or river, and the height on the land surface that flowing water reaches, are valuable pieces of information for boaters, streamside property owners, water-supply systems, drought monitors, and many other individuals, groups, agencies, and businesses.   Scientists refer to the volume of flow over time in a stream or river as discharge, and the height of the water above a known reference level as stage.  Measurements of discharge are typically based on a given stream section’s current, or velocity, and the area of the channel at the location; or on a stream’s stage at a certain location and a known stage-discharge relationship at that location. The science of streamflow measurement, part of the broader science of hydrology, has a long history, dating back to early civilizations in Asia, the Middle East, Greece, and Rome.  Some key advances in that history include measurements of current evolving from using watches and floating objects to today’s sophisticated electronic flowmeters; continuous, remote-sensing of data with instant electronic transmission to users; and computer modeling of data to clarify relationships among streamflow, landscapes, and climate.  In the 21st Century United States, stage and discharge measurements are provided by network of over 7000 gaging stations maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey and state partners, such as Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality.  That network provides vital information for people who navigate streams and rivers, scientists who study water, and water-resources managers watching for signs of too much or too little flowing water. We close with a musical interpretation of streamflow and weather data, from Waterviz, a water-cycle vizualization project by the U.S. Forest Service’s Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. MUSIC - ~ 16 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 Thanks to Lindsey Rustad and Marty Quinn, at the U.S. Forest Service’s Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, for permission to use the Waterviz music heard in this episode.  Waterviz is a project of transforming hydrologic data, including streamflow data, through sonification—that is, using sound to represent the data, and by doing so, help people interpret or appreciate the data.  The excerpt used was from the sonification of four days of streamflow and weather data starting on February 23, 2016. More information on Waterviz is available online at http://waterviz.org/. The Waterviz proj

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:47) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 6-24-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 27, 2016. SOUND – ~ 6 sec The sound of a rattlesnake opens our introduction to a Virginia state natural resources agency that turned 100 in June 2016.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds to the following mystery sounds—all related to that agency’s missions—and see if you can guess the agency.  And here’s a hint: you’ll win this game by fishing for the answer. SOUNDS - ~31 sec If you guessed the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, you’re right!  Reptiles, frogs, boats, fishing, birds, elk, and much more fall within the scope of this department, tasked with managing wildlife, fish, and habitats across Virginia’s lands and inland waters.  The department began on June 17, 1916, with its first office in the Senate cloak room of Virginia’s Capitol building, and with its first priority to appoint game wardens who could reduce wildlife poaching. From that modest beginning, the department has grown into today’s central office in Richmond; regional and district offices in several locations; and nine fish hatcheries across the Commonwealth.  The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, made up of 11 citizen members appointed by the governor, oversees the work of the department.   According to the department’s mission statement, that work includes the following five major areas: managing populations of wildlife and inland fish; providing opportunities for citizens to enjoy wildlife, fishing, boating, and related outdoor recreation; protecting the rights of citizens to hunt, fish, and harvest game as provided for in the Virginia Constitution; promoting safety in boating, hunting, and fishing; and providing educational programs about Virginia’s fish and wildlife. From boats to game-check stations, catfish to frogs calls, fur-bearers to freshwater mussels to fishing-line recycling—the world of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries now occupies a very large "cloak room" indeed. 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 rattlesnake and elk sounds were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/. The rattlesnake sound was accessed at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/audio/id/61/rec/18; the elk sound was accessed at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/audio/id/22/rec/6. All other sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio. EXTRA FACTS NOT IN AUDIO The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) produces the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan, a 10-year strategic plan that identifies species and habitats needed particular conservation attention.  VDGIF information about the plan, which was most recently updated in 2015, is available online at http://bewildvirginia.org/wildlifeplan/.  Virginia Water Radio Episode154, 3/25/13, focuses on the Wildlife Action Plan and includes music recorded especially for the Plan in 2007 by Virginia musician Adrienne Young-Ramsey and her group Little Sadie.     IMAGES   A sampler of the many activities of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries: top – boater education (image accessed at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boa

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:21) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 6-17-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 20, 2016. MUSIC -- ~ 8 sec This week, we feature a Blacksburg- and Roanoke-based band with a song that doesn’t have a thing to do with water...or does it? Have a listen for about 40 seconds. MUSIC – ~ 39 sec You’ve been listening to part of “I’m a Hog for You Baby,” performed by No Strings Attached, on their 2003 CD, “Old Friend’s Waltz,” from Enessay Music. This song—written in the 1950s by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller—is about a two-legged, love-hungry “hog.” But the lyrics convey a fitting image of invasive species, the hogs of all kinds that affect waters and lands worldwide—from London to Hong Kong to right here in Virginia. Invasive species are non-native organisms whose introduction into an area eventually damages the environment, human health, or the economy—the latter on the order of about $120 billion nationwide each year. Many non-native organisms don’t cause such problems, but the invasive ones are able to reproduce so successfully that they outcompete native species for resources, excessively feed on native species, spread new diseases, or alter natural habitats. Some invasive species actually are hogs—wild, or feral, hogs are increasing in numbers and impacts in Virginia and other states. But other invaders are plants, insects, microbes, fish—you name it. For example, species mentioned in Virginia’s 2012 “Invasive Species Management Plan” include Phragmites, a wetland grass; Emerald Ash Borer, an insect; Zebra Mussel; Rusty Crayfish; Blue Catfish; and Nutria, a rodent. Citizens can help in several ways to reduce invasive species’ spread and impacts; among the most important ways are cleaning boats and other water gear; using only local firewood; avoiding invasive landscape plants; and not releasing fishing bait, aquarium fish, or aquatic plants to waterways. Thanks to guest host Kriddie Whitmore for lending her voice to this episode. And thanks to No Strings Attached for permission to use this week’s music. And we close with a few more seconds of “I’m a Hog for You Baby.” MUSIC - ~ 15 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 Thanks to Virginia Tech graduate student Kriddie Whitmore for being a guest host for this episode. “Old Friend’s Waltz,” containing “I’m a Hog for You Baby,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission. More information about No Strings Attached is available from their Web site, http://enessay.com/. “I’m a Hog for You Baby” was written by Jerry Leiber (1933-2011) and Mike Stoller (born 1933), and first released by The Coasters in 1959. More information about the renowned songwriters Leiber and Stoller is available from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Web site, “Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Biography,” online at https://rockhall.com/inductees/jerry-leiber-and-mike-stoller/bio/. A list of recording artists who have recorded “I’m a Hog for You Baby” and other Leiber and Stoller songs is available at Leiber and Stoller.com, “Discography,” online at http://www.leiberstoller.com/Discography.html. This episode is a revised version of Episode 218, 6-16-14, which has been archived. IMAGES Poster by the Virginia Invasive Species Council, acc

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:44) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 6-10-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 13, 2016. SOUNDS – ~ 5 sec Here’s a riddle: What’s 80 years old, has 38 parts, is public and very popular, and offers sounds like these along with countless other natural and historical sounds and sights? SOUNDS – ~4 sec The answer: the Virginia State Park system!  The sounds you heard, recorded in August 2013 along New River Trail State Park, are just a sample of what visitors can find in Virginia’s 38 state park units.  On June 15, 2016, Virginia’s state park system celebrates its 80th birthday.   In honor of that occasion, this week we feature excerpts from three musical selections by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, all part of his “Common Wealth” album, compiled in 2001 to honor Virginia state parks’ 65th birthday that year.  Have a listen for about 60 seconds. MUSIC – ~ 57 sec You heard parts of “James and York River Bluffs,” for York River State Park in James City County; “Big Meadows Twilight,” for Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County; and “Hiking in the Highland Firs,” for Grayson Highlands State Park in Grayson County.  As those examples show, Virginia’s state parks cover the Commonwealth’s geography, from Tidewater to the Blue Ridge to the far southwest.  Many parks are specifically tied to water, such as False Cape in Virginia Beach; Mason Neck in Fairfax County; and Staunton River in Halifax County.  This diverse system of resources, histories, and activities all began on June 15, 1936, when a ceremony at Hungry Mother State Park in Smyth County marked the opening of Virginia’s first six parks.  Administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the system as of June 2016 includes 37 units, ranging in size from one block at the Southwest Virginia Historical Museum in Wise County, to over 8100 acres in Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County.  Later this year, the Natural Bridge site in Rockbridge County is scheduled to become the 38th unit.  Almost 9 million people visited Virginia state parks in 2015, exploring and enjoying these treasures of our common wealth. Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Hiking in the Highland Firs.” MUSIC - ~ 9 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 audio incorrectly referred to “James and York Bluffs” and “James and York River Bluffs.” Virginia Water Radio regrets and apologizes for that error. “James and York Bluffs,” “Hiking in the Highland Firs,” and “Big Meadows Twilight,” all on the 2001 CD “Common Wealth,” are copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission. Mr. Seaman compiled music from five previous albums to produce “Common Wealth” in honor of Virginia’s State Parks on the park system’s 65th anniversary. Mr. Seaman’s Web site is http://www.timothyseaman.com/. “James and York Bluffs” was featured previously Virginia Water Radio Episode 173, 8-5-13 and Episode 220, 6-30-14. The sounds from New River Trail State Park were recorded by Virginia Water Radio on August 31, 2013. PHOTOS     Photos: Top—Claytor Lake State Park, Pulaski County, Va., September 23, 2012; middle—Sloan Creek as viewed from New River Trail State P

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:42) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 6-3-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 6, 2016. MUSIC – ~ 12 sec This week, that music of “Baldcypress Swamp,” by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, sets a forest wetland scene for an amphibious mystery sound, one that’s heard in late spring and summer in swamps, ponds, and other lowland habitats.   Have a listen for about 12 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these sounds.  And here’s a hint: you’ll be barking up the right tree if your answer rhymes with dog. SOUNDS - ~12 sec If you guessed the Barking Treefrog, you’re right!  This two-to-three-inch-long frog is one of 900 species worldwide in the family of treefrogs, and one of six species in Virginia in the scientific genus Hyla, meaning “belonging to the woods.”   In Virginia, the Barking Treefrog inhabits forested wetlands and pine woodlands, or savannas, in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth. From May to August, it breeds in pools and other shallow-water areas in forests dominated by cypress, gum, and willow trees.   Like other treefrogs, adults of this species spend much of their non-breeding time in trees, which they climb with sticky toe pads on relatively large feet, and where they find their main diet of tree-dwelling insects.  During hot, dry, or cold weather, though, the Barking Treefrog may burrow into the ground.  Known for its dog-like calls, the Barking Treefrog is also remarkable for its color-changing ability.  Unfortunately, this species is listed in Virginia as a state threatened species, due largely to habitat loss from various land uses. Efforts by Virginia citizens, businesses, and agencies to protect and restore forested wetlands and other important habitats have many objectives: one of ‘em is keeping the right trees and water for Barking Treefrogs. Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and thanks to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds. SOUNDS - ~ 4 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 Barking Treefrog sounds were from “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Lang Elliott/NatureSoundStudio, used with permission.   For more information, see https://www3.dgif.virginia.gov/estore/proddetail.asp?prod=VW252, 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/. “Baldcypress Swamp” is from the CD “Virginia Wildlife,” copyright 2004 by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  Mr. Seaman’s Web site is http://www.timothyseaman.com/.  The “Virginia Wildlife” CD was a collaboration between Mr. Seaman and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.   “Baldcypress Swamp” was featured in Virginia Water Radio episodes 151 (3-4-13) and 269 (6-8-15). PHOTOS   Two photographs of a Barking Treefrog (Hyla gratiosa) in Virginia Beach, Va., 2006. Photos by J.D. Kleopfer, used with permission. EXTRA FACTS ABOUT VIRGINIA TREEFROGS Listed below are the

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:19) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-27-16.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 30, 2016. MUSIC – ~ 9 sec This week, that quiet music opens a repeat of our Memorial Day episode from 2015, featuring a water-related exploration of the holiday’s Civil War origin. Have a listen for about 35 more seconds of the music, to set the stage. MUSIC – ~ 35 sec You’ve been listening to part of “All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight,” played by Chloe Benner and Stewart Scales.  The title, and the lyrics associated with the tune, are from “The Picket Guard,” a poem by Ethel Lynn Beers, published in November 1861.  The poem relates the loneliness, homesickness, and then sudden death of a rank-and-file soldier patrolling the dark, wooded, and deceptively quiet Potomac riverbank.  As a similar tragic fate befell tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers along rivers, ridges, and battle lines in Virginia and elsewhere, surviving family and friends began honoring fallen soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers, especially during spring. The practice grew across both North and South, eventually becoming a spring tradition known as “Decoration Day.”  On May 5, 1868, Gen. John Logan called for Decoration Day to be an annual, national holiday on May 30, and the first large, public ceremony was held that year in Arlington National Cemetery, near the banks of the Potomac.  After World War I, the annual observance began to include honoring those who had died in all U.S. military conflicts.   In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day an official national holiday, to occur on the last Monday of May. Sometimes criticized as being over-commercialized, Memorial Day still invokes very personal and local expressions of honor and remembrance, true to the holiday’s origin with individuals decorating Civil War graves with flowers.  In that spirit, we close with about 20 seconds of “Flowers of the Forest,” by No Strings Attached, from the 2003 CD, “Old Friend’s Waltz.” MUSIC – ~ 23 sec BELL SOUND For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information on this episode, 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 episode repeats and replaces the 2015 Memorial Day episode, Episode 267 (5-25-15). The tune of “All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight” was performed by Chloe Benner and Stewart Scales, used with permission.   More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.  Another version of “All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight,” by Bobby Horton, was featured in Virginia Water Radio Episode 101 (3-5-12). More information about the origin of the song’s lyrics and title, from an 1861 poem called “The Picket Guard,” by Ethel Lynn Beers, is available from Britannica Encyclopedia Online at www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/58438/Ethel-Lynn-Beers; and from Bartleby.com, online at http://www.bartleby.com/270/13/474.html. “Flowers of the Forest,” from the 2003 CD “Old Friend’s Waltz,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.   More information about No Strings Attached is available from their Web site, http://enessay.com/.  This music was featured previously in Virginia Water Radio Episode 212 (5-5-14). PHOTOS Looking towards the confluence of the Shenandoah River

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:44) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-20-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 23, 2016. SOUND - ~ 3 sec This week, we drop in on a crowd gathered for a yearly call-out of mysterious names—names that, we all hope, will NOT become infamously well-known during the summer and fall of 2016.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds, and see if you can guess who—or rather, what—is being named. VOICES - ~25 seconds If you guessed tropical storms or hurricanes, you’re right!  Those are the names planned for the 2016 Atlantic tropical storm season, covering the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.  The season runs officially from June 1 through November 30, and National Hurricane Preparedness week ran from May 15-21, 2016.  But tropical storms don’t always follow the official calendar; this year, for example, the Atlantic’s first named storm—Hurricane Alex—formed in mid-January, the earliest for an Atlantic hurricane to form since 1938. Tropical storms and hurricanes are two categories of tropical cyclones—counter-clockwise-rotating storm systems that start in tropical or sub-tropical latitudes.  A tropical cyclone is called a tropical storm—and gets a name—when sustained wind speeds reach 39 miles per hour [SOUND – 2 sec - wind]; at 74 miles per hour, a tropical cyclone is considered a hurricane [SOUND – 3 sec- louder wind].  Tropical depressions—with wind speeds below 39 miles per hour—don’t get names, but they can still bring heavy rainfall and flooding. Before a tropical system of any speed or name barges into the Old Dominion [SOUND – 3 sec – wind, rain, thunder], you can get ready by making an evacuation plan; assembling an emergency kit of food, water, and supplies; and establishing ways to stay informed, especially if the power goes out. Detailed instructions are available from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, online at readyvirginia.gov. Thanks to 20 Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students for lending their voices to this episode. 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 Thanks to several faculty, staff, and students in the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment who recorded tropical storm names for this episode on May 17, 2016. Following are the planned names for storms in the 2016 Atlantic tropical storm season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) “Tropical Cyclone Names” Web page, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml: Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gaston, Hermine, Ian, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula, Richard, Shary, Tobias, Virginie, and Walter. IMAGES Names and tracks of Atlantic tropical storms in 2015, according to the National Hurricane Center, online at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/index.php?season=2015&basin=atl.   Hurricane Alex over the Azore Islands (in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Portugal) at 9:20 a.m. EST on January 15, 2016. Photo taken from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Web site, http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/alex-atlantic-ocean, 5/20/16. Photo credits: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). SOURCES Used in Audio National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), “NASA

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:52) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-12-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 16, 2016. SOUND – ~4 sec That’s the sound of water flowing over the Claytor Lake hydroelectric dam in Pulaski County, Va. What, do you imagine, might a musical interpretation of hydroelectric power sound like? Have a listen for about 35 seconds to how one composer has imagined that, performed here by a Virginia high school senior. MUSIC - ~ 34 sec You’ve been listening to part of Movement II of Erik Friedlander’s American Power suite for solo cello, performed by Henry Skutt of Blacksburg on May 1, 2016. Mr. Friedlander’s composition, written and first performed in 2011, includes six movements about different aspects of power and energy sources in the United States. Movement II was inspired by water power, while the other movements relate to electricity, solar power, oil, nuclear power, and the decisions people make in light of the benefits and costs of power sources. Mr. Friedlander composed American Power in response to a photography collection of the same name, published in 2009 by Mitch Epstein, who aimed to examine visually how energy in the United States is produced, is used, and influences people’s lives. In his musical response to those photographs, Mr. Friedlander has said he was “led to the source—the power itself: electrical power, hydraulic, solar, and nuclear power—the pace, the heat, [and] the flow,” as he imagined it. The result, he said, was “technically challenging music, [with] fast [timing] and tricky hand positions.” Challenging, fast-moving, tricky – those words describe not only the music of the American Power suite, but equally the complicated connections among power, people, and the planet. Thanks to Henry Skutt for providing this week’s music, and we close with another short excerpt of the water movement from Erik Friedlander’s American Power. MUSIC - ~ 15 sec 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 excerpt of Erik Friedlander’s American Power/Movement II heard in this episode was performed by Henry Skutt on May 1, 2016, in Blacksburg, Va. Thanks to Henry Skutt and Glenn Skutt for making the audio of that performance available for use in this episode. A performance by Erik Friedlander of American Power/Movement II is available online at his Web site, at http://music.erikfriedlander.com/track/ii-flowing-grand-water (4 min./00 sec.). More information about Mr. Friedlander is available online http://music.erikfriedlander.com/. PHOTOS  Side view of the Claytor Lake hydroelectric dam, Pulaski County, Virginia, July 13, 2013. Turbine at Smith Mountain Lake Hydroelectric Facility, Pittsylvania/Bedford County border, Virginia. Photo courtesy of Appalachian Power Company, provided July 26, 2013. Some of the images in Mitch Epstein’s American Power photo collection can be viewed online at http://mitchepstein.net/american-power-intro. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT IN AUDIO The “American Power” album was released January 23, 2012, Produced by Mitch Epstein & Erik Friedlander. The movement titles, according to Friedlander on this site, are as follows: I. With speed [electricity]; II. Flowing, grand [water]; III. Freely, with forward motion [solar]; IV. Steady, solemn [crude]; V. Lurching, unstable [fission]; VI. elegy [decision]. Source:

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:12) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-6-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 9, 2016. Sound – ~ 6 sec That’s a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recording of shorebirds.  The broad term “shorebirds” refers to a large, diverse group of wading and swimming birds, including seven different bird families in North America.  One of those is the family of sandpipers, with about 50 species observed within North America and about 30 species observed within Virginia.  Sandpipers breed typically in areas north of Virginia, but many species are winter residents along Virginia’s coastlines or can be seen migrating through parts of the Commonwealth.  Besides many species actually called sandpipers, the family includes groups with a variety of other common names, including curlews, godwits, phalaropes, and turnstones.  Although many sandpipers are coastal shorebirds, some in the family spend time around inland waters. Small sandpipers are often called “peeps,” and both that name and the “piper” name fit the kinds of sounds many sandpipers make.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds to a sample; you’ll hear a Sanderling, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, and Short-billed Dowitcher, courtesy of Lang Elliott and the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. SOUNDS - ~25 sec Another characteristic of various shoreline sandpipers is the habit of flying in large, coordinated flocks, referred to sometimes as a flying cloud.   For example, an October 2014 article by the Audubon Society and BirdNote® asked, “What is that cloud low in the autumn sky, shape-shifting as you watch from a beach or mudflat...? It's a cloud of small sandpipers called Dunlins.” Finally, a notable visual feature of various sandpiper species is breeding feathers colored with some combination of red and brown—one might say “rusty”—such as in the Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, and Red Phalarope. Flying clouds, rusty colors, and piping – by a strange coincidence, these three sandpiper features just happen to be captured in the title of a medley by the Blacksburg and Roanoke-based band No Strings Attached! S o with thanks to Lang Elliott for the sandpiper sounds, and to No Strings Attached, we close with part of “Flying Cloud Reel” and “Rusty Piper.” MUSIC – ~ 15 sec 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 sounds of shorebirds were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Digital Library, online http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/ (“Shorebirds Close” audio clip, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/audio/id/66/rec/68). The sounds of Sanderling, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Short-billed Dowitcher 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/. “Flying Cloud Reel/Rusty Piper,” by No Strings Attached, is from the 1999 album “In the Vinyl Tradition—Volume I,” from Enessay Music, used with permission. More information about No Strings Attached is available online at http://www.enessay.com/. Thanks to Shannon Ritter of the Virginia Tech Department

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:58) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-29-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 2, 2016. This week, we start with several ordinary Virginia sounds that are so extraordinarily important they’re getting their own special week from May 1 to May 7. Have a listen for about 20 seconds. SOUNDS – ~ 22 sec Every day, Virginians and people throughout the United States depend on sounds like the ones you just heard—a faucet, a shower, filling a water bottle at a fountain, and water poured into a drinking glass.  As the recent drinking-water lead-contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, has tragically underlined, having a safe and reliable product in our water pipes and faucets is vital for families, public health, and community well-being.  To increase awareness of the role of public water supplies, Drinking Water Week is held every year during the first week of May.  The initiative is organized by the American Water Works Association in cooperation with government agencies and local water suppliers.  Virginia participants in 2016 include the City of Charlottesville, Fairfax Water, and several others.  The theme for 2016 is “Your Water: To Know It is to Love It.” And there’s a lot you might want to know about your water!  Here are a few things to consider: Is the source groundwater or surface water? Who’s the water supplier? How does the supplier treat the water, measure its quality, and report the results?  And what laws and agencies regulate drinking water and its sources?  With all those aspects of drinking water and water supplies, every week could stand to have some drinking water awareness! We close with part of “Second of May,” by The Steel Wheels of Harrisonburg, from the October 2014 “Live at Goose Creek” concert in Loudoun County.   Fitting for the date of this episode, and recorded in a concert honoring a Virginia stream and water source, the recording even includes the faint sounds of a thunderstorm—perhaps, someone’s future drinking water.  Thanks to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this music, and here’s to an informative Drinking Water Week. MUSIC - ~ 23 sec 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 “Second of May” by The Steel Wheels is from the album “Live at Goose Creek,” recorded October 10, 2014, at Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, Purcellville, Va., and produced by Goose Creek Productions; used with permission of The Steel Wheels.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.  “Riverside,” another selection from that Steel Wheels concert, was featured in Episode 286 (10-19-15), on Loudoun County’s Goose Creek. Thanks to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center’s Spring 2016 intern, Taylor Richmond, for her help with this episode. IMAGES  American Water Works Association’s Drinking Water Week logo for 2016. Accessed online at http://www.awwa.org/resources-tools/public-affairs/public-affairs-events.aspx, 4/29/16. Some historical perspective on drinking water and water supplies. Upper photo: historic reservoir structure in Newbern (Pulaski County), June 22, 2013.Lower photo: Historic spring house in Winchester, Va., March 24, 2008. EXTRA FACTS NOT IN AUDIO Drinking water is regulated under t