Spirit of Moonpie and I spent the 24^th through the 26^th on the Blackwater below the Steel Bridge.  The water was 40 degrees and 6.70 on the USGS gauge in Burdette.  Air temps ranged from 31 to 65 degrees.  At first I did not think I was going to find much trash, everything looked remarkably good above the pump station.  However while fishing with my dad who was visiting the first day, I witnessed a plastic bottle tossed in the river at the pump station where work is being done to secure the shoreline.  Continue Reading »

Spirit of Moonpie and I spent the 18th through the 20th on the Blackwater above Joyner’s Bridge. The water was tinted, 40 degrees and 6.7 on the USGS gauge at Burdette. Air temps ranged from a cold 27 degrees the first night to 50 and the wind seemed to never go away. It was a cold patrol. Continue Reading »

Recorded by Felice Hancock, Secretary

The meeting had 8 members present, with Board of Directors attending as follows: Jeff Turner, Nancy Turner, and Anne Parker.  Guests attending included Byron Carmean of Suffolk (whose interests include river recreation and native plants) and the Southampton Assistant Administrator, Jon Mendenhall. Continue Reading »

Spirit of Moonpie, Freezing Deer and I spent the 30th through the 1st on the Blackwater below the Steel Bridge. The water was 7 ft on the USGS gauge, a little cloudy and 44 degrees. Air temps ranged from 30 to 60 degrees. We picked up one bag of trash and I saw no water quality issues. However we did smell what we thought was sewage several times. Continue Reading »

December 14 2011                                                                                                                                       as recorded by Felice Hancock, Secretary

The meeting had 8 members present, with Board of Directors attending as follows:  Curtis Newsome, Anne Parker, Nancy Turner, and Sherri Woodard.  David Bearinger, Program and Grant Director for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities attended as a guest. Continue Reading »

Spirit of Moonpie and I spent the 8^th through the 10^th on the Nottoway below Courtland.  The river was fast, clear, 50 degrees and 7.7 on the USGS gauge in Sebrell.  Air temps ranged from 32 to 58 degrees.  Trash on this trip was bad.  I picked up a bag and a half easily.  Odd thing is there was just about as much above Courtland as there was downriver.  Usually the most trash is below a town on the river.  Continue Reading »

Clean Rivers Day 2012 on April 28^th (Saturday) is a community effort to clean up around the Blackwater & Nottoway Rivers. This 11^th annual clean up is accomplished by teams and individuals going out on our rivers, streams and ditches, parking lots, even your yard or wherever, and picking up litter, trash and other junk.  It is a great opportunity for folks to contribute to the health of the community we live in.  As always I will have litter getters and bags for those who need them.  Teams or individuals can pick their own locations or I can find you one.  My advice is to go ahead and start looking around at river and swamp bridge crossings or ditches etc. in your area as a place for you or your team to clean up.  Teams can pick what time of day they want to work and how long. Teams need to keep count of bag and participant totals, and totals of tires etc.  Make note of your “most unusual item found” and be sure to take pictures to send to me.  More details will follow when you sign up. Email me at blknotkpr@earthlink.net or call me at 562-5173 to get signed up.  This is a great community event to get involved in.  Please put this date on your organizations Calendar now.

Jeff Turner

Blackwater Nottoway Riverkeeper

of Moonpie and I spent the 30th through the 2nd on the Blackwater below Franklin. The water was clear, 50 degrees and fast. Air temps ranged from 32 to 60 degrees. Trash was not too bad. I had expected a lot to be in the river from the rain washing out the Franklin stormwater ditches, but the city must be doing a pretty good job keeping them clean. Continue Reading »

FRANKLIN –Written by Rex Springston Richmond times Dispatch. 2nd article written by Dale Liesch of the Tidewater News
This is the mussel mission I participated with on the Nottoway. We used the Blackwater Nottoway Riverkeeper pontoon boat as a diving platform and media center.

Link To Video

Continue Reading »

Freezing Deer, Spirit of Moonpie & I spent the 12th through the 14th on the Nottoway below the Bronco Club. The water was clear, fast 50 degrees and 7.29 on the USGS gauge at Sebrell. Air temps ranged from 41 to 70 degrees. Continue Reading »