SAVE OUR STREAMS 2025 EFFORT COMPLETE

SMLA volunteers have completed stream monitoring for 2025. Our streams appear to be impacted by the drought conditions that began in midsummer and are still continuing.

This year, volunteers tested 20 streams. The number of streams rated as satisfactory dropped from 13 of 20 (65%) in 2024 to 10 of 20 (50%) in 2025. While the scores from this spring were excellent, with 16 of 20 streams rating as satisfactory, that total dipped to 9 of 20 in the fall.

With a biological testing method, the macroinvertebrate count on which the score is based falls considerably in drought conditions, resulting in lower scores. Thus, the drop-off in scores is due more to a low level of water than to a lower level in water quality.

There is no evidence of pollution having been a significant factor in this year’s scoring. While Virginia stream averages are still being calculated, we expect our scores to be near the statewide mean.

There is good reason to believe that the scores for 2026 will return to a more favorable range if we see an expected return to a more normal rainfall cycle.