Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2020WV281B

Piney Creek Watershed Water Monitoring and Management Project

Institute: West Virginia
Year Established: 2020 Start Date: 2020-03-01 End Date: 2021-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $19,992 Total Non-Federal Funds: $65,440

Principal Investigators: Matthew Williams

Project Summary: This proposal requests funds necessary to purchase the supplies needed to incorporate four Remote Water Monitoring Stations into ongoing undergraduate education and student driven research within the larger Piney Creek Watershed Water Monitoring Program (Water Monitoring Program) The Water Monitoring Program is a collaborative effort between the Biology Department at West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech), the volunteer 501c(3) non-profit Piney Creek Watershed Association (PCWA), Beckley Sanitary Board (BSB), and the New River Conservancy (NRC). This proposal requests the supplies for a total of four of eleven Remote Water Monitoring Stations planned for the Piney Creek Watershed, an approximately 136 square mile watershed consisting of Piney Creek and its major tributaries that ultimately flow into the New River in southern West Virginia. Additionally, this proposal requests funds to help provide summer research funding to support two entry level junior faculty in the management of this project and their guidance of undergraduate student volunteers and community members who drive the Water Monitoring Program. Results generated by this proposal from data gathered by the Remote Water Monitoring Stations will be incorporated with existing data that is currently being developed into at least two manuscripts that are products of the ongoing Water Monitoring Program. This proposal can realistically assist in the training of up to 40 undergraduate students in the requested funding period and up to 200 in the five-year life expectancy of the requested Remote Water Monitoring Stations.