ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
After a rough winter and construction work, the health of Connellys Run may be suffering a bit.
"Recently," explained Jeff Pugh, "there has been a drastic change in the amount of algae in the stream."
That's probably not shocking to the layperson's eye, but to the group of juniors and seniors who've been studying the waterway for the past eight months, high amounts of algae flash like warning lights for a stream.
Connellys Run flows through the center of Radford, just past Radford High School and on to the New River.
As part of a $5,000 grant from a state environmental endowment, students in Frank Taylor's applied chemistry class are slowly completing a yearlong study to examine what exactly makes a healthy stream and how that can affect their community.
The class promised to keep The Roanoke Times updated on their discoveries.
Last fall, after identifying the organisms that live in the stream and testing the chemical makeup of the water, the class found the stream to be extremely healthy. Recently, the biological water quality index - which examines the number of insects that live in the water - dropped in half.
"The rocks are really covered with bright green slimy algae," Dawn Hale wrote. "Now, a few insects are on the rocks. Last fall, we could pick up any rock and find a lot of" insects.
The drop "could mean that due to all of the snowfall we have had, [it] melted and carried the animal wastes and fertilizers off of farm fields into the watershed," hypothesized Bucky O'Neal.
To alleviate flooding from a clogged section of the stream, the city recently dug a drainage clearing upstream. That added to an already increased amount of sediment flowing through the stream.
"This has the potential to affect the stream," wrote Denny Windle, "by possibly clogging fish gills, destroying habitats and cutting down on photosynthesis" - the conversion of sunlight into food.
Because this is the first year of intense study, the class has no way to tell whether this is a seasonal change or a sign of problems.
But it's worthwhile information, according to Larry Amy, an operations manager for Radford. Amy has been following the class' progression and said the stream has never been under such scrutiny.
"They certainly are watchdogs for us and the city welcomed the project," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB