12th James River Watch season returns as weather warms

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The James River Watch season has returned for its 12th season, keeping river users aware of river conditions as the weather warms across the City of Richmond.

The map has been updated to the ArcGIS platform. Users can find river conditions throughout the watershed, while bacteria data is posted to the map each Friday evening on the James River website.

Nearly 100 volunteers help the association by taking water quality samples at 38 monitoring stations across the watershed throughout the summer season. These will be used to "populate the map with key data points such as bacteria levels, turbidity, water and air temperature, and conductivity," according to a release from the James River Association.

“We are thrilled to kick off our twelfth season of James River Watch on a new and improved platform,” said Bill Street, CEO of JRA. “Last year, our data showed that across the watershed, the James was safe for recreating 85% of the time. This was an improvement from the previous two years and reiterates that the James is a wonderful resource for watershed communities to enjoy, but River users need to Know Before You Go.”

Following intense rainfall or Combined Sewer Overflow events, notable river conditions can quickly change, according to the association.

Aside from volunteering to collect water quality samples at more than 35 monitoring stations across the watershed throughout the season, the James River Association also emphasized that community members can help reduce pollution in the river by becoming a River Hero Home. They reportedly pledge to adopt easy, river-friendly behaviors at home.

The James River Watch program is partially funded by the Department of Environmental Quality's Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Grant Program and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.

This comes after multiple flash flood warnings were issued by the National Weather Service (NWS), and a 12-year-old boy was swept away in floodwaters that overtook an Albemarle County roadway on May 13. More than a week after that incident, the James River surpassed the flood stage.

People can explore the results of the 2024 James River Watch season by clicking here.

To learn more about James River Watch, click here.