August 15, 2023
New River Conservancy (NRC), a three state non-profit organization whose mission it is to “protect the waters, woodlands and wildlife of the New River Watershed,” has accepted a donation from Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global specialty materials and chemical company, to sponsor a designated New River Water Watcher in the Giles County, Virginia area, and also further the mission of NRC.
Water Watchers monitor their assigned creeks and streams in North Carolina and Virginia once a month throughout the year. Volunteers collect data 1 time per month on air and water temperature, weather conditions, turbidity (a measure of sediment in the water column), dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and E. coli (requires culturing a sample for 24 – 48 hours).
A 6-hour training workshop hosted by John Copeland, Land and Water Quality Manager for NRC, was recently held in Fries, Virginia where new volunteers were trained in the methods used to monitor water quality in streams and tributaries of the New River. In 2022 NRC Water Watchers spent 178 hours collecting samples, analyzing data and sharing results. Due to generous donations, interest and the passion of NRC’s Land and Water Quality Manager, John Copeland, the Water Watchers program has quadrupled in the past year. The New River Water Watchers Program started in 2008. Since that year, 101 volunteers have been trained, and over 50 streams in the watershed have been monitored, providing data from over 1,200 monitoring events.
Celanese has been a partner with NRC for many years. Regina Blankenship, Celanese Corporation in Narrows, Virginia, says “We are honored to help out organizations like yours in our community.” With this donation, Celanese continues its mission to invest in “our people and communities, helping to preserve the environment, or operating with integrity.”
Lisa Stansell-Galitz, Communications and Marketing Director for NRC, and resident of Pearisburg, Virginia, says “This is a great example of corporate and non-profit groups working together to build a safer, cleaner New River. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Celanese and hope to build more relationships within the New River watershed.”
If you are interested in becoming a Water Watcher or sponsoring one in the area, please contact John Copeland at john@newriverconservancy.org. You may also call Lisa Stansell-Galitz at 304-661-0947. New River Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations to this organization are tax deductible.
The Celanese team for ReNew the New River Cleanup on August 26, 2023 helped bring in tons of trash from the New River.