Category: riverine

green and gray infrastructure

existing wetland
Pictured above, existing wetlands on the north bank of Moore’s Creek upstream from its intersection with the Rivanna

stormwater pipe
Pipe which will convey stormwater to the wetlands.

wetland under construction
Five acres of wetland under construction.

watershed

CHO and AlbCo Planning Commissions
January 15, Room 241, Albemarle County Office Building. Members of the Charlottesville and the Albemarle County Planning Commissions raise their hands in near unanimous support for the joint implementation item:

“Create a plan that incorporates a unified vision for land uses adjacent to the Rivanna River that support the river corridor as a desitination; and develops a shared vision for parks, trails and recreational opportunities associated with the river.”


Across town, January 14, UVA Architecture kicked of its all school workshop “The Rivanna River Woolen Mills & Pantops”. Here Dan Bluestone addresses several hundred students and faculty who will be involved in the project. Charlottesville Tomorrow has the story and audio.

chesapeake street
UVA Department of Urban and Environmental Planning/City Councilor Kathy Galvin walks and talks a group of students through the Woolen Mills during a site visit January 15.

Landon White Trigg


Scanned a negative this morning. Didn’t have to spend any time removing color, adjusting contrast. The year, 1978…

Photographic film is a sheet of plastic (polyester, PET, nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate) coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin) with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. When the emulsion is sufficiently exposed to light (or other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays), it forms a latent (invisible) image. Chemical processes can then be applied to the film to create a visible image, in a process called film developing.–Wikipedia

Rivanna River


The Chesapeake Bay Foundation arranged a river trip for local political leaders on the Rivanna last Saturday. The Rivanna and the Chesapeake Bay, they are the same water. The EPA’s attempt to improve the health of the Bay is looked upon by many upstream as an unfunded mandate. It is a gift of awareness. We are critters, we live in an ecosystem. Clean air and water matter. Dirty water kills critters.

People who love nature and want to preserve access to public land understand they are dealing with a tricky balance, but they generally believe that in order for something to be protected, it must first be loved. A wealthy landowner will put 300 acres in trust for that love (and for a tax break), but the public will rally to preserve 10,000 acres of forest land only if they use it and know it.
The Rivanna River was our first highway. It is also beautiful and can only become more so if we turn our faces to it, as a community, instead of showing it our backs. Those of us who prefer secret, wild places also delight in the hunt for new ones.—Giles Morris, editor C-Ville

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

bald eagle exeunt
Walking Sophia in misty Slabtown predawn, saw two bald eagles sitting in a tree. When I fetched my camera they split. Edmond was wondering whether I was seeing turkey vultures but I’ve never seen one of those with white tail feathers.

nautical twilight

Monticello, Monalto, Rivanna
Walking southwest on the Rivanna right bank trail toward Monticello {left} and the Woolen Mills Village National Historic District.
In eight days the regional water and sewer authority board (RWSA) will vote on whether to locate a 53 million gallon per-day sewage pumping station in this park.

The following information is provided for Charlottesville, Virginia (longitude W78.5, latitude N38.0):
Tuesday
20 December 2011 Eastern Standard Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 6:56 a.m.
Sunrise 7:26 a.m.
Sun transit 12:11 p.m.
Sunset 4:57 p.m.
End civil twilight 5:27 p.m.