Our bodies average about 60% water. The exact amount varies with age, gender, and fat content, but that’s the average: 40% other stuff and 60% water. So, what we do to our water, we do to ourselves, and to our children and grandchildren. So, yes, water matters a great deal.

Please join us for this year’s Fall Review, where we will look at today’s water issues, Friday, October 13th through Sunday, October 15th at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. Topics covered will include sedimentation, the threatened candy darter, acid mine drainage, sewage treatment, small-town water issues, PFAS, water laws and water justice. We’ll also enjoy a bird walk, a square dance, a mindfulness walk, and networking with friends, including those we haven’t yet met. Registration is open now, and a block of rooms at the park lodge will give you a room discount until September 13th. Want to learn more about our water and be more involved? Join us. 

Here is the draft schedule:  

Friday

6-9 p.m. Networking and hors d’oeuvres. The adjacent bar will also be available. Come meet friends, new and old.   

Saturday

7:15 a.m. Bird Walk – carpool meets at main lodge entrance and leaves promptly. Led by Laura Ceperley, Volunteer

8:20 – 9:20 a.m. Breakfast

9:20 a.m. Welcome – President Marilyn Shoenfeld, WVHC

9:30 a.m. Panel – Sedimentation and the Candy Darter led by Pam Edwards, Big Hat Spider Hoe; Rick Webb, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance; and Professor Amy Welsh Ph.D., WVU.

11 a.m. – Break

11:15 a.m. – Acid Mine Drainage speaker – Madison (Maddy) Ball, Friends of Cheat

Noon – Lunch Buffet

1 p.m. – Outing: CVSP Water Treatment Plant – Don McFarlan, Canaan Valley Resort SP; and Mike Hawranick, WV DHHR – walk or carpool from main lodge entrance.

2 p.m. – Panel: Small Town Water/PFAS – led by Mike Hawranick; Jay Kennard, Davis Water Operator; and Cory Weese, WV Rural Water Association.

3:30 p.m. – Water Warrior Award and networking break 

4 p.m. – Water Legislation Updates – speaker – Angie Rosser, WV Rivers

5 p.m. – Dinner

6 p.m. – Keynote Address – Professor Nicholas Zegre Ph.D., WVU – Water Justice

7:15 p.m. – Square Dance and Live Music

Sunday

8:30 a.m. – Mindfulness Walk: carpool meets at the main lodge entrance and leaves promptly.

10 a.m. – Annual Membership Meeting, Annual Committee Reports and Election of Officers. Followed by Quarterly Board Meeting.

The earth has a limited supply of clean, fresh water. 97% of the earth’s water is salty, and most of our water systems don’t remove salt, so we vie for 3% of the earth’s water with every other living thing on this planet. So, yes, water matters a great deal. Come learn how we care for it, and what we can do better.