Southern WV Water

The Biden Administration is providing technical assistance to two West Virginia counties lacking basic water services.

For decades, waterways in West Virginia have been used for dumping everything from coal waste to car tires. Restoring them will take years of work. Part of that work involves restructuring streams so that they support fish habitat.

After years of neglect, a river access point called Gilbert Beach at Veterans Park is getting new life. The motivation to restore Gilbert Beach is about one part nostalgia, one part tourist attraction and two parts community service.

Michelle Martin is leading a charge to clean up the Little Coal River and turning the trash into treasures.

In Lincoln County, creating and cleaning up the access points along the Guyandotte River turned out to be more than a way to get on the river, it was also a way to unite the community.

The Tug Fork River recently earned the designation of a West Virginia Water Trail by the Recreation Trail Advisory Committee within the West Virginia Department of Transportation. It’s called the Bloody Mingo Tug Fork Water Trail and visitors are invited to kayak, float or even fish.

Many of West Virginia’s water and wastewater operators are expected to retire in the next few years, according to the Brookings Institute and a report from the Water Research Foundation called the Water Sector Workforce Sustainability Initiative.

The U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency is offering up to $1 million in grants that support career opportunities for the drinking water and wastewater industries. Funds will also go towards campaigns that connect locals to these careers.

It’s been happening for years - water systems are slowly coming to a breaking point. The next episode of Inside Appalachia explores one legacy of the coal…

For all of the concerns about water compromised by natural and industrial sources (and the cancer, decay, infection, and disease that can come with that…