Mark\u00a0your calendars – October 20th, 7:00 pm is\u00a0the NRPA River Talk Program at the CE&H Ruritan Community Hall.<\/p>\n
NRPA (Nansemond River preservation Alliance) was launched in 2010 with the mission to restore and protect Suffolk’s waterways for current and future generations. Below is an editorial that was published recently in\u00a0the Suffolk News Herald about the progress that is being made by NRPA.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Suffolk\u2019s waterways are facing serious pollution problems. Fortunately there are folks who are taking an
\nactive role in getting them clean. The Nansemond River Preservation Alliance has been working to raise awareness of the problem of Suffolk\u2019s polluted waterways for several years.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, members of the organization heard some good news from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The good news may not be the news most folks would like to hear \u2014 that Suffolk\u2019s waterways have been restored to good health \u2014 but it should nonetheless give NRPA volunteers and others who love Suffolk\u2019s waterways reason for optimism.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the good news: Even though Chuckatuck Creek, Bennett\u2019s Creek and the Nansemond River are facing serious pollution problems that cannot be ignored, there is reason to believe the damage is\u00a0reversible. In time, and with some hard work, level of pollutants in the creeks could significantly improve. For example, 46 percent of Virginia Beach\u2019s Lynnhaven River was reopened for public access after about five years of implementing environmentally sound practices, alliance member and master gardener Jim Winters noted during the meeting with VDEQ. It was an improvement from zero public access on that river when the program began.\u00a0Such success did not come easily, however. Teamwork, educational outreach and a concerted effort to get help from everyone \u2014 from pet owners to landowners to local government agencies \u2014 were necessary to the success story of the Lynnhaven River. Success in Suffolk will require similar efforts.<\/p>\n
Fortunately the group of mostly volunteers who comprise the NRPA is an energetic bunch with a zeal for the work of cleaning up these natural resources in Suffolk. Members spend many hours educating the city\u2019s students about pollution, planting marsh grasses, restoring oyster habitats, monitoring waterways,\u00a0collecting and compiling information and tracking the health of Suffolk\u2019s river and streams. The city is blessed to have a group so devoted to the cause of cleaning up its waterways. NRPA would be similarly blessed if the residents of Suffolk took the cause half as seriously. It\u2019s surprisingly easy for the average person to make a difference in this matter.<\/p>\n
Here are a few suggestions:<\/p>\n
We may never again be able to see the Nansemond River as clean as it was when the Native American\u00a0people, according to legends, were harvesting oysters the size of dinner plates from the waters of\u00a0Hampton Roads. But there\u2019s every reason to believe that a concerted effort can turn things around for\u00a0Suffolk\u2019s waterways. It\u2019s good to have folks like the people at NRPA on the task.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mark\u00a0your calendars – October 20th, 7:00 pm is\u00a0the NRPA River Talk Program at the CE&H Ruritan Community Hall.<\/p>\n
NRPA (Nansemond River preservation Alliance) was launched in 2010 with the mission to restore and protect Suffolk’s waterways for current and future generations. Below is an editorial that was published recently in\u00a0the \u2026 Read more