Updates from WV Rivers Coalition
April 2026
Good News: Brook Trout in More Headwaters
One of Than Hitt’s favorite trout photos, captured by Ryan Hagerty with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Look close and you’ll see brook trout of different sizes indicating local reproduction and a wild population for conservation.
More than 170 miles of streams have been newly designated as “trout waters,” documenting their ability to support brook trout — the state’s only native trout species. Because brook trout need cold, clean water to survive, their presence is a strong indicator of healthy streams.
These new designations help strengthen water quality protections for our headwaters. That means better safeguards for drinking water, healthier ecosystems, and stronger support for recreation and local economies.
These surveys were informed by years of field work and collaboration with West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection and Division of Natural Resources, conservation partners at Trout Unlimited, and WV Rivers staff and volunteers.
Want to see the newly protected streams? You can explore them on the WVDEP’s mapping tool:
- Head to the WVDEP TAGIS viewer
- Open the “Watershed Assessment” section
- Turn on the layer for trout streams
On the map, the newly added waters are labeled as “undocumented trout streams.” These are the streams recently recognized for supporting native brook trout.
Have fun zooming in on your area and seeing where these important headwater protections are happening!
Action Alert: Don’t Delay Reporting of Toxic Chemicals!
Toxic chemicals impact the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the land we live on. Speak up with WV Rivers today.
Right now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to push back a critical reporting deadline by an entire year for health and safety data on 16 hazardous chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
That means less transparency and slower action on chemicals like benzene, vinyl chloride, and PFAS-linked compounds.
Clean water starts with good data. When reporting is delayed, communities don’t know what they’re exposed to, scientists and regulators can’t act quickly, and public health protections are slowed.
Take action now and tell EPA: Don’t delay chemical reporting!
Please note an additional step required to complete this action: A recent federal change has made it harder for communities to participate in public comment periods by removing the ability for organizations like WV Rivers to submit comments on your behalf. Instead, after you fill out our action form, you’ll need to take one extra step: copy your comment, follow the link to Regulations.gov, and paste it in yourself.
It may seem small, but this added barrier can reduce participation and silence voices that deserve to be heard. That’s why it’s more important than ever that you complete the process. Taking this final step ensures your voice is counted in decisions that impact our water, our health, and our future.
Submit your comment by April 29, 2026
Southern West Virginia on the National Stage
Students from Huff Consolidated Elementary and Middle School and their teacher take a photo with the water filtration project.
Fifteen students at Huff Consolidated in Wyoming County just made history, becoming the first in the state to win the national prize in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.
As their teacher, Brittany Miller-Baker, shared: “These are kids from Wyoming County, West Virginia. Kids who grew up in these mountains and hollers, who know what it means to watch their community struggle, who have seen the orange-stained creeks and heard the adults worry quietly about what’s in the water. They didn’t look away from that. They looked straight at it and said — we can fix this.”
With support from their teacher, school administrators, local advocates with Mountain Water Watch, and a mini-grant from WV Rivers Coalition, students built a working water filtration system in their middle school classroom for $300 — something they said can be replicated by communities to create safer, cleaner water right now. You can watch their pitch at this link.
Earlier this year, McDowell County was featured on 60 Minutes, where From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice highlighted the ongoing struggle for safe water. All three — Huff Consolidated Elementary and Middle School, Mountain Water Watch, and From Below — are WV Rivers mini-grant recipients who we are proud to support.
Next month, WV Rivers Coalition, partners, and local community members will head to Washington, D.C. to ensure our leaders know that WV deserves clean water.
Communities and kids are stepping up. Now it’s time for leaders to do the same.
Register to Join Tomorrow’s Webinar
Join us on Thursday during the lunch hour for a seminar about how a warming climate impacts stream ecosystems.
Coldwater species like brook trout and candy darters are already feeling the pressure of a warming climate.
As streams heat up, flows shift, and extreme weather becomes more common, these sensitive ecosystems are changing. We’re digging into what that means, and what we can do about it.
Join us for “Effects of a Warming Climate on Stream Ecosystems: A Fisheye View with Dr. Paul Angermeier” this Thursday, April 16 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM on Zoom.
Note: You must have a free Zoom account to join this seminar.
Celebrating and Caring for Our Earth! 🌎
That’s all of us, in one stunning photo. Photo credit: NASA.
NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took the picture above of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and a zodiacal light (bottom right) visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun.
As we watched NASA astronauts aboard Artemis II live, we were reminded how our water and land — our planet Earth — connect us. We also thought hard on how much energy, fossil fuels, and artificial intelligence that it took to power this trip to space.
This Earth Day, WV Rivers staff will be gathering for our spring meeting, planning and strategizing for the work ahead to protect our Earth, starting right here in the Mountain State.
Are you still making your plans for Earth Day? Check out the list of events we found:
🌱 April 18
Tree planting in Capon Bridge (33 trees going in!)
Watershed Celebration Day at Lost World Caverns with Greenbrier River Watershed Association
Community Earth Day Celebration at Brooke Hills Park with Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition + partners
Earth Day Celebration at Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem
Earth Day Spring Expo in Elkins
6th Annual Touch the Earth Festival with the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition in Morgantown
🌍 April 21–25
Earth Day at the Clay Center
Who Powers West Virginia? with WV Citizen Action Group in Charleston
Earth Day on the Green (and other WVU happenings!)
OWL’s Annual Earth Day Celebration in Union
Monongahela National Forest Birthday + trail cleanup in Richwood
💧 April 26–May 2
Morgan’s Grove Earth Fest in Shepherdstown
USGS Earth Day Open House at the Kearneysville office
Spring into Summer Festival in Jefferson County
We’re excited to see so many events happening across the state where you can help foster community and build momentum for local action to protect our land, water, and air.
We hope to see you soon!
Mini-Grants in Action
Photo from mini-grantee Tucker United, the grassroots group organizing around the data center project proposed between Thomas and Davis at their Community Potluck Meeting. They’ve recently created a new page on Facebook. Be sure to follow them.
Woohoo! Please join us in congratulating and welcoming our latest round of mini-grantees:
- Indian Creek Watershed Association
Monitoring the Mountain Valley Pipeline corridor for erosion, landslides, and failed restoration — and continuing long-term water quality monitoring of vulnerable headwater springs. - No Data Centers in the Eastern Panhandle
Organizing a growing community coalition to push back on a proposed 500-acre data center and protect local waterways like Opequon Creek. - Trucker’s Movement for Justice
Building community-led solutions through biochar-based water filtration and grassroots organizing. - Tri-State Lumberjacks
Conducting independent water and sediment testing after the Twelvepole Creek oil spill to ensure transparency and protect public health.
Our next round of Community Action Mini-Grant applications closes June 15.
Our Communications Team is Growing
That’s right. We are as thrilled as you are and more grateful than ever for our supporters and funders who are helping us grow communications capacity for West Virginia’s environmental movement. Background image courtesy of Frank Gebhard.
We’re growing our communications team. WV Rivers is hiring a Production Coordinator: someone with a knack for design, a sharp attention to detail, and a deep care for the waters and land we all depend on.
This role is all about bringing our work to life. The Production Coordinator will support the creation of clear, compelling materials that help people understand what’s at stake and how they can take action. From video work to proofreading to keeping projects moving, this person will play a key role in how our stories are told.
Our Communications Manager is looking for a thoughtful, detail-oriented teammate who’s ready to jump in, learn, and help strengthen the voice of clean water advocacy across West Virginia.
If you’re someone who notices the extra space, catches the typo in our communications, loves good design — and cares about this place — we’d like to hear from you before May 6.
Please learn more + apply by clicking the link in the button below.
Support the Work Ahead
From protecting trout streams to advocating for PFAS accountability, the work we do is powered by people who care deeply about this place.
If you’re in a position to give this spring, consider making a gift to support clean and safe water for all in West Virginia.
Every dollar helps us show up, at the legislature and during Interims, alongside communities, and in the waters we all depend on.
