James River Runoff Rundown raises $26,000 for conservation

The James River just upstream from the dam in Big Island slows to a crawl. The only hazards come from a few low-hanging Sycamore trees lining the banks and the occasional branch near the stream’s edge.

Paddling upstream, it takes at least two miles before the river starts to move swiftly and the rocky bottom becomes visible. But, David Sligh said, just as the James becomes a river again, another dam — one in Snowden producing electricity — impounds the water, turning the river back into a moving reservoir.

Saturday, Sligh, the Upper James RiverKeeper, paddled this short section with his wife, May, as part of the James River Association’s Runoff Rundown. The second annual event and fundraiser involves volunteers traveling on a section of the James so that all 340 miles of navigable river had someone on it in one day.

Overall, the event raised almost $26,000 for the James River Association, said Bill Street, president of the group. That’s about $6,000 more than last year, he added. Street, who paddled about 11 miles from Alpine to Glascow, said money from the event will go toward the

organization’s conservation and advocacy efforts.

More than 110 people statewide participated in the day, including 11 members of the Greater Lynchburg Environmental Network, who floated from downtown to Joshua Falls near Mt. Athos in Campbell County.

“It was gorgeous. It was a really beautiful day,” said Laura Gray-Street, a Randolph College professor and sister of Bill Street.

Among the wildlife the group spotted were blue herons, ospreys and turtles, she said.

This year GLEN raised about $375 for the event and more than doubled its participation from last year, Gray-Street said.

Several other Runoff Rundown participants set off from Lynchburg in a jon boat for Richmond but only made it about halfway before they ran into mechanical difficulties, Street said.

The section of river from Snowden downstream to near Lynchburg was the only stretch left out of the event because of the numerous dams along the way, which could be a safety hazard to inexperienced floaters, Street said.

For Sligh, whose job with the association requires him to be out on the river, the day was the perfect opportunity to take a peek at a lightly traveled stretch and get a closer look at the dam next to the Big Island paper mill.

Behind the dam, a small wetland had formed as debris and dirt collected and was decaying into a smelly black muck — something that commonly forms behind dams because they trap stuff in the water, Sligh said. A small amount of heat from the mill could be felt in out in the water and small streams of dark water flowed into the river from the discharge point, Sligh said.

In addition to seeing all aspects of the river upstream of Richmond, Sligh said his role as a riverkeeper is to meet with people and let them know that someone else is watching and advocating for the river, he said.

Sligh talks to whomever he meets to hear their connections to the river and tell them who he is and why he’s there.

“The rivers themselves are ours, but we can’t just trust that somebody else will take care of it,” Sligh said. “We can’t assume that the government won’t always do what we’re supposed to do. We have to push the regulators to do more when it’s necessary, and we have to be there to support them when they do something good.”