Announcements 2025.4.25

[Walker, Jane]

1.) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day -- April 26, 2025
2.) Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) News – Various Dates, Starting: April 26, 2025
3.) Volunteer Opportunities: Elizabeth River Project – Various Dates, Starting: April 26, 2025
4.) James River Association Events – Various Dates, Starting: April 30, 2025
5.) 2025 DEQ Water Quality Monitoring Plan and Requests for Nominations for 2026 Monitoring – Nominations Due: April 30, 2025
6.) Informal Public Comment: Draft 2026 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual – Public Comment Deadline: May 2, 2025
7.) Virginia Association of Wetland Professionals (VAWP) Opportunities
   ++ VAWP Spring Meeting Poster Session – Registration Deadline: May 2, 2025; Poster Session: May 30, 2025
   ++ 2025 Scholarship – Submission Deadline: May 15, 2025
8.) 2025 Youth Conservation Camp – Application Deadline: May 5, 2025; Camp: July 13-19, 2025
9.) Public Participation Opportunities: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Cleanup Studies and Implementation Plans – Various Dates, Starting: May 5, 2025
10.) American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Awards and Scholarships – Various Deadlines, Starting: May 7, 2025
11.) Clean the Bay Day – Various Registration Deadlines, Starting: May 15, 2025; Event: June 7, 2025
12.) DEQ News – Vol 4, Issue 4 – https://www.deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/newsroom
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See recent announcements and learn more about the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC) at www.VirginiaWMC.org. Feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the VWMC. If you have a water-related announcement of regional or statewide interest, send it to vw...@vt.edu and ask that it be distributed to the VWMC membership. If someone forwarded this message to you, you can join the VWMC for free by sending your name, water-monitoring affiliation (if applicable), and contact information (email address, mailing address, and phone number) to vw...@vt.edu. Thank you to the VWMC’s intern, Logan Flanagan, for developing today’s announcements. 
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1.) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day -- April 26, 2025 (10am-2pm)-- Inventory the medications in your home and identify which are unwanted and/or have expired dates.  Label medications for disposal with signage and take them to a collection site. Find a nearby location at https://www.dea.gov/takebackday.  Many locations in Virginia are authorized year-round drop-off locations for unneeded medications. Find more information and authorized year-round drop-off locations on the DEA website at https://www.fda.gov/drugs/disposal-unused-medicines-what-you-should-know/drug-disposal-drug-take-back-options.
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2.) Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) News – Various Dates, Starting: April 26, 2025
   ++ Native Plant Sales in Virginia – Various Dates, Starting: April 26, 2025 -- https://vnps.org/events/ (search “plant sale”)
   ++ VNPS State and Chapter Events – Various Dates, Starting: May 1, 2025 -- https://vnps.org/events/
   ++ Regional Virginia Native Plant Guides -- https://vnps.org/virginia-native-plant-guides/ (download or order)
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3.) Volunteer Opportunities: Elizabeth River Project – Learn more about these and other opportunities at https://elizabethriver.org/volunteer/. Interested individuals may also sign up to be an Outreach Volunteer. Organized by the Elizabeth River Project.
   ++ Litter Clean-Ups – April 26, 2025; May 10, 2025; June 7, 2025 -- Norfolk, VA
   ++ Landscape Maintenance at Ryan Resilience Lab -- May 1, 15, & 29, 2025; June 12 & 26, 2025; and July 10, 2025 (10am-Noon) – Norfolk, VA
   ++ Paradise Creek Nature Park – May 3 & 10, 2025 and June 7 &14, 2025 (9-11am) -- Portsmouth, VA
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4.) James River Association Events – Learn more at https://thejamesriver.org/ (see “Events and Volunteer Opportunities”).
   ++ James River Leadership Expeditions -- Application Deadline Extended: April 30, 2025 – Learn more at https://thejamesriver.org/students-of-the-james/james-river-leadership-expeditions/
   ++ James River Watch - 2025 Volunteer Training -- April 30, 2025 (5:30-6:30pm)
   ++ Rain Barrel Workshops – May 21, 2025 (Arrington, VA—Nelson Co.); May 22, 2025 (Fort Monroe, VA) -- Learn more and register at https://thejamesriver.org/conserve-water-at-home-using-a-rain-barrel-spring-2025/. Offered by the James River Association and its partners.
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5.) 2025 DEQ Water Quality Monitoring Plan and Requests for Nominations for 2026 Monitoring – Nominations Due: April 30, 2025 – The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ’s) 2025 Monitoring Plan is available at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/monitoring/water-quality-monitoring-plan. Virginia DEQ is accepting nominations of public water bodies for monitoring by DEQ in 2026.  Learn more at https://townhall.virginia.gov//l/ViewNotice.cfm?GNID=3043. Organized by the Virginia DEQ.
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6.) Informal Public Comment: Draft 2026 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual – Public Comment Deadline: May 2, 2025 – The Virginia DEQ seeks public comment on its draft of the 2026 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual. The document contains assessment procedures and methods used to create Virginia’s Integrated Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters Report. A list of significant guidance modifications since 2024 is described in Section 1. Learn more, view a copy of the draft, and submit a public comment at https://townhall.virginia.gov//l/ViewNotice.cfm?GNID=3083. Published by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
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7.) Virginia Association of Wetland Professionals (VAWP) Opportunities – Learn more about and apply to both opportunities at https://vawetlands.org/education-committee/. Contact Eli Wright at ewr...@w3env.com with questions.
   ++ VAWP Spring Meeting Poster Session – Registration Deadline: May 2, 2025; Poster Session: May 30, 2025 – Glen Allen, VA
   ++ 2025 Scholarship – Submission Deadline: May 15, 2025 – VAWP is accepting scholarship applications from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Virginia institutions pursuing research focused on wetland science, natural resources, or related environmental science fields.
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8.) 2025 Youth Conservation Camp – Application Deadline: May 5, 2025; Camp: July 13-19, 2025 – Blacksburg, VA – This week-long summer conservation camp is for Virginia high school students and brings together 70 students to learn about natural resources from Virginia’s natural resources and conservation professionals at Virginia Tech. Instruction is hands-on and outdoors. Scholarship funding to cover the registration fee may be available from your local Soil & Water Conservation District. Learn more and apply at https://vaswcd.org/conservation-camp/. Organized by the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and partners.
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9.) Public Participation Opportunities: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Cleanup Studies and Implementation Plans – Learn more about TMDL studies under development across Virginia at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/tmdl-development/tmdls-under-development. Learn more about Virginia’s cleanup implementation plans under development at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/implementation/implementation-plans-under-development/.
   ++ Cleanup Plan: North Fork Rivanna River Watershed (Albemarle and Greene County) – Meeting: May 5, 2025 (5:30 pm; Stanardsville, VA); Comment Period: May 5, 2025 to June 4, 2025 -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41601
   ++ Cleanup Study: Deep Run, Dover Creek, Upham Brook Watersheds (Henrico County, Goochland County, City of Richmond) – Meeting: May 8, 2025 (5:30pm, Glen Allen, VA); Comment Period: May 8, 2025 to June 9, 2025 -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41600
   ++ Cleanup Study: Crooked Run, Stony Creek and Pughs Run (Shenandoah County) -- Comment Period Ends: May 9, 2025 -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41418
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10.) American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Awards and Scholarships
   ++ Call for Nominations: AWRA Awards – Deadline: May 7, 2025 – Recognize an individual or organization who made exemplary contributions to the water resources community. Individuals and organizations may nominate themselves. View the list of awards and nominate a candidate at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/Awards.aspx.
  ++ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional Development Scholarship – Application Deadline: May 7, 2025 – Eligible applicants include graduates students, post-docs, and professionals who meet the designated criteria. Learn more and apply at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/AWRA_DEI_Award.aspx.
   ++ Richard A. Herbert Memorial Scholarship – Application Deadline: May 7, 2025 – This award is given to one undergraduate and one graduate student with exemplary academic performance. Learn more and apply at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/Herbert_Scholarship.aspx.
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11.) Clean the Bay Day -- June 7, 2025 (9am-12pm) – Help remove litter and debris from one of hundreds of locations throughout Virginia.  To find a location near you, learn more, and to register, see www.cbf.org/clean or email ct...@cbf.org. Registration closes May 15, 2025 for the City of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation; elsewhere, registration closes May 28, 2025. Once registration closes, a small list of walkup sites will be posted. Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
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12.) DEQ News – Vol 4, Issue 4 – The current issue and previous issues of DEQ’s official newsletter are available at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/newsroom. You can subscribe to the newsletter (see the link in the "Stay Informed" section at the bottom of webpage). Published by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
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The VWMC announcements are provided with support from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Thank you to our sponsor!

You too can sponsor the VWMC announcements.  Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support information updates and other VWMC activities.  Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include “VWMC Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (0444, Attn: Jane Walker) at 210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech; 310 West Campus Drive; Blacksburg, VA 24061.