Rivanna Conservation Alliance

Rivanna Trail Trash Cleanup
2020-03-21 10:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Quarry Park, 427 Quarry Rd, Charlottesville , VA, 22902, United States
*Organized by RCA Partners*

Benthic Monitoring: Introductory Volunteer Training Workshop, Option 2
2020-03-07 14:00 - 17:00 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
Become a trained RCA Benthic Monitor!
Interested in becoming a volunteer benthic monitor? This training will cover the fundamentals of stream biological sampling – catching and identifying aquatic invertebrates for the purpose of evaluating water quality and stream health. No previous experience is needed. There are two date options available, and you must be able to attend both parts for each option!
Option 2: Two Days
Part 1: Saturday, March 7th, 2 PM – 5 PM @ RCA office
Part 2: Saturday, March 14th, 10 AM – 1 PM @ Camp Albemarle
The training workshops are free to RCA volunteers, but class size is limited. Please contact benthicmonitoring@rivannariver.org to register.

Charlottesville, VA: Disaster/Travel/Wilderness First Aid Course
2020-03-07 - 2020-03-08 | VA
**All proceeds of this course benefit RCA!
Great Outdoor Provision Co. and MEDIC SOLO Disaster+Wilderness Medical School are happily once again hosting a dtWFA class in Charlottesville!
Come LEARN HOW to SAVE LIFE and LIMB in an
> urban disaster (natural or terrorist)
> rural area (not near a hospital)
> travel anywhere
> wilderness area
*** YOUR SPOT IS NOT RESERVED UNTIL YOU’VE COMPLETELY REGISTERED AT WWW.SOLOWFA.COM *** This is a 2-day class, 8:30am – 6:30pm or 7pm each day both days.
Course INFO, ONLINE REGISTRATION, other locations & dates: www.solowfa.com

Benthic Monitoring: Introductory Volunteer Training Workshop, Option 1
2020-03-04 10:00 - 13:00 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
Become a trained RCA Benthic Monitor!
Interested in becoming a volunteer benthic monitor? This training will cover the fundamentals of stream biological sampling – catching and identifying aquatic invertebrates for the purpose of evaluating water quality and stream health. No previous experience is needed. There are two date options available, and you must be able to attend both parts for each option!
Option 1: Two Days
Part 1: Wednesday, March 4th, 10 AM – 1 PM @ RCA office
Part 2: Wednesday, March 11th, 10 AM – 1 PM @ Camp Albemarle
The training workshops are free to RCA volunteers, but class size is limited. Please contact benthicmonitoring@rivannariver.org to register.

Benthic Monitoring Advanced Training Workshop
2020-02-29 10:00 - 12:00, 2020-02-28 13:00 - 15:00, 2020-02-23 13:00 - 15:00 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
Advanced training is designed for current benthic volunteers who participate in real field samples and/or do regular lab identification. The aim is to further those ID skills, refine some family characteristics, and cover any topics volunteers need additional help with. Advanced workshops will be held at the RCA Office.
The training workshops are free to RCA volunteers, but class size is limited. To reserve a space, or for further information about the training, contact Rachel Pence.

Kid*Vention
2020-02-08 10:00 - 15:00 | VA
Strap on your goggles and slip into your lab coat for the 21st annual Kid*Vention, the Virginia Discovery Museum‘s celebration of everything science! Families are invited to explore a wide variety of scientific fields through hands-on demonstrations, experiments, games, and more as children are introduced to biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental science, physics, and zoology and inspired to investigate the world around them.
THIS YEAR’S FEATURED EXHIBITORS:
• Camp4Real
• Charlottesville – A Green City
• Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
• Rivanna Conservation Alliance
• Rockfish Valley Foundation
• Speech-Language Pathology at UVA (National Student Speech Language Hearing Association)
• Tech-Girls
Local exhibitors are at the heart of this community event, and the Museum is excited to welcome 47 diverse groups to this year’s festival.
EVENT DETAILS:
• Date: Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020
• Time: 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
• Location & Parking: vadm.org/kidvention-location-and-parking
• Ages: Recommended for Families with Children 2-10
ADMISSION:
• Suggested Donation: $10/Family
• Includes a free, same-day visit to the Museum with your Kid*Vention booklet
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS:
Thank you to Apex Clean Energy, City of Charlottesville, Va – Government, CharlottesvilleFamily, Crutchfield Store – Charlottesville, Hot 101.9, Cville’s Hit Music Station, Susan Parmar Photography, Ting Charlottesville, Uncle Maddio’s Pizza, and Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc. for helping us inspire our community’s youngest scientists!
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Questions?
Visit vadm.org/kidvention or contact Education Manager Maggie Hancock at (434) 977-1025 x106 or maggie@vadm.org.

Clean-up along the Rivanna River
2020-01-20 14:00 - 16:00 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
Join us to clean up a portion of the Rivanna Trail for the MLK Day of Service.

To sign up, please e-mail RCA at exec@rivannariver.org. We will send a confirmation e-mail with additional details.

Giving Tuesday!
2019-12-03 | VA
Thank you for your support of RCA and clean water in our community – whether as a donor, supporter, or one of our dedicated volunteers. Please consider continuing your support today on Giving Tuesday, a global effort to encourage support for good in your community.
Today, you can support RCA’s work to improve water quality with DOUBLE THE IMPACT. If you contribute to RCA through our ActionWorks website, Patagonia’s ActionWorks program will match your donation. This opportunity runs from November 29 to December 31, but matching funds are limited, so donate early
Thank you for your generous support of RCA’s work to improve the health of our watershed!

Celebrate Conservation with RCA and TNC!
2019-10-20 15:00 - 17:00 | Wild Wolf Brewing Company, 313 2nd Street SE, Charlottesville, VA, 22902
Join the Rivanna Conservation Alliance and The Nature Conservancy of Virginia for an after-cleanup celebration!
In cooperation with TNC’s OktoberForest Events, come enjoy some refreshments, and learn about how clean water and healthy forests are important for good beer.

RCA Clean-up
2019-10-20 13:00 - 15:00 | VA
Join us for a clean-up at Pollock’s Branch, a tributary of the Rivanna River.
To sign-up, please e-mail RCA at exec@rivannariver.org. We will send a confirmation e-mail with additional details.

Fall Tree Sale - Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
2019-10-12 10:00 - 14:00 | VA
Sat. October 12, 2019
10 am – 2:00 pm
1293 Tufton Farm
At Monticello’s Center for Historic Plants Open House
Wide selection of mostly native, young trees and shrubs
Availability is weather dependent and may vary

FLOW: The Rivanna River Arts Festival
2019-09-28 11:00 - 16:00 | Darden Towe Park, 1445 Darden Towe Park Road, Charlottesville, VA
Join us for FLOW: The Rivanna River Arts Festival on Saturday, September, 28th, along the Rivanna Trail! The event starts at 11:00 AM at Darden Towe’s Boat Ramp.
Chroma Projects is collaborating with The Rivanna Conservation Alliance to bring you this one day celebration of our river.
FLOW 2019 will feature many of last year’s visual and performing artists interpreting the river, along with a number of new ones. Visitors to the event encounter their diverse gifts of creativity, tucked into natural wooded grottoes and overlooks along the river trail, expressing the history, ecology and spiritual traditions of the river.
Environmental organizations will have informational tables as well, so that visitors may learn about the good work that is being done.

Click here for more information.

Rivanna River Renaissance Conference
2019-09-27 09:30 - 11:00 | Lane Auditorium, Albemarle County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, 22902
The annual Rivanna River Basin Commission (RRBC) Conference will be Friday morning, September 27, 9-11:30 am.
Conference attendees will gather in Lane Auditorium in the Albemarle County Office Building. The invitation is attached.
The topic is about storm water, and particularly the Before the Storm report each jurisdiction received more than a decade ago.
Please come yourself to describe or designate a staff person to represent your County, City on the Conference Panel. The goal is to learn from others and craft a way forward.
Topics include:

How has your jurisdiction used the information presented in the Before the Storm report of 2008-09 ?
Were there any changes to ordinance or procedure adopted based on controlling and reducing runoff into our river?
Were any of the suggestions not possible or workable?
How could an updated Before the Storm assist your jurisdiction?

After the morning session and lunch from a food truck, all are invited to a ceremonial float on the Rivanna (weather and water level permitting) from the newly opened rustic boat launch at Brookhill River Park, just below the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir Dam.
Pullouts can be arranged for Darden Towe park or farther south.
We look forward to seeing many faces, both new and familiar. All are welcome, but please RSVP.

RCA Clean-up
2019-09-21 09:30 - 11:30 | Darden Towe Park, 1445 Darden Towe Park Road, Charlottesville, VA
Join us to clean up a portion of the Rivanna trail starting at the Darden Towe Boat Ramp in advance of FLOW: The Rivanna River Arts Festival.

Please e-mail exec@rivannariver.org to register.

Benthic Monitoring: Advanced Training Workshop
2019-09-14 10:00 - 15:00, 2019-09-04 13:00 - 15:00 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
Advanced benthic monitor training is designed for current benthic volunteers who participate in real field samples and/or do regular lab identification. The aim is to further those ID skills, refine some family characteristics, and cover any topics volunteers need additional help with.
The training workshop is free, but class size is limited. To reserve a space, or for further information about the training, please contact benthicmonitoring@rivannariver.org.

Piedmont Master Gardeners “The Future of Our Landscapes In a Changing Environment”
2019-09-08 16:00 - 18:30 | VA
The Piedmont Master Gardeners are hosting a climate awareness/environmental sustainability education event at the Paramount Theater on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019, with two great speakers:
Dennis Dimick, a former National Geographic picture/environment editor for over 37 years and Jeremy S. Hoffman, PH.D. a climate and earth scientist from Science Museum of Virginia.
Please join us for our 30th anniversary event: “The Future of Our Landscapes in a Changing Environment.”
Along with Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Master Gardners are hosting this event on Sunday, September 8, at the Paramount Theater in celebration of the association’s 30 years of helping the people of Charlottesville and Albemarle County solve horticultural questions and adopt sustainable, science-based practices.
The pre-event activities begin at 3 p.m. The formal program runs from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The celebration includes a student poster display, exhibitor booths, concessions, and presentations by Dennis Dimick, former picture and environmental editor for National Geographic, and Jeremy S. Hoffman, climate and earth scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia, followed by a panel discussion led by Frank Reilly of The Reilly Group.
The panel is made up of Lawrence E. Band, the Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental Sciences and professor of engineering systems and environment at the University of Virginia; Karen Firehock, executive director of Green Infrastructure Center; and Carol A. Heiser, education section manager, habitat education, for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Tickets are $10 for adults, free for 18 and under, and are available at
https://charlottesville.theparamount.net/4239 or by calling 434-979-1333, M-F 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
For more information: https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/events/the-future-of-our-
landscapes-in-a-changing-environment/

Benthic Monitoring: Introductory Training Workshop
2019-09-07 10:00 - 15:00 | Camp Albemarle, 1675 4-H Way, Charlottesville, VA
*Class full! Please stay tuned for more trainings coming soon!*

This training is the first step to becoming a benthic volunteer with RCA. The training will cover the fundamentals of stream biological sampling – catching and identifying aquatic invertebrates for the purpose of evaluating water quality and stream health. No previous experience is needed.
The training workshops are free, but class size is limited. To reserve a space, or for further information about the training, please contact benthicmonitoring@rivannariver.org.

Benthic Monitoring: Introductory Training Workshop
2019-08-28 10:00 - 15:00 | Camp Albemarle, 1675 4-H Way, Charlottesville, VA
This training is the first step to becoming a benthic volunteer with RCA. The training will cover the fundamentals of stream biological sampling – catching and identifying aquatic invertebrates for the purpose of evaluating water quality and stream health. No previous experience is needed.
The training workshops are free, but class size is limited. To reserve a space, or for further information about the training, please contact benthicmonitoring@rivannariver.org.

Bacteria Monitoring: Level III Training
2019-08-27 18:00 - 19:30 | RCA Office, 1150 River Rd, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA, 22901-4110, United States
*Class full! Please stay tuned for more trainings coming soon!*

This training is for new volunteers interested in the Bacteria Monitoring Program. No previous experience is needed.
Please contact the bacteria monitoring manager with questions or to register.

Ride to the River
2019-08-21 17:30 - 21:00 | VA
Enjoy the sweetness of a late-summer evening with a relaxed, all-abilities bike ride to a semi-secret beach on the Rivanna River. The ride will include a quick visit to Farmers in the Park and an optional dip in the river (so bring your towel and appropriate attire and footwear if you plan to get wet!). The ride will end with fellowship and discussion at Wild Wolf Brewing Company. Free and appropriate for anyone who can ride a bike.
The Bike Cville series is supported by a grant from the BamaWorks Fund.
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We’ll gather in front of PEC’s Water Street office starting at 5:30 to decorate bikes and safety checks. The ride itself will begin a little past 6:00. The out-and-back route will follow bike lanes, quiet neighborhood streets, and the Rivanna River Greenway. wherever possible and be mostly flat with just one very major hill. We will hang out at the beach long enough to hail summer and perhaps get wet, then return to downtown for food, drink, and discussion.
Staff and volunteers from The Piedmont Environmental Council, the Charlottesville Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Charlottesville Community Bikes (unconfirmed) will be on hand to help with minor repairs or adjustments. Stop by a bit early if you’d like to help – or need help -with decorations/repairs.
Questions? Contact Peter Krebs at pkrebs@pecva.org, 434-465-9869.

Fridays After 5 - Volunteers Needed!
2019-08-16 17:30 - 20:30 | Sprint Pavilion, 700 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA, 22902, United States
Help RCA serve at Fridays after 5 to help fundraise for the organization while having fun!
Please contact justinaltice [at] rivannariver.org to sign up for a slot.

Fridays After Five - Volunteers needed!
2019-06-28 17:30 - 20:30 | Sprint Pavilion, 700 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA, 22902, United States

RIVANNA RIVERFEST
2019-05-11 10:00 - 17:00 | VA
Join us for the first annual spring RIVANNA RIVERFEST!
On Saturday May 11th, 2019, we invite everyone to join us and enjoy the Rivanna River and check out Rivanna RiverFest! This family-friendly event will connect everyone to the Rivanna River and Charlottesville environment. We will have water sports, a run through the park, art activities, music, monitoring demonstrations, and more!
Confirmed Events Include:

Rivanna River Race: Kayak or canoe down the Rivanna from Rio Mills Road to Darden Towe Park
Fix a Leak Family 5K: Run park to park from Riverview to Darden and stop that running toilet!
Arts & Crafts at Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center
Water monitoring demonstrations by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance
Music & Fun at Rivanna River Company

More details here.
We can’t wait to see you on the river!

Organized by: the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Rivanna River Company, City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Albemarle County Service Authority, and the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center

Rivanna River Race
2019-05-11 10:00 - 12:00 | VA
Join us for the 14th annual Rivanna River Race, part of the 2019 Rivanna RiverFest!
Saturday May 11th, 2019

This exciting downriver canoe & kayak race runs 6.2-miles from the Route 29 Bridge at Rio Mills Road to Darden Towe Park.
Check back soon for more information.
Interested in being in involved with Rivanna River Race? Please contact us here.

Rivanna Paddle and Clean-up
2019-04-28 13:00 - 18:00 | VA
Come paddle with RCA and help clean the Rivanna River! Join RCA and other volunteers to help remove garbage and debris while paddling down the Rivanna from Rio Mills Road to the Rivanna River Company. The paddle trip will be guided by the RCA River Stewards, and boat rentals and shuttles will be provided by Rivanna River Company.
Please register using this link and be sure to use the discount code CleanUpRivanna.
Hope to see you there!

Rivanna Tree Planting and Clean-up - Volunteer Event!
2019-04-27 09:00 - 12:00 | VA
Join us to plant trees in a buffer along the Rivanna River in conjunction with our postponed Earth Day clean-up! Spots are limited – please e-mail exec@rivannariver.org to register!

City Nature Challenge
2019-04-26 17:00 - 2019-04-29 13:00 | VA
Which city on Earth has the most nature and the most engaged residents? The City Nature Challenge aims to find out!
The City Nature Challenge encourages people to discover and document the biodiversity of our urban spaces. Join thousands of people from around the globe to get outside and explore your world.
The Nature Conservancy is offering several guided events during the challenge weekend. These events are free and open to the public.
Friday, April 26, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m
Launch Party hosted by the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center
Come learn about the City Nature Challenge and how to use iNaturalist.
Saturday, April 27, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Birding at Ivy Creek Natural Area led by Jim Nix
RSVP to Margaret.hankerd@tnc.org
Saturday, April 27, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Nature Hike on Crozet Trail led by Sidney Huffman
RSVP to Margaret.hankerd@tnc.org
Saturday, April 27, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Explore Saunders Monticello Trail, hosted by Monticello Staff
Join Monticello staff for family-friendly activities to celebrate Arbor Day and the City Nature Challenge.
Email trail@Monticello.org for details
Saturday, April 27, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Benthic Monitoring at Greenbrier Park with Rivanna Conservation Alliance
Email exec@rivannariver.org for details or to RSVP
Sunday, April 28, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Nature Hike at Riverview Park led by Jane Fisher
RSVP to Margaret.hankerd@tnc.org
Sunday, April 28, 1:00-6:00 p.m.
Paddle and Clean-Up hosted by Rivanna Conservation Alliance
Email exec@rivannariver.org for details
Sunday, April 28, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
ID Party at Three Notch’d Brewery
All experience levels and ages are welcome to take part in identifying our observations. Join The Nature Conservancy and partners for bioblitz fun!
You don’t have to join an organized outing to get involved in the City Nature Challenge. Anyone can take part! It’s easy to participate using the iNaturalist app (free on the app store). Just take a picture of a plant or animal and upload it to the app. Visit www.citynaturechallenge.org to see a list of participating cities.
The City Nature Challenge is organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
