522 Bypass
The Berkeley Springs 522 Bypass adds 36 acres of impervious surface. Impermeable surfaces, steep slopes, and shallow soils increase the chance of flash flooding.
Removing trees and ground cover from fragile hills has the potential to cause significant erosion. While WSWA’s ongoing efforts capture some of the water carrying sediment released by the erosion, a portion of it will inevitably end up in the Run. Increased amounts of sediment will collect in the streambed, reducing the space for floodwater to collect, thus increasing the potential severity of flooding. WSWA stream monitors have already noticed more sediment in the rocks in the Run.
Bypass construction will eventually:
- clear more than 175 acres of vegetation and trees, plus additional borrow and staging areas as determined by the contractor;
- impact 14,650 feet of stream (2.8 miles) and 14.8 acres of floodplain;
- Move 3,224,710 cubic yards of dirt (about 200,000 filled dump trucks); and
- disturb an additional 1,691,898 cubic yards for fill (about 106,000 dump trucks).
WSWA volunteers have been trained to use a WV Rivers protocol to do weekly monitoring in areas of the Run potentially affected by the 522 Bypass construction. We look for increased amounts of sediment carried to the stream by stormwater runoff from construction areas. We share our data with the Trout Unlimited WV-VA Water Quality Monitoring Project and with West Virginia Rivers. The WV Department of Highways contracted with a team from WVU to conduct similar testing.
Regarding revegetation of the Bypass corridor, WSWA coordinated with WVDEP and WVDOH to establish a plan for reforesting in 2025. We worked with Cacapon Institute to provide trees for property owners in close proximity to the Bypass. At the ground level, we worked with WVDOH to select an optimal mix of seeds for native groundcover.
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