Lynchburg, Virginia, is about to get a major drinking water upgrade. Lynchburg Water Resources partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to roll out a $2 million project aiming to keep the drinking water in the area clean and safe.
ABC 13 News reported on the Pedlar River Watershed Restoration Project, noting that the watershed serves more than 100,000 people in Lynchburg, as well as some residents of Campbell, Bedford, and Amherst counties.
Lynchburg sources most of its drinking water from a reservoir in Amherst County surrounded by the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
Some of the planned ecological improvements include prescribed burns on 4,000 acres to lower the risk of wildfires, invasive plant species control on 1,000 acres, and restoration of two acres of wetlands, detailed ABC 13 News.
The project also intends to decommission 1.42 miles of roadway and plant chestnut, oak, and short-leaf pine trees. An effort will also be made to increase the James River spiny mussel populations.
Conservation efforts like these can make a huge difference in the daily lives of thousands of people. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans consume, on average, one to two liters of drinking water daily.
If that water isn't safe, it can cause a myriad of health issues, including gastrointestinal illnesses, nervous system problems, and reproductive effects. The severity of these issues depends on variables like the type of contaminant and degree of exposure.
The Pedlar River Watershed Restoration Project and other similar efforts help keep residents safe while restoring critical ecological systems to secure the future of our planet.
"We're committed every day to providing high-quality, safe drinking water to the citizens of Lynchburg and some in the surrounding counties," Lynchburg Water Resource PIO James Snyder said. "This is a great way to protect the source of water that provides us drinking water for the citizens."
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