Are you afraid of what life looks like in a drier world? Thomas Culligan says, “It’s a human health crisis waiting to happen.” Drought, potential boiling water advisories, agricultural runoff into our streams, or a drier world in general: Culligan says it’s a recipe for disaster, but it’s 100% avoidable.

He references paddleboarding in the salt marshes of Charleston, South Carolina and seeing dolphins blow through their blowholes with a baby on their dorsal fin. Missing out on natural beauties like these is what he is afraid of if we don’t have clean water.  

“It may sound cliché, but water really is life.” 

Living in Harrisonburg, VA, he says they have been in a drought since June and need 6-9 inches of rain to revive their groundwater. Culligan doesn’t think things like this are talked about enough.  

Tune in to this episode of Wild Virginia Coffee Talk to hear more about Thomas’ experience with the Wild Virginia Clean Water Advocates program and why he wants a world still beautiful enough for the next generation to enjoy. 

Thomas Culligan grew up in a small coastal New Jersey town where he “explored everything!” He moved to Virginia in 2014 to attend Roanoke College and fell in love with the mountains. Even though he left Virginia after college, he found he couldn’t bear to stay away too long and returned in 2020. Culligan wants to be an informed citizen, ensure clean water as a human right, and preserve the natural beauty we have for future generations. When he’s not working at JMU, you can find him in the mountains with his dog, on a bike, or in the garden. 

Wild Virginia has launched an education program to train a small group of dedicated volunteers (“Advocates”) to support Wild Virginia’s efforts to protect Virginia’s water quality! This online program equips volunteers with fundamental knowledge of federal and state water protection laws, regulatory processes, and basic advocacy skills to influence environmental decisions and outcomes. 

Specifically, Wild Virginia’s Clean Water Advocates training program assists volunteers in building critical advocacy skills, including: 

• Understanding water-related environmental issues 
• Reviewing regulatory and technical documents
• Writing and submitting public comments
• Writing letters to local representatives and public officials
• Writing letters to the editor
• Participating in public hearings and citizen board meetings