Monday, September 27, 2010

Virginia Water Radio 35: Week of Sept. 27, 2010

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio (Episode 35), for the week of September 27, 2010.

Sound file archived 11/4/11.  For access, please contact Virginia Water Radio.



NEWS

  • On September 24, the U.S. EPA issued a draft of the full Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, designed to restore water quality and habitat in the Bay and its tributaries. A TMDL is required for the Bay under the federal Clean Water Act because the Bay does not meet certain water-quality standards and is therefore classified as “impaired.” The TMDL plan will limit the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution discharged into the Bay and each of its tributaries by different types of pollution sources. The draft includes EPA evaluations of watershed implementation plans that the six Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia filed with EPA in early September, detailing how the jurisdictions intend to accomplish the nutrient and sediment reductions. EPA’s evaluation said that Virginia’s draft watershed plan—along with those Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—has “serious deficiencies” in the actions proposed to meet pollution-reduction targets.

    Release of the draft TMDL started a 45-day public comment period with public meetings in the Bay jurisdictions.

    In Virginia, the dates and locations are as follows:


    • Oct. 4: Grafton Theatre, James Madison University, Harrisonburg
    • Oct. 5: Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
    • Oct. 6: Jepson Alumni Center, University of Richmond
    • Oct. 7: Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina Hotel

    All meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., but to confirm the times, check the EPA Web site at www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/, or phone Tom Damm at (215) 814-5560.

    By November 29, Bay jurisdictions are to complete revised Watershed Implementation Plans, and by December 31, the EPA plans to issue the final TDML.

    News Sources: EPA Issues Draft Chesapeake Bay ‘Pollution Diet, U.S. EPA News Release, 9/24/10; EPA prescribes 'pollution diet' for Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 9/25/10; and EPA TMDL Web site, www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/. For more information: Virginia Department of Conversation and Recreation: http://dcr.vi.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/baytmdl.shtml, and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality: www.deq.virginia.gov/tmdl/chesapeakebay.html (Virginia’s draft Watershed Implementation Plan is available at either of these sites). For a compilation of other Bay TMDL references and recent news articles, visit the Virginia Water Central Grouper’s Chesapeake Bay TMDL site, at www.delicious.com/araflo/ChesBayTMDL.
  • In mid-September, thousands of dead juvenile Menhaden appeared in Cobbs Creek, a Piankatank River tributary in Mathews County, the fourth significant fish kill in the creek since August. More fish kills have been seen in Chesapeake Bay tributaries this summer than in most years, according to Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor Kimberly Reece, who has been investigating low oxygen levels and toxic algal blooms as possible causes of this year’s incidents.  News Source: Thousands of dead menhaden blanket Cobbs Creek, Daily Press, 9/14/10.
  • And in our last news item this week: On September 21, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal by Campbell County of a $9-million award in a groundwater-pollution case. In 2009, a circuit court jury assigned the award in a lawsuit begun in 2005 by Campbell County residents who claim that a closed county landfill contaminated groundwater at a mobile-home park owned by the residents. The court is expected to hear the case in early 2011. News source: Va. Supreme Court to hear county's appeal of landfill judgment, Lynchburg News & Advance, 9/24/10.
WATER SOUNDS AND MUSIC

This week we feature a song about an 18th-Century Virginian who became an infamous river pirate: “Samuel Mason,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, from their 2010 album, “All the Good Summers” on Great Bear Records. Born in Norfolk in 1739, Samuel Mason was a Revolutionary War soldier and farmer on the western Virginia frontier. But he was known for criminal activities, and in the 1790s he became one of the most notorious pirates targeting riverside dwellers and boat traffic on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Mason’s killing in 1803—by members of his own gang who were seeking reward money—evidently marked the end of well-organized river piracy in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Information about Samuel Mason and river piracy was taken from Southern Illinois University’s “Perspectives,” Fall 2006, http://perspect.siuc.edu/06_fall/river_pirates.html; and “Going to See the Varmint: Piracy in Myth and Reality on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 1785-1830,” by Mark J. Wagner and Mary R. McCorvie, in X Marks the Spot: The Archeology of Piracy, Russell K. Skowronek and Charles R. Ewen, eds., University of Florida Press, 2006.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS 

First, in government policy and regulatory meetings occurring between September 30-October 6.
  • On September 30, the Stormwater Management Program Regulations Advisory Panel meets in Richmond. For more information, phone David Dowling at (804)786-2291. The Stormwater Management Regulations Advisory Panel is advising the Soil and Water Conservation Board in considering amendments to Virginia Stormwater Management Program Permit Regulations (4 VAC 50-60 in the Virginia Administrative Code.) More information and relevant documents about the proposed stormwater changes are available online at http://www.townhall.state.va.us/L/viewchapter.cfm?chapterid=1145.
  • Also on October 5, the State Water Control Board is holding a public meeting in Warsaw on a proposal to designate Farnham Creek and part of Lancaster Creek in Richmond County as federal No Discharge Zones for sewage treated by on-board sanitation devices on boats. For more information, phone Margaret Smigo at (804) 527-5124.  Please see the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall notice at http://www.townhall.state.va.us/L/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=15232 for more information.
Now, here is one upcoming meeting about Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs, for impaired waters:
  • September 30, in Lynchburg, on the TMDL for the James River and seven of its tributaries in Amherst, Bedford, and Campbell counties and the city of Lynchburg. For m ore information, phone Paula Nash at (434) 582-5120.
Finally, in educational and recreational events:
Virginia Water Radio is a product of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, which is solely responsible for the show’s content. Hosting and bandwidth for this podcast are also provided by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. We invite you to visit the center online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu.

Show notes and production assistance were provided by Patrick Fay. Recording assistance was provided by the Office of University Relations at Virginia Tech.

Opinions expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Tech, or our broadcasting stations.

If you need more information about anything mentioned this week, call us at (540) 231-5463, or visit our web site at www.virginiawaterradio.org.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Virginia Water Radio 34: Week of Sept. 20, 2010

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio (Episode 34), for the week of September 20, 2010.

Sound file (7 min./50 sec.) archived 7-25-14; please contact Virginia Water Radio to request access to the file.



NEWS

  • Efforts to reduce nutrients and sediments reaching the tidal Potomac River led to significant water quality improvements in the river between 1990 and 2007, according to a study published by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (or USGS) and England’s National Oceanography Centre. The September 7 USGS news release on the study states tha t “[s]ince 1990, the area covered by [submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV] in the lower Potomac has doubled [to 8441 acres], the area covered by native SAV has increased ten-fold [to 3081 acres], the diversity of plant species has increased, and the proportion of exotic species [especially Hydrilla] to native species has declined as nutrients have declined.” The study covered a 50-mile stretch of the tidal Potomac below Washington, D.C. News source: Potomac River: Ten-fold Increase in Native Submerged Vegetation Reflects Improved Water Quality, U.S. Geological Survey News Release, 9/7/10. More information: The report, “Long-term reductions in anthropogenic nutrients link to improvements in Chesapeake Bay habitat,” was published in the September 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is available online at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1003590107.
  • On September 8, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, or ODEC, announced that it is postponing for 18-24 months any action toward acquiring air permits for its proposed coal-fired power plant in Surry County. In a news release, ODEC attributed the postponement to a decrease in demand for electricity as a result of the recent economic recession. Prior to the postponement, ODEC was in the process of seeking several dozen state and federal permits needed for the Surry site. The cooperative also has the option of using a site in Sussex County. ODEC has already received local land-use permits, although some local residents have filed a lawsuit challenging those permits. ODEC’s news release said that the cooperative will continue to work with local property owners to secure the rights-of-way for a water pipeline from the James River to serve the proposed plant. The $4-6 billion plant would have a capacity of 1500 megawatts, making it Virginia’s largest coal-fired power plant. News sources: Planned Surry Co. coal plant put on ice, Virginian-Pilot, 9/9/10; and ODEC Announces Plans to Extend Timeline for Cypress Creek Power Station Project, ODEC News Release, 9/8/10; ODEC hits a snag on Surry plant, Daily Press, 9/29/10; and The pros and cons: Surry County coal plant,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 5/17/09.
  • And our last news item this week focuses on Virginia’s lingering drought. As of the September 14 National Drought Monitor, more than two-thirds of Virginia was “abnormally dry,” while most of the eastern third of the state was in “severe drought” and parts of Frederick and Shenandoah counties were in “extreme drought.” At least 65 percent of Virginia has been abnormally dry since late June, and the severe drought area has persisted since early August. Low stream flows are one result: As of September 16, seven-day average stream flows were below normal at 66 percent of U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations in Virginia. The low rainfall and low-water conditions are causing agricultural impacts and water-use restrictions. The September 17 Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that 46 localities have requested agricultural disaster assistance, while nine localities have imposed mandatory water-use restrictions and 17 localities have implemented voluntary restrictions. Unfortunately, things may get worse: As of September 16, the seasonal drought outlook from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center forecast that drought conditions would persist or intensify in most of eastern Virginia through December, with slight improvement forecast for some areas. News sources: State's drought could quickly become much worse, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/17/10; U.S. Geological Survey’s WaterWatch Web site, 9/17/10; National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, Seasonal Drought Outlook for September 16, 2010. More information: The National Drought Monitor’s weekly assessment has five categories of increasingly worse drought: D0 = abnormally dry; D1 = moderate drought; D2 = severe drought; D3 = extreme drought; and D4 = exceptional drought.

WATER SOUNDS AND MUSIC


This week we feature a mystery sound: The Belted Kingfisher
[7-25-14 note: Please see Episode 224, week of 7-28-14, for an episode on the Belted Kingfisher.]

Besides being found in the Virginia Water Radio logo, Belted Kingfishers are found commonly throughout North America around streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries. This bird is known for its habit of hovering above water and then diving to capture fish. Kingfishers burrow into banks beside a water body to make their nest, and their rattling call is used to defend their territory. This week's recording recording was provided by Lang Elliott of NatureSound Studio. Information on Belted Kingfishers was taken from A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, by Chandler S. Robbins et al., St. Martin’s Press, 2001 edition; and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bird Guide Web page at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

First, in government policy and regulatory meetings occurring between September 22-September 29:
  • On September 27 and, if necessary, 28, the State Water Control Board meets in Richmond. For more information, phone Cindy Berndt at (804) 698-4378.

  • On September 28, the Marine Resources Commission meets in Newport News. For more information, phone Jane McCroskey at (757) 247-2215. 
Next, here is one upcoming meeting about Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs, for impaired waters:
  • September 28, in Christiansburg, on the TMDL study for Little River and several of its tributaries in Floyd and Montgomery counties. For more information, phone Mary Dail at (540) 562-6715.
Finally, in educational and recreational events:
  • On September 29, at the James Madison University Festival Conference and Student Center Grand Ballroom in Harrisonburg, Virginia Clean Cities is holding the Virginia Biodiesel Conference. For more information, phone Ryan Cornett at (540) 568-5586.

  • From October 7 to 10, Cape Charles and Onancock are the central locations for the 18th annual Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding and Wildlife Festival. For more information, phone Beth Davis at (757) 581-1081.

  • And from October 14 to 16 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, and Blue Ridge Parkway 75 Inc., are holding Imagining the Blue Ridge Parkway for the 21st Century: Sustaining Communities, Environments, and Economies, a symposium in connection with year-long observances of the Parkway's 75th anniversary. For more information, phone Bob Smith at (540) 231-7679.

    For more information about government policy and regulatory meetings, click here for the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall, where these meetings are listed by date. E-mail addresses for contact people are available there. For TMDL meetings, click here for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality TMDL Web site. Please note that TMDL meetings are also listed at the Town Hall site, but are included among all other meetings. Organizations, events, or both are hyperlinked whenever possible. Click on those links for more information.
Virginia Water Radio is a product of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, which is solely responsible for the show’s content. Hosting and bandwidth for this podcast are also provided by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. We invite you to visit the center online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu.

Show notes and production assistance were provided by Patrick Fay. Recording assistance was provided by the Office of University Relations at Virginia Tech.

Opinions expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Tech, or our broadcasting stations.

If you need more information about anything mentioned this week, call us at (540) 231-5463, or visit our web site at www.virginiawaterradio.org.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Virginia Water Radio 33: Week of Sept. 13, 2010

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio (Episode 33), for the week of September 13, 2010.

Audio archived 6-20-12; please contact Virginia Water Radio for access to audio file (length 8:47).

NEWS
  • September 1 was the deadline for the six Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia to file their draft watershed implementation plans with the U.S. EPA. EPA will use these drafts to help develop the Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, restoration plan. A TMDL is required for the Bay under the federal Clean Water Act because the Bay does not meet certain water-quality standards and is therefore classified as “impaired.” The key aspects of the Bay TMDL include strategies for reducing the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. On September 24 the EPA is scheduled to issue a draft of the complete plan. A public comment period on that draft will run until November 8 and will include four public meetings in Virginia between October 4 and 7. By November 29, the Bay jurisdictions are to complete their final Watershed Implementation Plans, and by December 31, the EPA plans to issue the TDML. News sources: Va. will miss bay restoration deadline, Washington Post, 9/3/10; Va. misses deadline on filing plan to cut bay pollution, Virginian-Pilot, 9/2/10; and U.S. EPA Bay TMDL Web site, www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/.

    Additional details: In July and August 2010, the EPA announced draft allocations for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from the six Bay jurisdictions and major Bay tributaries, and the jurisdictions used these allocations to develop their draft watershed implementation plans. The proposed basin-wide allocations announced by EPA in July and August 2010 are 187.4 million pounds per year of nitrogen, 12.5 million pounds per year of phosphorus, and 6.1-6.7 billion pounds of sediment. Virginia’s allocations are 53.4 million pounds per year of nitrogen, 5.4 million pounds per year of phosphorus, and 2.4-2.7 billion pounds of sediment. The Virginia public meetings on the draft TMDL are as follows:

    Oct. 4, Grafton Theatre, James Madison University, Harrisonburg;
    Oct. 5, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale;
    Oct. 6, Jepson Alumni Center, University of Richmond; and
    Oct. 7: Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina Hotel, Hampton.

    All are scheduled for 6 p.m.-8. p.m., but check the EPA Web site given above to confirm. Also, on Oct. 7, 1 p.m-3 p.m., the EPA will hold an online public meeting.

    For more information: Virginia Department of Conversation and Recreation: http://dcr.vi.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/baytmdl.shtml, and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality: www.deq.virginia.gov/tmdl/chesapeakebay.html

    (Virginia’s draft Watershed Implementation Plan is available at either of these sites). For a compilation of other Bay TMDL references and recent news articles, visit the Virginia Water Central Grouper’s Chesapeake Bay TMDL site, at www.delicious.com/araflo/ChesBayTMDL.
  • While the EPA is developing the Bay TMDL, Congress is considering legislation that would reauthorize the federal Chesapeake Bay Program within EPA. In June, the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee approved S.1816, the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Act of 2009, sponsored by Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland. In July, the House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 5509, the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act, sponsored by Pennsylvania Rep. Timothy Holden and several co-sponsors including Virginia Rep. Robert Goodlatte. The two bills, which differ significantly, have generated considerable debate over potential federal requirements on agriculture and localities. A snapshot of some of these local concerns is provided by the Shenandoah County town of Strasburg, which in early September was preparing two resolutions to send to Rep. Goodlatte. The first would request that H.R. 5509’s proposed guidelines for nutrient-credit trading in the watershed apply to agricultural and non-industrial forestry lands , and not only to municipalities; the second would request that the bill include federal funding for capital projects at wastewater-treatment plants. Strasburg is currently facing about $39 million worth of improvements in its water- and wastewater-treatment plants to accommodate Chesapeake Bay-related water-quality requirements.  News sources: Farm Bureau concerned about Chesapeake bill - Staunton News Leader, 9/10/10; Council gets say in Chesapeake Bay bill, Northern Virginia Daily, 8/25/10; Holden's Chesapeake Bill Moves; Cardin's Bill Sits, American Agriculturist, 7/29/10; Bay health bill clears committee, Northern Virginia Daily, 7/31/10. Additional details: Rep. Holden is a Democrat from Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District. Mr. Goodlatte, from Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, is the Ranking Republican Member of the Agriculture Committee’s Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research Sub-committee. The full provisions and legislative status of any Congressional bill can be found on the Library of Congress’ Web site, http://thomas.loc.gov/. According to a press release from Rep. Goodlatte (Goodlatte introduces legislation to protect the Chesapeake Bay, 6/11/10), H.R. 5509 would support programs that help farmers, homebuilders, and localities meet water-quality goals, but it would not codify the elements of President Obama’s May 2009 Executive Order on the federal role in Bay restoration. That’s one of the key differences between the Holden bill and Sen. Cardin’s bill, S.1816 (and its companion in the House, H.R. 3852, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
  • And in our last news item this week: In August, fisheries officials from Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin agreed to develop a coordinated strategy to manage Blue Catfish in tidal river sections. Native in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio river basins, Blue Catfish have been stocked in several Virginia rivers for many years. The species is now widespread in Virginia tidal streams and rivers. Large populations of Blue Catfish can diminish other species, such as Channel Catfish. With a cooperative interstate effort, fishery managers hope to understand, manage, and contain Blue Catfish populations and their impacts. News source: The rise and gall of bluefish catfish in Virginia rivers, Virginian-Pilot, 8/30/10. For more information: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries information on Blue Catfish is online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/fish/details.asp?fish=010390.

WATER SOUNDS AND MUSIC

This week we feature another selection inspired by the Chesapeake Bay: “The Prettiest Marsh,” by Teresa Whitaker on “We’ve Got to Come Full Circle: Chesapeake Song and Story for Young Hearts,” a 1984 album with Tom Wisner on Folkways Records. The Chesapeake region has several kinds of marshes, ranging from freshwater ones in the tidal sections of rivers to grass-dominated salt marshes along the Bay shorelines. Topography, water level, and water salinity all influence the variety and amounts of living things one finds in a marsh. But in any marsh you’ll specially adapted plants and—as Ms. Whitaker sang about—a lot of creeping, crawling, whirring, and croaking animals.  More information about Teresa Whitaker is available online at http://www.frankandteresa.net/Welcome%20.html. “Chesapeake Song and Story for Young Hearts” is available for sample listening and purchase on the Smithsonian Folkways Web site at http://www.folkways.si.edu/index.aspx; a PDF of the liner notes is also available. The quote from Teresa Whitaker is from the liner notes. For information on marshes and other wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay region: Life in the Chesapeake Bay-3rd Edition, by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). More information about Tom Wisner is available from A Bay's Life in Story and Song: A Celebration of Tom Wisner, Baynet.com, 1/16/10; from the Smithsonian Folkwasy “Artist Spotlight” at http://www.folkways.si.edu/explore_folkways/tom_wisner.aspx; and from the following two obituaries: Thomas A. Wisner, 79: 'Bard of the Chesapeake' sang about the bay he loved, Washington Post, 4/4/10, and “Bard of the Bay”—Tom Wisner-Gone But Not Forgotten, Baynet.com, 4/11/10.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

First, in government policy and regulatory meetings occurring between September 15-September 21.
  • On September 15, the Stormwater Management Program Regulations Regulatory Advisory Panel meets in Richmond. For more information, phone David Dowling at (804)786-2291.
    The Stormwater Management Regulatory Advisory Panel is advising the Soil and Water Conservation Board in considering amendments to Virginia Stormwater Management Program Permit Regulations (4 VAC 50-60 in the Virginia Administrative Code.) More information and relevant documents about the proposed stormwater changes are available online at http://www.townhall.state.va.us/L/viewchapter.cfm?chapterid=1145.


  • Also on September 15, the Abandoned Mined Land Advisory Committee meets in Wise County. For more information, phone Roger Williams at (276) 523-8208. The Abandoned Mined Land Advisory Committee assists the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy on Virginia’s Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program. Information about Virginia’s Abandoned Mined Land program is available at http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DMLR/docs/aml.shtml.
     
  • On September 16, the Soil and Water Conservation Board meets in Richmond. For more information, phone David Dowling at (804)786-2291.
     
  • On September 20, the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board meets in Richmond. For more information, phone David Dowling at (804)786-2291.

  • On September 21, the Groundwater Protection Steering Committee meets in Richmond. For more information, phone Mary Ann Massie at (804)698-4042.

  • And also on September 21, the Gas and Oil Board meets in Lebanon. For more information, phone David Asbury at (276) 415-9700.
Finally, in upcoming educational and recreational events:
Virginia Water Radio is a product of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, which is solely responsible for the show’s content. Hosting and bandwidth for this podcast are also provided by the Water Center. We invite you to visit the center online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu.

Show hosted by Alan Raflo, with special guest host Minni Gupta. Ms. Gupta also helped write the show. Show notes and production assistance were provided by Patrick Fay. Recording assistance was provided by the Office of University Relations at Virginia Tech.

Opinions expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the Water Center, Virginia Tech, or this station.

If you need more information about anything mentioned this week, call us at (540) 231-5463, or visit our web site at www.virginiawaterradio.org

Monday, September 6, 2010

Virginia Water Radio 32: Week of Sept. 6, 2010

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio (Episode 32), for the week of September 6, 2010.

Sound file archived 11/14/11.  For a copy, please contact Virginia Water Radio.


NEWS
  • On August 23, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality released for public comment the draft 2010 report on water quality in the Virginia’s streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries, covering conditions in Virginia’s waters between 2003 and 2008. The federal Clean Water Act requires such a report every two years. The report lists the water bodies that do not meet state water-quality standards and, as a result, are considered “impaired” and will require a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) clean-up plan. Here are the counts of impaired waters: 12,103 miles of impaired streams, an increase from 10,543 miles in the 2008 report; 96,510 impaired acres in public lakes, up from 94,004 acres in 2008; 2,157 square miles of impairments in estuaries, down from 2,182 square miles in 2008. On the positive side, 430 water bodies have been removed from the impaired list because they now meet standards. News sources: 2010 report details status of water quality in Virginia, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality News Release, 8/23/10; Survey finds plenty of pollution in Virginia waters, Virginian-Pilot, 8/24/10; More state rivers, lakes impaired by pollution, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 8/24/10; and Virginia's polluted waters list gets longer, Newport News Daily Press, 8/24/10. More information: The DEQ’s draft water quality assessment report is available online at www.deq.virginia.gov/wqa/305b2010.html. The DEQ is accepting public comment on the 2010 draft report through September 24. Comments should be sent to Darryl M. Glover, DEQ Office of Water Monitoring and Assessment, Box 1105, Richmond, Va. 23218, e-mail: darryl.glover@deq.virginia.gov. For an introduction to water quality and a summary of the 2008 Virginia Water Quality Assessment Report, see the June 2008 Virginia Water Central, pp. 6-11, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/watercentral.html.
  • In July, the Natural Resources Defense Council released its latest Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, covering conditions in 2009 at 3,333 beaches nationwide that are monitored at least weekly. The report documented 18,682 days of beach closings or advisories in 2009, a decrease from the over 20,000 days at 3,601 monitored beaches in 2008. In Virginia, nine beaches—out of 47 monitored—collectively posted closings or advisories on 51 days in 2009, compared to 29 days in 2008 and 50 days in 2007. Three percent of Virginia’s monitoring samples did not meet bacterial standards, compared to the nationwide rate in 2009 of seven percent, ranking Virginia fourth best among states on this measurement. Three Virginia beaches, however—Fairview Beach in King George County, Hilton Beach in Newport News, and North Community Beach in Norfolk—had 10 percent or more of samples not meeting bacteria standards. The report rated Virginia Beach very highly on water quality, testing frequency, promptness of issuing advisories, and methods of notifying the public. News sources: NRDC report, online at http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/titinx.asp; and Virginia Beach gets high ranking in national beach report, Virginian-Pilot, 7/29/10. More information: For a list of sources of information on water quality at beaches and other aquatic recreational areas, please see “Resources for Recreational Water Quality” in the June 2009 Virginia Water Central, p. 3; available online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu/watercentral.html.
  • And the last news item this week is our monthly water status report. First, in precipitation: According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, from August 3 to September 1 precipitation compared to historical averages was normal to 4 inches above normal in northern Virginia and most of the state west of the James River, but normal to 4 inches below normal in the rest of the state.

    Second, in stream flow: According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s WaterWatch, streamflows averaged over the month of August were in the normal range at about 69 percent of the 144 stream gages in Virginia or just beyond the state border. Monthly average flows were below normal at about 17 percent of these gages; much below normal at about 6 percent, above normal at about 6 percent, and much above normal at about 2 percent of the gages.

    And third, our drought watch: The weekly National Drought Monitor on August 31 showed abnormally dry conditions or worse occurring in over 65 percent of Virginia—essentially the eastern two-thirds of the state. Moderate drought was reported for 42 percent of Virginia, and severe drought in 31 percent of the state, which is part of an area of severe drought stretching from south-central Pennsylvania through southeastern Virginia. The August 31st Drought Monitor also reported that drought impacts in Virginia include poor pastureland conditions in over half of the state and the potential for the state’s lowest per-acre corn yield since 1993.

    News sources: Precipitation: Southeast Regional Climate Center precipitation map, http://www.sercc.com/climateinfo/precip_maps. Streamflow: U.S. Geological Survey WaterWatch for Virginia, http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=pa28d&r=va&w=mv01d%2Cmap. Drought: The National Drought Monitor map is at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html; the Virginia archive table is at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_tables.htm?VA. Additional information: The August 31, 2010, Drought Monitor has this comment: “According to USDA, Virginia led the Mid-Atlantic region with 55 percent of its pastureland rated very poor to poor on August 29, followed by West Virginia with 48 percent and Maryland with 35 percent. In addition, Virginia’s preliminary 2010 corn yield estimate of 65 bushels per acre, if realized, will be the state’s lowest since 1993 (60 bushels per acre).” 

WATER SOUNDS AND MUSIC


This week we featured a new mystery sound : The Loon

The distinctive calls of loons are associated with lakes and other water bodies of the northern United States, where loons breed. But Virginia’s coastal areas provide winter homes for two loon species, the Common Loon and Red-Throated Loon. Unfortunately for Virginians, though, they do not make their calls in winter. Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Sound Clips Web site for making this recording available. Information on loons was taken from A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, by Chandler S. Robbins et al., St. Martin’s Press, 2001 edition; and from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Wildlife Information” Web site at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

First, in government policy and regulatory meetings occurring between September 8-September 14.
  • On September 9, the regulatory advisory panel for development of a permit for small renewable solar energy projects meets in Richmond. For more information, phone Carol Wampler at (804) 698-4579. This advisory panel is helping the DEQ in development of a permit by rule for small solar energy projects, a regulatory action that the 2009 General Assembly (HB 2175/SB 1347) required for small renewable energy projects from various sources.
  • On September 13, in Chesapeake, the Department of Environmental Quality is holding a public hearing on an application by Dominion Generation to implement a groundwater corrective action plan at its coal-ash landfill in Chesapeake. For more information, phone Milton Johnston at (757) 518-2151. According to the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall notice for this meeting, Dominion Generation is seeking a permit modification for a groundwater corrective action plan that would identify “the methods to be used to remediate and monitor groundwater quality and sets standard procedures for the sampling, analysis, and statistical review of groundwater quality data collected during the remediation program.” The public comment period on the permit application August 13, 2010, to September 28, 2010.
  • On September 14, the Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals meets in Richmond. For more information, phone David Dick at (804) 367-8595.
Next, in regulatory action on Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs, for impaired waters:
  • Through September 28, the Department of Environmental Quality’s is accepting public comments on 25 TMDL plans that have been approved by the U.S. EPA. For more information, phone David Lazarus at (804) 698-4299. The notice about the public-comment period is available online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/tmdl/pn/2010/tmdlpn8112010.pdf. That document includes the list of the 25 state waters at issue, along with a link to access the EPA-approved plans for the waters.
Finally, in educational and recreational events:
  • On September 16 to 17 at the Northern Virginia 4-H Center in Front Royal, Virginia Cooperative Extension and several other organizations are holding “Good Green, Bad Green: Invasive Plant Control for Habitat Restoration.” For more information, phone (540) 564-3080.

  • And on September 18 in Pearisburg, the Virginia Master Well Owner Network is holding a volunteer training for people who would like to help other understand, protect, and manage their private water supplies. For more information, phone Erin James Ling at (540) 231-9058.

    For more information about government policy and regulatory meetings, click here for the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall, where these meetings are listed by date. E-mail addresses for contact people are available there. For TMDL meetings, click here for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality TMDL Web site. Please note that TMDL meetings are also listed at the Town Hall site, but are included among all other meetings. In the educational and recreation events section, organizations, events, or both are hyperlinked whenever possible. Click on those links for more information.
Virginia Water Radio is a product of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, which is solely responsible for the show’s content. Hosting and bandwidth for this podcast are also provided by the Water Center. We invite you to visit the center online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu.

Show notes and production assistance were provided by Patrick Fay. Recording assistance was provided by the Office of University Relations at Virginia Tech.

Opinions expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the Water Center, Virginia Tech, or this station.

If you need more information about anything mentioned this week, call us at (540) 231-5463, or visit our web site at www.virginiawaterradio.org.