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Water quality topic of DEQ report and July 13 webinar

Water—as in rivers, creeks, and the Chesapeake Bay—matters on the Northern Neck. Unfortunately, too many of our waterways are dirty. DEQ's latest assessment of water quality is out and the Department of Environmental Quality is holding a public webinar summarizing the Draft 2022 Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report Wednesday, July 13 from 10:00 am - Noon. The public is encouraged to participate. Register for the webinar. During the webinar, DEQ will take questions about the report and will publish the questions and answers in a “FAQ” document on the IR web page after the event.

The Integrated Report, referred to as the IR, is required by the U.S. Clean Water Act and the Virginia Water Quality Monitoring, Information and Restoration Act. According to the 2022 IR report's executive summary (PDF),

A primary objective of the IR is to determine whether Virginia’s waters support the six designated uses established by Virginia’s Water Quality Standards – namely, aquatic life, fish consumption, shellfishing, recreation, public water supply and wildlife. If a waterbody exceeds the pollutant level allowed by water quality criteria, or is below a specified threshold for aquatic life, it will not support one or more of its designated uses. Such waters are considered “impaired” and placed on the List of Impaired Waters. According to the 2022 IR, bacteria, toxins in fish tissue and low dissolved oxygen (DO) remain the leading causes of impairment in Virginia waters.

While “DEQ proposes removing 411 waterbodies from the list” of impaired waterways, the fact remains that progress is slow.

DEQ pays particular attention to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and for good reason. Again from the executive summary:

Chesapeake Bay Assessment Results in Virginia

  • Approximately 61% of the total state-wide submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) acres goal was attained during the 2022 assessment cycle, remaining relatively constant from the 63% reported in 2020 and up from 55% reported in 2018.

  • The 2022 dissolved oxygen assessment continues to show improvement in some of the Bay’s most degraded segments. The Elizabeth River and its tributaries show attainment during the non-summer months for the Open Water dissolved oxygen (DO) criteria.

  • Once again, all of the James River segments met the open water DO criteria for the 2022 cycle; however, algae growth problems still persist in the tidal fresh portion, as indicated by chlorophyll levels.

  • The most recent estuarine benthic assessment results again show full attainment in the main stem segments. Progress in the Chesapeake Bay aquatic life use attainment is expected to continue to improve in accordance with Virginia’s Watershed Implementation Plan.

In addition, the public is encouraged to comment in writing on the report by August 5. Writes DEQ, a “combined response to comments will be prepared after the public comment period expires and made available on this website with the final report.”

Read the report and learn about commenting on the DEQ website.

Learn details about the webinar and ask questions on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website.

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