Key sections of the report
Released on March 26, 2012
DEQ released the Draft 2012 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (Integrated Report) on March 26, 2012. The 2012 Integrated Report is a summary of the water quality conditions in Virginia from January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2010. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality develops and submits this report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency every even-numbered year.
The report satisfies the requirements of the U.S. Clean Water Act sections 305(b) and 303(d) and the Virginia Water Quality Monitoring, Information and Restoration Act. The goals of Virginia's water quality assessment program are to determine whether waters meet water quality standards, and to establish a schedule to restore waters with impaired water quality.
Water quality standards designate uses for waters. There are six designated uses for surface waters in Virginia:
- Aquatic life
- Fish consumption
- Public water supplies (where applicable)
- Recreation (swimming)
- Shellfishing
- Wildlife
Additionally, several subcategories of aquatic life use have been adopted for the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. The standards define the water quality needed to support each of these uses. If a water body contains more contamination than allowed by water quality standards, it will not support one or more of its designated uses. Such waters have "impaired" water quality. In most cases, a cleanup plan (called a "total maximum daily load") must be developed and implemented to restore impaired waters.
The findings in this report were presented via webinar on April 9, 2012 from 10:00 am to noon. The questions posed at the webinar were combined and are addressed in the attached FAQ document.
The Summary Presentation of the Draft 2012 Water Quality Assessment contains a revised copy of the presentation provided at the public information webinar.
This report is available for public review and comment through April 27, 2012. Comments or questions about the report can be submitted via first class mail to:
John M. Kennedy
DEQ Office of Water Monitoring and Assessment
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, Virginia 23218-1105
or via e-mail attachment to John.Kennedy@deq.virginia.gov
A combined response to comments on the report will be prepared after the public comment period expires and will be available on the final report’s website and with the final report on CD.
Copies of the entire draft report, summary presentation and associated maps are available on CD and can be ordered at no charge by sending an email request.
The entire 2012 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report is a 42 MB file. You may wish to right-click on the link and click “Save Target As…” to save the document to your computer. Or, you may scroll down to view and download the smaller individual components of the report.
All chapters of the report and the supplemental files are PDF documents. Please visit DEQ's help page if you are unable to view these documents.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: State Background Information
Chapter 3: Surface Water Monitoring Programs
Chapter 4: Surface Water Quality Assessment
Chapter 4.1
Assessment Methodology
Chapter 4.2
Statewide Water Quality Assessment Summary
Chapter 4.3
Individual River Basin Assessment Results
Chapter 4.4
Chesapeake Bay Assessment Results
Chapter 4.5
Surface Water Trend Analysis Results
Chapter 4.6
Integrated Water Quality Index Results
Chapter 4.7
Freshwater Probabilistic Monitoring Results
Chapter 4.8
Nearshore Oceanic Survey Results
Chapter 5: Non-Point Source Assessment
Chapter 6: Ground Water Assessment
Chapter 7: Water Quality Programs
Chapter 7.1 Water Pollution Control Programs and TMDLs
Chapter 7.2 Cost/Benefit Analysis of Construction Assistance Program
Chapter 7.3 Pollution Prevention Programs
Chapter 7.4 Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns
Chapter 7.5 Coastal Resources Management Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.6 Chesapeake Bay Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.7 Wetlands Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.8 Regional Water Quality Initiatives
Appendices
Appendix 1
Integrated List of All Waters in Virginia
1a
List of Category 5 Impaired Waters (303(d) List)
1b
Supplemental List of Category 5 Waters Newly Impaired in 2012 (303(d) List)
1c
List of Category 4A Impaired Waters
1d
List of Category 4C Impaired Waters
Appendix 2
Water Quality Based Limited Sources - Category 4B and 5E Waters
2a
Category 4B and 5E Waters Approved for Delisting since the 2010 Report
Appendix 3
Waters Identified for Delisting since the 2010 Report
Appendix 4
Waters Delisted Due to Removal of Designated Use
Appendix 5 Fact Sheets for Category 5 Waters (all basins)
Appendix 6
Clean Water Act References
Appendix 7
List of Significant Lakes
Appendix 8
Data Sets Considered for the 2012 Assessment
Appendix 9
Current Status of TMDL Development in Virginia
Appendix 10
2012 Monitoring Station List (all Stations and Key)
STATEWIDE, BASIN and CHESAPEAKE BAY MAPS - Electronic versions of the assessment maps are available for download/viewing. Each map is a PDF between .5 MB and 5 MB formatted to fit on an 11x17 page. You may wish to right-click and select "Save Target As..." to save the maps to your computer. For more detailed information on impaired waters identified on these maps, please use the Virginia Environmental Geographic Information Systems (VEGIS) application.
STATEWIDE MAPS:
DEQ Regional Offices
Virginia's 6th Order Watersheds
Assessment Regions per 6th Order Watershed
Watersheds with Assessed Use(s) 2002-2012
Virginia's Section 303(d) Waters
Distribution of Impaired Waters
Waters Under VDH Fish Advisory
Bacteria Impairments
Dissolved Oxygen Impairments
Benthic Impairments
TMDL Completion Status
Water Quality Restoration Progress
Shellfishing Designated Use Support Status
BASIN MAPS:
Shenandoah River Basin
Potomac River Basin
Rappahannock Basin
York River Basin
Upper James River Basin
Middle James River Basin
Lower James River Basin
Chesapeake Bay/Atlantic Ocean and Small Coastal Basin
Chowan River and Dismal Swamp Basin
Roanoke and Yadkin Rivers Basin
New River Basin
Tennessee and Big Sandy Rivers Basin
CHESAPEAKE BAY MAPS:
Summary of All Impairment Causes in Virginia's Bay Waters
Shallow Water-Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Assessment
Open Water Dissolved Oxygen Criteria Assessment
Deep Water and Deep Channel D.O. Assessment
Benthic Index of Biological Integrity Assessment
James River Chlorophyll a Criteria Assessment
Attention GIS users:
The GIS data used in the production of the Integrated Report will be available for download from our website and on the CD with the Final EPA approved Integrated Report. Please note that you must have special GIS software to view this data. For more information please contact Cleo Stevens.
Interactive Mapping:
Virginia Environmental Geographic Information Systems (VEGIS) - The impaired waters identified in this report can be viewed using DEQ's online GIS application.
Additional Information:
To obtain reports from previous assessment cycles, please contact Cleo Stevens or Tish Robertson.
The Final 2012 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual, released June 20, 2011, is also available for download.