Skip to Content  |  Web Policy  |  Contact Us
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's logo

Protecting, restoring, and strengthening our coastal ecosystems and economy


Get Involved! Here are a few things you can do to help protect and enjoy Virginia's coast...

Stewardship Campaign Highlight

Chesapeake Club

Residents of Hampton Roads and the Greater Richmond area will again learn how to “Save the Crabs, then Eat ‘Em”. In the spring of 2008, the Chesapeake Club will once again air TV ads and print newspaper ads as part of its campaign to educate residents about the Bay's nutrient pollution problem in a humorous way.  The Virginia CZM Program is helped fund TV and newspaper ads in 2007 to spread the Club's message to homeowners in Virginia.  The program also provided CZMA funds to print posters, T-shirts and exhibits to help spread the campaigns messages to the public through participating restuarants and at public events.

The Chesapeake Club campaign urges Bay watershed residents to hold off on fertilizing their lawns until the fall, when rainstorms are less frequent and the ground is better able to absorb nutrients contained in fertilizer. This helps protect the Bay's remaining blue crab population, which has been declining in recent years.

To help save the seafood, Chesapeake Club offers yard care tips so you can create a blue crab-friendly lawn. And if you'd rather leave it up to the professionals, there are a growing number of lawn care providers offering the Chesapeake Club standard of yard care.

Think of all the things you could do this coming spring instead of fertilizing your lawn: Go on a day trip to one of the Bay watershed's many natural or historic areas. Take a romantic getaway to a Bay island. Try a great new recipe for crab soup. Or eat out at an area restaurant that supports the Chesapeake Club.

So skip the lawn fertilizer this spring. Because is the grass really greener if all the blue crabs are gone?

Want to show your Chesapeake Club pride? Request a FREE poster, bumper sticker or window cling decal for your car, boat or office while supplies last!

Ocean Stewardship

 

5 things you can do to thank the ocean - http://thankyouocean.org/

 

Protect the oceans from harmful marine debris - http://wwwkeepoceansclean.org.
Promoting individual responsibility, NOAA has partnered with the Advertising Council, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Environmental Defense, and the Disney Studios to deliver an ocean health message that underscores the cause and effect of human behavior. Featuring scenes and characters from "The Little Mermaid", the new public service announcements drive home the message that "life in the oceans depends on you." Routine activities alone bring 6.4 million tons of debris, mostly plastics, to our oceans each year.

 

Coastal Stewardship Event Highlights

Virginia Waterways Cleanup -- Sept. 1- Oct. 31 Annually

Clean Virginia Waterways (a program of Longwood University)  scheduels more than 150 river and beach cleanups in the fall – please visit the CVW web site to learn about a cleanup near you that needs your help! Sign up as a Site Captain! Any school, church, business, group, family or organization can signup to host a local cleanup. Please view the list of cleanup events on the Web at www.longwood.edu/cleanva/iccva.htm

If your town or county doesn’t have a cleanup event, please help this great statewide event by volunteering as a Site Captain!

The annual Virginia Waterways Cleanup is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, which is the world’s largest volunteer effort to collect data on litter and trash in the aquatic environment! Cleanup events are held on the coasts, AND inland, since inland litter often ends up in our oceans. To learn more about the Virginia Waterways Cleanup, please visit the Clean Virginia Waterways web site: http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/

Virginia & World Water Quality Monitoring Day

During September through October, citizens of Virginia join in Virginia & World Water Monitoring Day, a statewide opportunity to positively impact the health of rivers, lakes, estuaries and other waterbodies. Volunteer monitoring groups, water quality agencies, students, and the general public are invited to test four key indicators of water quality: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.

Just Follow These 4 Simple Steps!

Step 1: Register your site. Choose any lake, stream, bay, or other waterbody where you can safely monitor. Register your site with both the Virginia and the World Water Monitoring Day Websites by contacting Dana Roberts dana.roberts@vaswcd.org  or Gary Speiran gary.speiran@usgs.gov. 

Step 2: Prepare your monitoring equipment. Use your own equipment or obtain an easy-to-use test kit free of charge by contacting James Beckley  jebeckley@deq.virginia.gov.  Kit contains an informative instruction book and reagents to repeat up to 50 tests.

Step 3: Monitor your site. Invite others to help you monitor or do it yourself. Visit your site anytime from September 18 through October 18 to test the water. Remember, safety first !

Step 4: Report your data. You did the work, so let us know about your water. You can submit your results by returning back to where you registered your site in the first place. Results may be entered anytime from September 18 through November 18 for inclusion in the annual Virginia Water Monitoring Day summary reports.

The Virginia Water Monitoring Day 2007 web site includes statewide events, tools for teachers/schools, statewide contacts and 2007 map and summary of data.  

 

New Coastal Stewardship Website Highlight

Ecosystem Valuation ---

This website describes how economists valuae the beneficial ways that ecosystems affect people.  It is designed for non-economists who need answers to questions about the benefits of ecosystem conservation, preservation or restoration.  It provides a clear, non-technical explaination of ecosystem valuation concepts, methods and applications.

 

New Coastal Stewardship Publication Highlight

Restoring Virginia's Wetlands - A Citizen's Toolkit

Restoring Virginia's Wetlands - A Citizen's Toolkit

Promotes the Voluntary Protection, Enhancement, Restoration and Creation of wetlands - prepared in partnership with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), through a grant award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Wetlands Program Development Grants initiative. Guides viewers through the background information necessary to understand wetland functions and values.

It provides useful information to Virginia's landowners, both private and public, on the status of wetlands, various options for the use and management of their wetlands, current regulatory protection as well as voluntary efforts, and technical and financial resources for protection, enhancement, restoration and creation projects. Included within the ToolKit are basics regarding wetland identification, types and classification as well as a section discussing types of wetland monitoring. Available on-line and in hardcopy. Go to ... Restoring Virginia's Wetlands - A Citizen's Toolkit

Especially For Students...

NOAA has recently launched a new website for student internship,
scholarship and other opportunities. This is a great new one-stop shop
for information on all the great NOAA-funded opportunities. Check it out
online http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/noaa_student_opps.html.

 

 

 

Captain John Smith Trail

 

Every October, Virginia Archaeology Month highlights the importance of our unique archaeological resources to tourism, to education, and to understanding the past. Events range from exhibits, lecture series, and tours, to special hands-on children’s programs and take place at libraries, museums, historical societies, and on active archaeological sites. For further information, including suggestions for hosting activities, visit www.dhr.virginia.gov/home.htm , click on ‘Archaeology’ and then on ‘Virginia Archaeology Month.’   Join in the fun and fascination of Virginia archaeology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other websites to check out...

Back to Top