Program of the Month
Farms in the Shenandoah Valley are some of Virginia’s largest producers of agricultural products, ranging from chickens to beef cattle.
Agricultural and Water Quality Assessment
The Valley Regional Office of the Department of Environmental Quality has adopted a unique approach to meet the needs of the Valley’s agricultural community, one of its largest stakeholder groups.
The regional office has combined duties related to several environmental permits or regulations for agricultural activities into one program – Agricultural and Water Quality Assessment.
“We see ourselves as a single face for the agricultural community,” Program Manager Gary Flory said.
The biggest benefit to a combined program approach is compliance, Flory said. Farms in the Shenandoah Valley are some of Virginia’s largest producers of agricultural products, ranging from chickens to beef cattle. A high rate of compliance for such a large number of activities enhances the protection of water quality in the Valley region.
An important link between water quality and agriculture in the Valley is the porous rock of the region’s Karst topography, characterized by underground caverns and caves that are formed as water flows through the rock.
“The bedrock is shallow and porous, and we have to be very concerned about what is on the surface,” Flory said. “It is a direct conduit to the water supply.”
The program consists of activities related to poultry and livestock general permits, water quality assessments and the restoration of “impaired” waters.
Program staff members are in the field several hundred times a year to conduct reporting and environmental inspections for more than 700 permitted facilities. The permits aim to minimize effects on surface and ground water by defining the ways to store and treat waste from livestock operations, and store and apply dry litter from poultry farms.
The program is also responsible for assessing the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes in the Valley region based on data from more than 600 monitoring sites. This assessment is combined with statewide data to form the Virginia Water Quality Assessment report, issued every two years.
Waters with “impaired” quality require a total maximum daily load, the maximum amount of pollutants a water can contain and still meet water quality standards. The program coordinates the development of the TMDLs and the corresponding cleanup plans, and communicates with local communities about this work through working groups and public meetings.
In addition to ensuring the protection of waters in the Valley region, the program is also responsible for several special projects related to the agricultural community. Two studies involve the development of methods, such as composting, that will lessen the environmental impact of disposing of animal carcasses and poultry litter. Another project involves the development of a regional agricultural vulnerability assessment and response plan.
DEQ is working with the Virginia Cooperative Extension to develop plans to prevent and respond, if necessary, to widespread animal or plant diseases at a local level.
In the event of an emergency, “our goal is the have the planning done and resources prepared,” Flory said.
This plan will serve as the building block for other localities and will be incorporated into the Virginia emergency response plan. DEQ and the Virginia Cooperative Extension are funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for this work.