Approved on September 16, 2019
DEQ released the Final 2018 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (Integrated Report) on Oct. 15, 2019. The 2018 Integrated Report is a summary of the water quality conditions in Virginia from Jan. 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2016.
This biennial 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 Draft Integrated Report was released on Jan. 22, 2019, and made available for public comment through Feb. 21, 2019. Comments were received from the public and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response to comments, the report was revised and resubmitted to EPA on Aug. 6, 2019, via hard copy and uploaded to the Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) online reporting system. EPA approved the revised report on Sept. 16, 2019. The Public Comments and Response document contains comments received on the draft report and DEQ’s responses.
The 2018 IR Fact Sheet provides a quick overview of the report, the data used to generate the report and the results. It also includes updates on water quality restoration progress through state led programs.
The summary presentation on the Draft 2018 Integrated Report contains statistics presented at the public information webinar held Feb. 13, 2019. The presentation recording is also available. After you register, the video will begin.
The entire Final 2018 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report is a 40.7 MB ZIP file available for download or scroll down to view and download the smaller individual components of the report.
All chapters of the report are Microsoft Word files. The appendices and supplemental files are Word and PDF documents except for the Stations table which is an Excel worksheet. Visit DEQ’s help page if you are unable to view these files.
Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
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 Freshwater Probabilistic Monitoring Results
Chapter 4.5 Estuarine Probabilistic Monitoring Results
Chapter 4.6 Chesapeake Bay Assessment Results
Chapter 4.7 Trends Analysis Results
Chapter 5 Non-Point Source Assessment
Chapter 6 Groundwater Programs Assessment
Chapter 7 Water Quality Programs
Chapter 7.1 Water Pollution Control Programs (VPDES and TMDLs)
Chapter 7.2 303(d) Program Visions
Chapter 7.3 Pollution Prevention Programs
Chapter 7.4 Cost/Benefit Associated with Construction Assistance Program
Chapter 7.5 Public Health/Aquatic Life Concerns
Chapter 7.6 Coastal Resources Management Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.7 Chesapeake Bay Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.8 Wetlands Program Initiatives
Chapter 7.9 Regional Water Quality Initiatives
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 2018 (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 Identified for Delisting since the 2016 Report
Appendix 3 Waters Identified for Delisting since the 2016 Report
Appendix 4 Waters Delisted Due to Removal of Designated Use
Appendix 5 Fact Sheets for Impaired (Category 4 or 5) Waters (includes all basins)
Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean and Small Coastal Basin Fact Sheets
Chowan River and Dismal Swamp Basin Fact Sheets
James River Basin Fact Sheets
New River Basin Fact Sheets
Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers Basin Fact Sheets
Rappahannock River Basin Fact Sheets
Roanoke and Yadkin Rivers Basin Fact Sheets
Tennessee and Big Sandy Rivers Basin Fact Sheets
York River Basin Fact Sheets
Appendix 6 Clean Water Act References
Appendix 7 List of Significant Lakes
Appendix 8 Assessment Monitoring Stations Key and List
STATEWIDE, BASIN and CHESAPEAKE BAY MAPS - Electronic versions of the assessment maps are available for download/viewing. Each map is a PDF between 1 MB and 12 MB formatted to fit on an 11x17 page except for the Chesapeake Bay maps which are 8.5x11. For more detailed information on impaired waters identified on these maps, 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) 2002-2018
Virginia's Section 303(d) Waters
Distribution of Impaired Waters
Waters Impaired for Fish Consumption
Bacteria Impairments
Dissolved Oxygen Impairments
Benthic Impairments
TMDL Completion Status
Water Quality Restoration Progress
Shellfishing Designated Use Support Status
BASIN MAPS:
Chesapeake Bay/Atlantic Ocean and Small Coastal Basin
Chowan River and Dismal Swamp Basin
Lower James River Basin
Middle James River Basin
Upper James River Basin
New River Basin
Potomac River Basin
Rappahannock Basin
Roanoke and Yadkin Rivers Basin
Shenandoah River Basin
Tennessee and Big Sandy Rivers Basin
York River 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 is available for download from this website.
Interactive Mapping:
Virginia Environmental Geographic Information Systems (VEGIS) - The impaired waters identified in this report can be viewed using DEQ's online GIS application which allows users to zoom to an area of interest and retrieve assessment information for specific waters. Appendix 5 can be used in conjunction with VEGIS to search for details on impaired waters.
Additional Information:
To obtain reports from previous assessment cycles, contact Cleo Baker or Amanda Shaver.
The Final 2018 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual, released Dec. 20, 2018, is also available.