A recently released state water quality report designates 45 Lynchburg area streams and lakes as impaired — most because they contain too much E. coli.
Local results are similar to those statewide, according to a 2,500-page draft study compiled by the Department of Environmental Quality.
The report adds more than 1,600 miles of streams and rivers throughout the state to the impaired list, but that’s mostly because more waterways — 16,191 miles, or 31 percent, of all state waters — were assessed.
In the last study in 2006, 28 percent of the state’s waters were assessed.
It’s impossible for DEQ staff to assess every single mile of every stream in the state, so every two-year cycle monitoring staff in each district try to visit at least one stream in each watershed, said Amanda Gray, DEQ water planning engineer in the Lynchburg office.
Sampling for chemical and bacterial analysis is simple, usually with a staff member collecting a bucketful of water from a state-maintained bridge, Gray said.
The analysis standards give a snapshot, but the best data come from doing a test that looks at what kind of insects, worms and other animals without a backbone live in the streambed habitat, Gray said. That method tells scientists whether the water can support a good quality of life in the stream.
The draft study says four streams are impaired in Bedford County because of the low levels of insect life. Two each in Campbell and Amherst also are listed for that reason.
The is the first year this type of data from the South Central region has been included in the study because scientists were having difficulty finding a way to properly analyze the information in a meaningful way, DEQ biologist Mike Shaver said.
Waterways are listed as impaired if quality tests are failed more than 10.5 percent of the time, if they fail as little as one test by an egregious margin, or if the waterway has a health department fish consumption advisory listed, DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said.
The James and Staunton Rivers and Smith Mountain Lake have consumption advisories on PCBs, and the Staunton River has an advisory because of high mercury levels in some fish.
The most frequent impairment to Virginia waters affects recreation because of E. coli levels. While that impairment usually affects swimming and wading, it also can impact shellfishing areas near the Chesapeake Bay, Hayden said.
The DEQ uses E. coli counts as an indicator of how many harmful bacteria are floating around because “it indicates usually some sort of human or animal waste pollution problem,” Hayden said.
But just because a waterway is recreationally impaired due to E. coli doesn’t mean the waterway is always unsafe for swimming.
“It’s a precaution. We like to tell people don’t get in after a heavy rain. It’s a common-sense thing,” Gray said. “It is a natural system. It’s not a pool and you have to use your judgment.”
E. coli levels are usually much higher after a heavy rain because water running off collects pollutants and bacteria and puts it in streams. While there are many natural sources, there are many more man-made sources, Hayden said.
“That’s why bacteria is the most prevalent pollution issue, because it comes from so many possible sources that it ends up in such a large number of streams.”
Here’s a look at what the draft study showed about how counties in the Lynchburg region fared:
Lynchburg
All major streams in Lynchburg are listed as impaired due to high levels of E. coli; a Total Maximum Daily Load study is being developed to make the water meet standards. The cause listed in the study for Blackwater Creek, Ivy Creek and Fishing Creek is the combined sewer overflows, which are gradually being disconnected by the city. Other sources include general runoff.
Amherst County
Of the 13 impaired streams and lakes in Amherst County, four have problems affecting aquatic life. Those problems include low oxygen levels and higher than normal acidity in Stonehouse Creek Reservoir and Thrashers Creek Reservoir. Pedlar Reservoir had similar problems in previous studies, but was removed from the 2008 list because DEQ determined the causes were natural.
Small sections of Long Branch and the Buffalo River are impaired because of low aquatic life due to an unknown cause.
Other streams sections — including those on the Pedlar River, the Buffalo River, Harris Creek, Graham Creek, Piney River and the Tye River — are considered impaired because of E. coli. The causes for the high E. coli levels on the Tye River, Piney River and Pedlar River are due to agriculture, wildlife and runoff. All other sources are unknown.
On the flip side, upper portions of the Pedlar and Buffalo Rivers are listed on the state’s exceptional waters list, which was not included in the draft study.
Appomattox County
Only three streams in Appomattox County are listed as impaired, all with high levels of E. coli. They are Bent Creek, Stonewall Creek and Wreck Island Creek. The sources are unknown and the test fail rates, how often the levels exceed standards, were between 16 percent and 22 percent.
Bedford County
The Big Otter River watershed in Bedford County has been under a plan to clean bacteria out of the water since 2004, but seven streams are still considered impaired for various reasons. Four of those waters flow into the Big Otter River. Almost 14 miles of the Big Otter River were taken off the impaired list because the E. coli levels were lowered.
Judith Creek, which feeds into the James River, is impaired because of E. coli levels and is under the same clean-up plan as those for Lynchburg streams.
Goose Creek and Wolf Creek are also impaired because of E. coli levels, which are from livestock, septic systems, development and general runoff, the study said.
Campbell County
Of the 13 streams listed as impaired in Campbell County, 12 are impacted by high levels of E. coli bacteria. Five streams in the Falling River watershed are listed as impaired because of bacteria, with the major source coming from livestock, according to a 2004 DEQ study. The Little Falling River and Entry Creek are also listed as impaired because the water had two tests that showed it was acidic. The state is in the process of implementing a detailed plan to remove E. coli from the Falling River.
Buffalo Creek, which flows in and out of Campbell and Bedford counties, is also impaired because of high bacteria levels and a low level of bottom aquatic life. The roughly 8-mile section of the creek with low aquatic life is due to surrounding land use, which is residential, and the creek has an increasing sedimentation, erosion and high storm flows, the draft said.
Major Waterways
The James River, Staunton River, Leesville Lake and Smith Mountain Lake are all considered impaired, but for different reasons.
Leesville Lake and sections of the James River are impaired from E. coli, while Smith Mountain Lake and the James and Staunton rivers have fish consumption advisories for PCBs. Additionally, the Staunton River has a consumption advisory for mercury, a contamination discovered in large striped bass and several other large fish species last summer. Leesville Lake is also listed has having an aquatic organism impact because of low oxygen levels.
Several sections of the James River were removed from the impaired waters list because the E. coli tests came back with in the normal range
For your info
- The draft study is available on line at www.deq.state.va.us/wqa/305b2008.html.
- The report’s findings will be presented statewide through a simultaneous teleconference at all seven DEQ regional offices and the Richmond DEQ central office on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The closest office is South Central Regional Office, 7705 Timberlake Road, Lynchburg. For directions or questions, contact Amanda Gray, 434-582-6227 or abgray@deq.virginia.gov.
- To learn more about fish consumption advisories, go to: www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemioogy/publichealthtoxicology/Advisories/index.htm
- To learn more about the state’s exceptional waters list, go to: www.deq.virginia.gov/wqs/exceptional.html
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