Ways to cut polluting Madison rivers eyed

The status of the Chesapeake Bay may be the last thing on your mind when you curb your dog. The view of cows drinking from a stream may mean nothing more to you than beauty.

But these everyday occurrences here in Madison County can potentially contribute to pollution downstream, according to Deirdre Clark, a regional planner with the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission.

The waterways and groundwater within the county and the surrounding area eventually feed into the Chesapeake Bay, whose elevated pollution has depleted oxygen levels and led to a loss of fish and other forms of life.

The department of environmental quality has regularly tested the streams within the bay’s watershed for the past 20 years to pinpoint areas that may be contributing to its water quality issues. Despite the government-directed effort, it appears the bay is continuing to deteriorate, according to Clark.

Although some of the bay’s pollution is due to more large-scale dumping of chemicals and untreated sewage, there are also actions that can be taken on a much smaller scale to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay, regional officials say.

“Whether it’s a citizen spreading fertilizer on their lawn or a farmer moving livestock out of a stream or someone getting ready to build a building, it’s a collective responsibility to maintain a public resource,” said Clark, who is one of many local, regional and state government representatives developing a plan to improve the quality of local streams within the bay’s watershed.

The polluted streams are identified as exceeding the “Total Maximum Daily Load,” or “TMDL,” which means they contain pollution levels that are higher than water quality standards for recreational, human use.

The Hazel, Hughes and Rush rivers – that are fed by waterways and land within Madison, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties – have been identified as among the many streams that are polluted, and thus partially responsible for the bay’s pollution.

Part of the solution effort is to develop a pollution reduction plan for residents within these streams’ watershed, which includes those living in the Nethers and Etlan areas.

Different possible sources of pollution identified in the study include, livestock and pets defecating in waterways, failing septic systems and the use of “straight pipes,” which deliver waste directly into streams without any type of water treatment process.

Some of the actions officials encourage include removing straight pipes and pumping out or fixing septic tanks as well as preventing livestock from defecating in waterways by either installing fencing or planting forested “riparian buffer” areas around streams.

Currently, the suggested actions in these plans have been something landowners can pursue voluntarily, paying for the improvements using their own money and some grant funds that are available.

But it’s unclear how much longer the program will remain this way, according to regional officials.

“Despite all the models, and efforts to increase water quality in the bay, the conditions of the bay have progressively deteriorated,” Clark said, adding that a series of stories on this topic were recently published in a Washington, D.C.-based daily newspaper.

Eventually, the federal government may say, “‘Okay, we’ve given you 20 years to fix this and it’s not getting better so let’s put all of these voluntary programs aside and say you must do this,’” the regional planner said.

Clark is concerned about the changes that could take place when and if the federal government decides to make this a mandatory program.

“When it does become mandatory who knows what the availability of funds will be,” she said.

Currently, there are cost-share programs that can cover between 75-80 percent of the cost of certain actions farmers can take to improve their streams’ water quality, including stream fencing.

“But even 25 percent [of the cost] can be a substantial amount of money. It’s still a huge cost to the landowner,” she said.

Officials are still in the process of developing the pollution reduction plan for the Upper Hazel River watershed, which is expected to be completed in April.
Two upcoming public meetings will provide an opportunity for residents and local officials to provide input and receive information about the plan.

The “government workgroup” meeting is set for 3-5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12 and the “agricultural workgroup” meeting is set for later that same day at 7-9 p.m. Both meetings will take place in the Corporate Training Suite 221 at the Daniel Technology Center on Germanna Community College’s Culpeper campus.

For information, visit the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission’s Web site at www.rrregion.org/tmdl_hhr.html or contact the commission by calling (540) 829-7450.