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Cowpasture tributaries earn Tier III status
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | Cowpasture River Preservation Association president Joe Wood (l-r), along with CRPA members Jean Ann Manner and Michael Jamison, show off the plaque presented to the organization by DEQ regional director Steven Dietrich Saturday night in Millboro. The CRPA was recognized for its efforts in helping the state designate three Cowpasture River tributaries as "Exceptional State Waters." (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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MILLBORO - Four years after the Cowpasture River Preservation Association nominated the Cowpasture River and tributaries for inclusion in the Exceptional State Waters program, the Department of Environmental Quality presented the organization a certificate in recognition of its efforts.
Saturday night, Steven Dietrich, DEQ Regional Director, presented a plaque to the CRPA "in recognition of their efforts toward the designation, effective Sept. 11, 2007, of Blue Suck Branch, Downy Branch and the North Fork Simpson Creek as Exceptional State Waters."
The three tributaries of the Cowpasture River designated as exceptional state waters are located in Alleghany County and were included in the program after approval by the Environmental Protection Agency.
 | | The CRPA information display explains the purpose of the organization and gives information about the water quality testing carried out each month year-a-round by volunteers. Some aspects of the CRPA testing program, along with the volunteer program state-wide, are at risk due to budget cuts. The Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Program has provided training and grants to schools and other volunteers across the state since 2000. The Governor's budget eliminated money for the program in FY 2008 through 2010. Amendments to restore funding for the program are pending with action on the budget. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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Designation came after "almost four years, six (Water Control) Board meetings, three comment periods, and two meetings with the local community," David Whitehurst said in a recent CRPA newsletter. Whitehurst is the water quality standards analyst in the water quality standards program in the DEQ central office in Richmond.
The exceptional state waters program, also know as Tier III, is part of the three-tiered approach to maintaining and protecting water quality mandated in every state by federal EPA regulations. "To qualify as an exceptional state water, the water body must be in a locations of outstand- ing scenic beauty and either have exceptional aquatic communities or superior recreational opportunities. Some waters may have all three characteristics," said Whitehurst.
Dietrich told the 35 CRPA members and guest gathered at Jean Howell's River Bend Farm, the Tier III designation indicates "how truly special these waters are to the quality of life to all Virginians." He thanked the CRPA for nominating the bodies of water for Tier III designation and for support throughout the rule making process.
Jean Ann Manner and Michael Jamison joined CRPA president Joe Wood in accepting the certificate. Manner and Jamison both live in Alleghany County. Jamison was referred to during the evening as "Mr. Simpson Creek" for his activities to protect the creek on which he lives.
The CRPA nomination was presented to the State Water Control Board on October 28, 2003 and nominated the entire mainstem of the Cowpasture River from the Highland/ Bath county line to its confluence with the Jackson River, along with all of Simpson Creek and its tributaries.
The nomination almost immediately hit rough water. A split quickly developed in Bath County between landowners along the river who feared more intrusion of government into private property rights and those who felt the Tier III designation offered an opportunity to protect the river and its tributaries.
Once designated as Tier III, the state will not allow any new or increased point source discharges into the waters. Point sources are permanent locations discharging pollutants into a water body such as a pipe from a sewage treatment facility or treated water from a manufacturing plant.
In December 2003, the Bath County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose the Tier III designation for the Cowpasture before any of the informational meetings had been held in the county. In the early months of 2004, Bath board members traveled to neighboring governing bodies to encourage them to also oppose the designation.
Highland County supervisors and town councils in Clifton Forge and Iron Gate voted to support the Bath County opposition. The Alleghany County supervisors originally voted to support Tier III for all the nominated waters.
Bath supervisor Richard Byrd told Highland supervisors in early February 2004, "We feel confident, if Tier III is imposed, all control over that river will be taken out of local hands, out of landowner's hands."
Byrd mentioned the likely need for a sewage treatment facility in Millboro Springs and in McDowell as local needs that would be blocked by the Tier III designation for the Cowpasture.
Jamison was at the same Highland board meeting along with CRPA member Ellen Ford. Both spoke in support of the program. Ford said "there was no additional burden of regulation."
In early April 2004, the Friends of the Cowpasture River group formed to present an organized opposition to the Tier III designation before the SWCB. The 30 or so citizens at the first meeting included people from Bath, Alleghany and Covington.
At the March 23, 2004 meeting of the SWCB, the DEQ reported almost 900 citizen comments were received. Seventy nine percent of the comments favored designation and 21 percent opposed. The board delayed a decision on beginning the rule making process until the June meeting.
In mid-April, The Recorder discovered a 26-mile section of the Cowpasture River had been placed on the state's impaired waters list released in late March. The river was listed for fecal coliform counts above EPA limits.
While no one seemed to think the impaired listing really impacted or reflected the water quality of the Cowpasture, the listing, along with citizen and government opposition, doomed the part of the nomination including the Cowpasture in Bath.
With the Bath section removed, the Alleghany government withdrew support of designation for the part of the river in that county. In October, 2004 the SWCB directed DEQ to begin the rule making process. A public meeting was held at Dabney Lancaster Community College in November 2004.
In March 2005, following the report by the DEQ and review of public comment, SWCB directed DEQ to continue evaluations of those portions of Simpson Creek and tributaries flowing through government lands.
At the June 1, 2006 meeting of the SWCB, the board unanimously approved designation of the three streams remaining, Blue Suck Branch, Downy Branch and North Fork Simpson Creek. The EPA letter of approval was received in July 2007, effective Sept. 11, 2007.
Saturday night, CRPA members focused on the positive results of the process begun over four years ago. Dietrich recalled the "extraordinary efforts" of CRPA member Ed Walters, who died last year.
John Cowden, who with his wife owns Fort Lewis Lodge along the Cowpasture River, said the long term impact of the Tier III designation will be positive for the area. The Cowpasture River and the quality of rivers and streams in the Highlands is a valuable marketing tool, he said.
"A lot of the amenities we offer depend on the river," Cowden noted. Landowners and citizens will work to maintain that water quality, with and without the Tier III designation, he said.
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