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Strait Creek water quality questioned
By: James Jacenich • Staff writer
MONTEREY - The state is conducting a study of West Strait Creek and Strait Creek to determine level of impairment. Dr. Robert N. Brent of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality told a group of Highland residents at a public hearing Tuesday that a "Total Maximum Daily Load" study began in February and should be completed by November.
Not everyone was convinced the creeks were impaired or that anything needed to be done about it if they were.
"I've lived here for 15 years," said Monterey town councilman Francis Fenn. "I've never seen minnows above the sewage treatment plan. I see minnows below the sewage treatment plant." His point was that impairment, which Brent characterized as "pretty severe" below the town's sewage treatment plant, must not be that bad if minnows are living in it.
Brent said he couldn't explain the reason for fishbelow the plant but not above it. "I'm not saying there are not fishdown there," he said. "Our primary method of monitoring the stream is (by observing) the bugs.
"DEQ routinely monitors the quality of waters across the state and reports those results every two years," he said. "In the last report, West Strait Creek and Strait Creek were listed as 'impaired' for aquatic life."
Brent explained, "That means the stream does not fully support a healthy and diverse aquatic life."
The assessment is based on the collection and identification of benthic macroinvertebrates (bugs). "The numbers and kinds of benthic macroinvertegrates collected are compared to a healthy reference condition," Brent said.
"Bugs are an important source of food for fish. Bugs consume nutrients and are good indicators of pollutants and overall stream health." The stream has to have the right kind of bugs to make for a healthy and natural environment, he concluded.
The past assessment showed slight impairment overall, with conditions "much worse" below the sewage treatment plant, said Brent.
Fenn persisted, "It seems to me, if West Strait Creek is impaired, the sewage treatment plant (plans for a new plant are at DEQ for a preliminary engineering review) would have gotten a higher priority. You would have moved them to the head of the line. What you are saying is, 'We are not too concerned.'"
Brent said DEQ was concerned.
Larry Simmons, deputy regional director of the Valley Regional Officeof DEQ, told Fenn budget constraints and lack of personnel had delayed the review of the town's plans for the proposed treatment plant upgrade. He said a DEQ officialin Roanoke was reviewing the plans and he expected a completed report soon.
County resident Roger Canfieldasked if the impairment to the stream was due entirely to the sewage treatment plant.
"Some other things are going on upstream and some other things are going on downstream," said Brent. "While it is the primary driver (of the impairment), it is not the only driver."
Highland County Board of Supervisors chairman Jerry Rexrode asked a series of leading questions apparently intended to get DEQ to admit that natural forces, not manmade, were responsible for the level of sedimentation in the creek. Sedimentation is also a factor in stream degradation, Brent had explained.
"Give some examples of possible stressors and most probable stressors," said Rexrode.
"Sediment fills in spaces around rocks and cobbles, crowds out living space for bugs - it's a very common stressor in this region," said Brent. "Nutrients, phosphorous, nitrogen, are common pollutants for aquatic life impairments. The two most common stressors are sediment and nutrients."
"How do you control sediment?" Rexrode replied. "I've got a reason for asking."
"On agricultural lands, you keep livestock out of the stream, put up riparian buffers, trees hold banks in place, reduce sediment from bank erosion - those are probably some of the best practices," Brent said.
"How about natural erosion?" Fenn asked. "What do you do about it?"
"We're not talking about addressing that; a little bit is fine, too much can be a problem," said Brent.
"Some of us call it Mother Nature," said Rexrode.
Resident John Sweet said some sedimentation could be due to runoff from parking lots and other manmade features and clearly additional nutrients and pollutants were coming from the sewage treatment plant.
Fenn noted from the data on stream impairment presented by Brent that the stream returned to near acceptable levels of contamination around seven miles downstream from the sewage treatment, which indicated the stream was cleaning itself.
DEQ's TMDL study is step one in the process to clean up a water body.
Step 2 is a cleanup plan. That's when specific remedies are applied to the creeks and surrounding areas that feed the creeks to correct the problems. Those might include planting trees along the stream bank or curtailing specific points of direct contamination (such as from the sewage treatment plant).
The state will use a combination of financial incentives and sciencebased persuasion to get landowners along the creek to implement strategies to clean up the creek.
DEQ can't force citizens to take the actions necessary - all measures are voluntary, said Brent. "There is no enforcement through this program. No one can say the study says we need 50 percent reduction in sediment from pastureland. The tact from the program is to provide the incentives and the money to get people to voluntarily participate in the practices."
Monitoring follows stream improvement practices. DEQ will use computer modeling to determine the amount of pollution needed to bring about the desired changes to the stream and to evaluate the effect a change in the amount of pollutants entering the stream has on overall stream health.
The process ends when the standards are met, Brent said.
Those attending Tuesday's meeting were asked to sign in and indicate their willingness to be a part of a steering committee made up of local citizens, landowners, organizations and government that will provide input, review and assistance to DEQ during the study. "The steering group's goal is to make sure the technical aspects of the study are accurate as well as acceptable to the community," said Brent. "You guys know the area and the watershed," he said.
The steering committee's first meeting is set for 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, May 14 at the Highland Modular Conference Center in Monterey.
The comment period for the public meeting ends May 22. Brent asked that questions or comments be sent to him: Robert N. Brent, Regional TMDL Coordinator, 4411 Early Road, P.O. Box 3000, Harrisonburg, VA 22801, email rnbrent@ deq.virginia.gov or phone (540) 574-7848.
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