Virginia Coastal Zone Management - Summer/Fall 2008
In 1990, a 10.2 mile section of the Chickahominy River,in Hanover and Henrico counties was designated as a state Scenic River by the Virginia Scenic Rivers Program. The downstream sections of the Chickahominy River are potential Scenic River sites. The watershed includes many “very high” and “outstanding” parcels of land based on Virginia’s new CELCP Priority Areas article and map.
News Around the Zone Features:
Chickahominy River Recreational Access Study
A million and a half people live within an hour’s drive of the Chickahominy watershed. This spectacular natural area is visited by millions more every year. The river, which weaves almost a hundred miles through wetlands and diverse habitats, has enormous eco-tourism potential. Every year, thousands of bass anglers launch boats on the river. However, public access on the river for canoeists and kayakers is extremely limited. Many paddlers are forced to use a patchy network of informal put-ins to access the water.
The Chickahominy River Recreational Access Study was published in October 2007 by the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission with funding from Virginia CZM to provide relevant information for creating a system of blue-ways on the river.
The study explores the Chickahominy River watershed - its natural, historical, recreational, and tourism resources. It describes existing and potential water access sites along the river and its main tributaries for canoeing and kayaking. Finally, it looks at current plans to provide recreational access in the watershed and suggestions for developing blue-ways and increasing access to the water.
The guide is available online at http://richmondregional.org/Publications/reportsdocs.htm.
Dragon Run Biodiesel Partnership
Under the Dragon Run Special Area Management Plan, the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, the Virginia CZM Program and Virginia Clean Cities partnered to establish a biodiesel partnership program between local farmers and area school systems in the Dragon Run watershed. The goal of the partnership is to economically support traditional industries and encourage environmental preservation of the Dragon Run watershed.
Local school boards in Middlesex, Gloucester, King and Queen, and Essex counties have passed resolutions to run school bus fleets off cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel blends and retrofit older buses with emissions-reducing technology. These retrofits can reduce pollution emissions in diesel-powered buses by 60-90 percent, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as improve fuel efficiency, cut down maintenance costs, and provide cleaner air for area children. The biodiesel fuel, made from locally-grown soy beans, supports the local farm product market in hopes that farmers will continue to farm more than 60,000 acres dedicated to soy bean production in the Middle Peninsula rather than sell their land for housing development.
Enery Returned and Energy Invested: Soy vs. Corn
U.S. Dept. of Energy and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture analyses show soy biodiesel has a positive energy balance of 320 percent (it yields 320 percent more energy than it takes to produce) and that corn ethanol has a positive energy balance of 34 percent. These studies take into account all of the fossil energy used to produce the fuels during planting, harvesting, production and transportation to the end user. So where does all that positive energy come from? The sun!
To facilitate the transition to biodiesel, an EPA Clean School Bus USA grant was awarded to the Hampton Roads Clean Cities Coalition. The funding enables participating counties to retrofit more than 100 school buses and will assist with the cost differential between biodiesel and petroleum diesel, enabling biodiesel use at no additional cost to the counties. School superintendents and school bus fleet managers were educated to vary biodiesel blends to control its cost – a technique which will promote sustainability of biodiesel use in many districts. Two of the four counties, Gloucester and King and Queen, have already converted their school buses to biodiesel and are supporting local farmers.
For biodiesel to have a substantial, favorable impact on conserving the traditional Dragon Run lifestyle, it must be marketed by farmers as a value-added product benefitting the local community. Support for biodiesel use will need to extend through the supply chain and user groups from large government fleets to single private vehicles. Education and marketing to promote its use will be integral, and include “branding” the link between biodiesel and protection of the Dragon Run’s traditional industry. The marketing slogan – “Dragon Power” – helps communicate how the biodiesel network fosters a more vital farm economy, maintains open space, preserves the rural lifestyle, and sustains the use of native natural resources.
– by Sara Stamp, MPPDC
Note: Algae grown in cylinders on farms may provide even higher energy conservation efficiency. Read more on the web at http://vcerc.org/biodiesel.htm and in future issues of Virginia Coastal Zone Management.
Delmarva Grapples with Growth
The Delaware, Maryland and Virginia CZM Programs, along with their Atlantic coast counties of Sussex, Worcester, Accomack and Northampton and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program formed a group in 2004 called the Delmarva Atlantic Watershed Network. See http://thedelmarvanetwork.org/. The network’s focus is to look at this section of Atlantic coast from a regional perspective to see how cooperative efforts might better deal with increasing populations and better protect Atlantic coast resources.
After a few initial workshops in 2005, one of the first things we’ve accomplished has been to install CommunityViz software in all four counties and run build-out analyses. This software uses maps to show the maximum number of dwelling units that could be built given the county’s current zoning allowances and currently unbuildable areas. The software can also calculate how nitrogen and phosphorous would be added to receiving waters, water use requirements and other parameters associated with build out.
Planning professional and CommunityViz expert Chuck Donley was hired with Maryland and Virginia CZM funds to show the impacts from future build out on prime agricultural soils, green infrastructure, and wildlife habitat areas. The Virginia CZM funding was part of our Seaside Heritage Program. Donley also showed staff how to factor in attributes such as aquaculture operations, seagrass coverage, and sea level rise. The grant funds are also providing training for county staff to become proficient in updating their CommunityViz programs with proposed or new zoning. The tool allows staff to compare current land use with future build out scenarios and compare and contrast those with surrounding counties. It should help county supervisors meet the demands of their constituents for economic prosperity and environmental health. The graph below depicts output from the CommuityViz software showing the existing numbers of dwelling units in Accomack and Northampton counties and the potential number of dwelling units that could be built, given current zoning restrictions. In other words, current zoning would allow for roughly a tripling of dwelling units in each county - a realization that’s causing both counties to reconsider current zoning allowances.
For more information about Northampton’s efforts contact Sandra Benson at sbenson@co.northampton.va.us and for Accomack’s efforts contact Jim McGowan at jmcgowan@co.accomack.va.us.
– by Laura McKay, Virginia CZM