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Protecting, restoring, and strengthening our coastal ecosystems and economy


Virginia Coastal Program News

Spring 98 Issue

The articles below were published in an archival issue of the Virginia Coastal Program News.  Please be aware that information contained in these articles are dated, and phone numbers and e-mail addresses may no longer be valid.  For more information on the current status of the programs or projects mentioned in these articles, contact the newsletter editor.

Message From the Secretary

As Secretary of Natural Resources I look forward to working with Governor Jim Gilmore and Virginia's eight natural resources agencies and the other Secretariats, to protect and enhance the natural and cultural resources of this Commonwealth. Virginia's coastal area is diverse and extensive, with oceanfront shoreline, estuaries and tidal rivers. It includes over 5,000 miles of shoreline, reaches as far as 100 miles inland and three miles out to the territorial sea boundary into the Atlantic Ocean, and includes the Chesapeake Bay and portions of the Albermarle-Pamlico watershed. It is among our most extraordinary and important resources.

The Virginia Coastal Program, through the Department of Environmental Quality, provides a unique opportunity to coordinate state and federal activities which affect our coastal area. For the past 13 years, the Virginia Coastal Program has worked with federal agencies and Virginia's state agencies, planning district commissions, and local governments to protect and manage our coastal resources by reducing nutrient enrichment and pollution of our coastal waterways, by providing opportunities for sustainable economic development, and by preserving public lands for conservation and recreation.

Between 1995 and 1997, the Virginia Coastal Program helped restore riparian buffers on more than 25,000 feet, nearly 5 miles, of shoreline on public lands in Tidewater Virginia. During the next four years, the program will play an important role in continuing to restore and expand riparian buffers which shield our coastal waters, lakes, rivers and streams from nonpoint source pollution, and provide essential wildlife habitat.

I am particularly impressed by the progress the Virginia Coastal Program has made with new initiatives and implementation of innovative approaches to effective coastal resource management. For example, the Port of Cape Charles Eco-Industrial Park in Northampton County on Virginia's Eastern Shore demonstrates a cooperative effort between state and federal agencies, the local community and business to promote development of a zero-emissions business park. The park will demonstrate resource efficiency and pollution prevention, including a water recycling system and a material reuse exchange, and a natural area preserve on the adjacent beach. The park is a component of a sustainable development plan to stimulate economic growth in the county while protecting its unique natural and cultural resources.

This April a new State Natural Area Management Preserve will be dedicated at New Point Comfort on the shores of Mathews County. The establishment of this preserve demonstrates a cooperative approach among DCR, DEQ/Coastal Program, TNC and Mathews County, to managing public lands and ensuring conservation of valuable coastal resources. A new boardwalk at the preserve recognizes the importance of providing appropriate public access and effectively educating the public about the value of the Commonwealth's natural resources. From the boardwalk, visitors can view the preserve's extensive marshland, the historic New Point Comfort lighthouse, and over 200 species of birds.

As we set goals for the future, Governor Jim Gilmore and I look forward to working with the Virginia Coastal Program and all Virginians to preserve and enhance our coastal lands and waters for future generations.

John Paul Woodley, Jr. was sworn in as Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia on January 18, 1998. As Deputy Attorney General for Government Operations under then- Attorney General Jim Gilmore, Mr. Woodley provided legal support to all agencies of the Natural Resources Secretariat, and supervised several major successful environmental enforcement actions. In 1996, Mr. Woodley was principle staff support for the Governor's Commission on Environmental Stewardship. This Commission, chaired by then-Attorney General Gilmore, issued a report providing a blueprint for responsible environmental protection in Virginia, now and in the future.

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CBNERRS News:

Final Plans for CBNERRS Education Center

Initial plans for an educational center at the York River State Park and Taskinas Creek component of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia have been drawn up.

The plans call for a dormitory area housing up to 35 people, a large lecture room, kitchen and dining room, and a small wet lab. Bids for construction will go out in the spring. Staff hope to begin using the center by the end of 1998. For more information, please call David Niebhur, NERRS, at (804) 642-7144 or e-mailniebuhr@vims.edu.

Law and business students to get a taste of oceanography

The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has received a $70,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a pilot program at the College of William and Mary to teach future lawyers and business leaders the basics of marine science. The program, entitled "Marine Science for Graduate Students in Law and Business," will expose students to marine science in order to give them the ability to make "informed decisions about coastal issues" as they grow in their professional lives and careers. Grant money will support research and development of a "survey tool to determine specific needs and format for presentation of the program." The program should be ready for testing in other interested business and law school programs by the 1998-1999 academic year. For more information, please contact David Niebuhr at (804) 684-7144 or e-mailniebuhr@vims.edu.

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Managing the Waterways of Hampton Roads

The Hampton Roads region* contains a vast network of waterways, including canals, rivers, bays and oceanfront. These waterways contain unique natural resources and are integral to the region's identity, character, economy and quality of life. Of particular note, they provide the region with a great variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, such as boating, fishing, water skiing, sailing, windsurfing, surfing, swimming and nature observation.

Hampton Roads is also one of the fastest growing areas in the state. This rapid growth has resulted in an increasing number of people who enjoy water-based recreational activities. These increased numbers have given rise to use conflicts as the spatial and natural limitations of the region's waterways are being realized. Conflicts or incompatibilities have occurred between recreational users, existing natural resources and waterfront residents. If these conflicts go unadvised, they can be expected to increase and cause an overall decline in the public safety, recreational, and environmental well-being of our coastal waterways.

Multiple-use waterway planning takes a comprehensive approach to managing coastal waters by simultaneously addressing public safety, environmental and recreational issues. It is this approach that the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission has adopted in its effort to resolve use conflicts in the region. In 1996, with a grant from the Virginia Coastal Program, the PDC initiated a waterway management study, and has developed pilot management plans for two waterways in Hampton Roads -- the Hampton River located in Hampton and the Lynnhaven River system located in Virginia Beach.

PDC staff held meetings and interviews with representatives from various state and local agencies and regional interest groups to gather information regarding current waterway use conflicts and obstacles to conflict resolution. Representatives included staff from the Virginia Coastal Program, Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Hampton Roads Recreational Safe Boating Coalition.

State park managers, and officials from local parks and recreation, planning and marine patrol officers were also interviewed. Representatives were invited to share potential management alternatives. Information from a simultaneous study on boating safety by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has also been integrated into the waterway management study, as has input received during public meetings and local advisory committee meetings. Overall response to the PDC study has been positive and enthusiastic.

The Waterway Management Study has identified two key issues of concern in the region:

  1. A lack of awareness by the recreational public of existing natural resources in waterways and the impacts their activities may have on these resources.
  2. A lack of understanding by watercraft operators of existing waterway regulations and rules of navigation and safety.

Some areas of the region's waterways have become extremely congested and have exceeded their spatial and environmental carrying capacity, causing accidents and a decline in water quality. Limitations that currently restrict efforts to manage waterway uses were also found and included: limited funding, confusion about the extent of state and local authorities on public coastal waters, a lack of interagency communication on waterway use issues, and a lack of legal authority by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to pass rules to protect natural resources from recreational water uses. These issues need to be addressed in order to more effectively manage use conflicts in Virginia's coastal waters.

The goal of the pilot waterway management plans prepared for the Hampton River and the Lynnhaven River system in this study is to help guide local waterway planning efforts should they be undertaken in a more comprehensive manner by the region's localities. The plans provide information on the legal and institutional waterway use management framework, and recommend management options and actions (educational, administrative, legal or financial) to reduce waterway use conflict in the region. The plans stress enhancing the public's knowledge of existing natural resources in the region's waterways and of the existing waterway regulations and rules of navigation and safety.

Although increased public education of existing waterway regulations is the preferred management alternative, the provision of supplemental regulatory measures may also be necessary to reduce certain waterway use conflicts. Regulatory measures recommended by the plans include: the establishment a "slow-no wake zone" within 50 feet of all vessels, shorelines, docks, swimmers and other waterway users; restricting vessel parking along beaches in narrow waterways to a designated vessel parking area (vessels parked along beaches in very narrow waterways currently hinder the flow of other vessel traffic); and prohibiting fishing in heavily trafficked areas to certain hours (this restriction already exists along the oceanfront in Virginia Beach). The plan also recommends increasing public access in areas that have been identified as potential access sites.

Educational tools recommended by the plan include posting signs about existing waterway rules where none exist and developing a comprehensive guide to Virginia Beach's waterways. A similar waterways guide has been produced by the Florida Coastal Program and provides waterway users with information about existing public access and facilities (boat ramps, marinas, fueling and pump out stations); and existing federal state and local regulations, rules of courtesy, boating safety and navigational hazards. The guide also provides information about the environmental impacts of certain boating behaviors.

The PDC will present its study findings at the Marine and Estuarine Shallow Water Conference in March. In addition, the HRPDC has submitted a joint abstract with coastal managers from North Carolina for presentation at the Coastal Society Conference being held in Williamsburg this summer.

For more information about this project, please contact Hugo Valverde or Jeryl Phillips of the PDC staff at (757) 420-8300.

* Note: the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission includes the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Suffolk and Franklin, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Southampton and York.

Hugo Valverde contributed to this article.

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Driving Pesticide Use Below Par

With more than 65 percent of the Commonwealth's population now concentrated in coastal Virginia, an emphasis on controlling nonpoint source pollution from urban and developed areas is an important component in Virginia's efforts to improve its coastal water quality.

Pesticides and fertilizers used by the urban turf and landscape industry are among the toxics entering our coastal waters as nonpoint source pollution. Golf courses, which are often sited on or adjacent to water bodies, rely heavily on the use of pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers to maintain consistently high quality turf.

Traditionally, golf courses have been thought of as a way of preserving green space that might otherwise have been developed more intensively. Today, golf course superintendents and owners are more keenly aware of the challenges to the idea of a golf course being a low-impact enterprise. Virginia's coastal population has also become increasingly knowledgeable about water quality issues and the impacts of the use of pesticides and fertilizers on our coastal waters.

As in many other coastal plain regions of the southeastern United States, the number of new golf courses in Virginia has been on a steady increase, and these courses are being heavily marketed by the tourist industry. Increased public awareness, and an increased concern on the part of golf course owners and superintendents regarding the impacts of their actions on the environment, have lead to an increased interest in applying new resources and approaches to golf course management that result in high quality turf with less negative impact on water quality.

One such approach is integrated pest management. IPM is the use of a variety of management practices and tactics to reduce and maintain pest populations below damaging levels, including pest-resistant varieties and mechanical, physical, biological, cultural, genetic and chemical methods.

With funding from the Virginia Coastal Program, the Virginia Cooperative Extension initiated the Turf IPM Advisory Program in 1996, a research and demonstration program designed to reduce the use of pesticides on golf courses by helping superintendents make more accurate pesticide applications. The program is being implemented by a cooperative team of extension agents in James City County and Newport News, in cooperation with Virginia Tech scientists and superintendents of the Ford's Colony Golf Course in James City County and Newport News Golf Course in Newport News.

The Turf IPM Advisory Program is based on the theory that application decisions based on accurate, calibrated predictive disease models reduce the average number of applications needed to control pests and weeds each year. Optimum timing will achieve effective pest control with a minimum of pesticide use.

Turf is susceptible to several serious diseases and insects which can quickly cause severe and irreversible damage. Some diseases spread so rapidly on a golf course that an entire green can be lost overnight (a $25,000 investment if built to PGA standards). This threat has resulted in heavy applications of fungicides and insecticides to prevent such a loss even when risk of infection was low, which can result in significant runoff and leaching of toxics to surrounding coastal waters.

The Turf IPM Advisory Program draws on scientific research gathered in an earlier weather-based IPM program developed by Virginia Tech for Virginia's peanut industry, the Virginia Peanut Leafspot Advisory Program. By knowing when to make fungicide applications for optimum disease control, peanut growers have reduced fungicide use in the last five years by as much as 43 percent per year and increased annual net profit per acre by 25.5 percent. The adoption of IPM strategies in caring for highly managed turf offers golf course owners and superintendents one of the most potent and promising tools available in achieving production goals and lowering costs with minimal impact to the environment.

The risk of pest activity must be accurately predicted far enough in advance to inform golf course superintendents when pesticides should be sprayed. Two EnviroCaster Weather Data centers (valued at $4,615 each), one located at the Ford's Colony Golf Course and another at the Newport News Golf Course, constantly monitor and feed weather data into computer models.

These models correlate the weather data with the environmental thresholds required for initiation of pest activity. Based on air temperature, relative humidity, duration of leaf wetness and soil temperature at specified depths, these models calculate the current level of disease risk and, based upon this risk, recommend pesticide applications.

A computer bulletin board, updated every 24 hours, has been established in the Newport News Extension Office to share daily weather data and pest advisory information with area golf course staff and professional turf managers. A Turf IPM Educational Field Day was held last November for golf course superintendents from eastern Virginia. Superintendents were introduced to the project and the concept of using predictive modeling for pesticide application.

Keynote speaker Dr. Houston Couch, Virginia Tech professor of plant pathology and turf disease expert, discussed the stages of turf disease development, the effects of environmental conditions on turf diseases, and the use of daily weather summaries in making critical disease control decisions.

The Turf IPM project was also presented at the 1998 Richmond Nurserymen's Association Short Course and the 1998 Professional Horticulture Conference. The Colonial Golf Course Superintendents Association, the Virginia Turf Grass Council and the Virginia Peanut Growers Association have also provided significant support for the project's educational efforts.

Response from field day and conference participants has been very encouraging. "The Newport News Golf Course is surrounded by surface water features, some of which are part of the water supply for much of the Peninsula," stated Charlie Wheaton, irrigation specialist for the course. "Any information that will allow a superintendent to improve the accuracy of pesticide management decisions benefits all involved. We are grateful to be a part of this study."

Landscape managers, who have seen the potential for predictive advisories on treating ornamental insects and diseases, have also shown enthusiasm for the project. The project team also has been approached by a greenhouse manager about the possibility of adapting the project to the commercial greenhouse industry, which is heavily dependent on pesticide use.

Research, monitoring and model calibration, including correlation of occurrence of actual disease development with cumulative weather data and calibration of the predictive pest models, will continue in 1998 with water quality funding from the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

For more information, contact Ed Overton, Extension Agent, ANR, James City County, P.O. Box 69, Toano, Va. 23168; (757) 566-1367; e-maileoverton@vt.edu.

Ed Overton contributed to this article.

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Natural Area Management: Preserving Our Living Resources in Mathews County

On the western, marshy side of the New Point Comfort Peninsula in Mathews County, a newly constructed boardwalk offers visitors an excellent view of one of the county's treasured historic resources, the New Point Comfort lighthouse. Commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1804, the 58-foot-tall lighthouse rests on a tiny island just offshore of the peninsula.

The historic lighthouse stands sentinel over Mobjack Bay to the west and the Chesapeake Bay to the east. The boardwalk not only provides the public visual access to a historic landmark, it also protects the saltmarshes of the New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve. Visitors receive a panoramic view of the peninsula's natural beauty and serenity.

The New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve, located on the southeastern tip of Mathews County, protects a combination of primary and secondary dunes and saltmarshes and an interior of mixed deciduous and pine forested wetlands. This habitat diversity makes New Point Comfort an refuge for migratory songbirds. It's also one of the few nesting and feeding habitats in Virginia for the federally threatened least tern. Nearly 200 species of birds have been sighted in or around the preserve, including water birds like the great blue heron, northern harrier, brown pelican and black skimmer.

The beaches at New Point Comfort provide breeding habitat for the federally endangered northeastern beach tiger beetle, which depends upon the preserve's fragile, shifting dune systems. These dunes help make the preserve a good place to study coastal processes like beach erosion and migration. Once connected to the New Point Comfort Peninsula, New Point Comfort Island was separated from the mainland by a great storm in 1933.

But the New Point Comfort site was in jeopardy. Some visitors to the site lacked an appreciation for the ecological and historic significance of the site. Illegal dumping and foot and vehicle traffic on the dunes were a concern.

"The New Point Comfort Preserve is the result of a creative partnership between the Virginia Coastal Program, The Nature Conservancy, Mathews County and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage," according to Coastal Program Manager Laura McKay. In 1992, the Virginia Coastal Program awarded an $85,000 grant to the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy for the purchase of 95 acres on New Point Comfort Peninsula. This 95-acres forms the core of the New Point Comfort Preserve. Subsequent donations to TNC by private landowners have expanded the preserve to the 111 acres it is today.

New Point Comfort Island, home to the historic lighthouse, was obtained by TNC in 1979, and given to Mathews County as a natural area in 1982.

In 1997, TNC recorded a Virginia natural area deed of dedication (basically an easement) on the 95 acres. As part of this deed, which was a condition of the Virginia Coastal Program's award to TNC, the property was dedicated as a natural area preserve by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. A deed of dedication provides assurance that the public stake in this property is maintained and that public access is provided and managed in a manner compatible with coastal resources protection.

A natural area preserve is foremost an area managed to preserve and enhance natural heritage resources. Scientific research, environmental education and public access are provided when compatible with preservation. "There is an increasing community awareness regarding the need to maintain or improve the quality of natural areas and provide appropriate opportunities for passive recreation activities," states Tom Smith, Director of DCR's Division of Natural Heritage.

Mathews County proposed a boardwalk at New Point Comfort to provide a nondestructive way to get close to the area's sensitive resources. The community wanted to take advantage of scenic views of the peninsula and promote an understanding of the various environmental relationships evident at the site.

In 1996, the county applied for and received a Virginia Coastal Program grant for construction of the New Point Comfort boardwalk. Local citizens were instrumental in obtaining support for the project from the county Board of Supervisors, and several citizens, citizen groups and environmental organizations in the county even provided cash donations to help provide the match on the construction grant.

"Funding from our partners like the Virginia Coastal Program is essential for the Nature Conservancy to acquire land -- but once we've acquired the land, it takes still more for conservation to last. It takes involvement and support from local people. The boardwalk and signs at New Point Comfort were built because of the commitment of Mathews County citizens who wanted the preserve to be a place where the public could come and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings," states Michael Lipford, Director of the Nature Conservancy's Virginia Chapter.

As part of the 1996 grant, and in a joint effort with local citizens, the Virginia Coastal Program and The Nature Conservancy designed and constructed interpretive signage at the site of the new boardwalk. This signage gives visitors an informative overview of the cultural and environmental significance of New Point Comfort.

Citizen involvement and concern has helped heighten appreciation and awareness of the beauty and ecological importance of the preserve. "The citizen and local government work on this project has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my planning career," states Trent Funkhouser, the Mathews County Planner during construction of the boardwalk. "The Virginia Coastal Program's support has been great and allowed us to move from dream to reality. The boardwalk is a great asset to the preserve and the county and well worth a visit."

The New Point Comfort Preserve is not the only natural area established to preserve the living marine environment and natural coastal resources of Mathews County.

Just 10 miles north of New Point Comfort, the 105-acre Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve, located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, shares similar ecosystems and rare species concentrations. This preserve is comprised of coastal and beach marshes and protects as many as five rare plant and animal species. Like New Point Comfort, Bethel Beach also provides breeding habitat for the federally endangered northeastern beach tiger beetle. This preserve offers a pleasant and nearly pristine visual experience to visitors, and a place to walk and watch a variety of wildlife.

The first 69-acre tract at Bethel Beach, which later became part of the preserve, was acquired by The Nature Conservancy in 1989 on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ownership and management responsibility were transferred to the state in 1991 through the Partners in Conservation Project, a cooperative endeavor between DCR and the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. A second 36-acre parcel in Winter Harbour was added to the preserve in 1997 with Virginia Coastal Program funding.

In this spirit of cooperative management, a Natural Area Advisory Team was established to develop a comprehensive resource management plan for the Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve.

A natural area advisory team consists of natural resource managers from federal, state and local agencies, scientific experts from academic institutions, and private conservation groups, like The Nature Conservancy. The Bethel Beach Natural Area resource management plan, along with the management plan for the North Landing Natural Area Preserve in Virginia Beach, was developed through a Virginia Coastal Program grant to DCR's Natural Heritage. These plans are developed to guide the management of natural areas and provide a summary of current knowledge about the site, its resources and its surroundings.

The Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort natural area preserves are not isolated systems. They are part of a greater ecosystem that includes most of the Mathews County shoreline. These areas are brimming with rich natural and cultural resources and are of great ecological significance. Increasing cooperation among federal, state, local and private sectors enhances our ability to preserve and manage unique coastal areas like those at Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort.

Natural areas in Virginia's coastal zone

There are 14 state natural area preserves within Virginia's coastal zone. These preserves are owned by a variety of state and local agencies, conservation organizations, and private institutions, including The Nature Conservancy and Old Dominion University.*

"It is generally acknowledged by resource specialists that natural area management is a rapidly evolving science that utilizes multiple viewpoints, disciplines and skills to maintain and enhance biodiversity and aesthetic values on natural lands. The many groups and individuals involved in natural area management in Virginia agree that increased interaction and cooperation will facilitate our ability to effectively manage and protect natural areas, like those in Mathews County, over the long term," states Larry Smith, the Department of Conservation and Recreation's natural areas program manager.

Natural areas serve as important reserves for significant natural communities and rare and endangered species, they help maintain ecosystem stability, they provide important ecological information for comparison with similar areas influenced by people, and they provide opportunities for public education and passive recreation.

The management of state natural area preserves is a cooperative effort. Within DCR an intradepartmental team, which includes staff from the agency's divisions of Natural Heritage and State Parks, provides management oversight of all state natural area preserves. Management responsibilities include: resource management planning, biological monitoring, scientific research, habitat restoration, invasive species control, site security, interpretation, public access, and promotion of the preserves. DCR also looks to resources outside the agency, including other state, local and federal agencies, academic institutions, private conservation groups, and volunteers, to assist with management of natural areas.

Local volunteers help monitor the Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort natural area preserves to keep them litter free. Volunteers also assist with biological and ecological management and lead visitor tours at Bethel Beach. "The critical components of a natural area preserve management involve good planning, active research and ecological management, and increased public awareness," states Tom Smith, Director of DCR's Division of Natural Heritage.

For more information on state natural areas, visit the Division of Natural Heritage web site, or call (804) 786-7951 for a copy of the Virginia Registry of Natural Areas brochure.

* Note: The Department of Conservation and Recreation owns 16 of the state's 21 natural area preserves.

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Virginia Coastal NPS Program Approved

Virginia has received conditional approval for the Virginia Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program, submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Management Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.

The Virginia program is coordinated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation in cooperation with the Virginia Coastal Program at the Department of Environmental Quality and other state agencies.

Full approval of Virginia's Coastal NPS Pollution Control Program is subject to certain conditions outlined in the findings issued by NOAA and EPA in February 1998. The two federal agencies have been reviewing Virginia's program since September 1995. NOAA and EPA evaluated the extent to which Virginia's nonpoint programs conform with the requirements of the coastal zone management act and identified shortcomings that will need to be addressed before the Commonwealth can receive final approval of its program.

Certain conditions must be met by Virginia within the next one to three years in order to avoid potential penalties related to nonpoint source and coastal zone management funding and to be eligible for increased funding.

One-year conditions, which effect agricultural and forestry activities, are: development of a strategy to ensure implementation of agriculture irrigation water management measures on lands not included in Chesapeake Bay preservation areas; and identification of measurable results in achieving implementation of the state's voluntary forestry management measures. Other conditions, which will need to be addressed within two to three years include: reduction of suspended solids in urban areas; watershed pollution reduction; application, storage and disposal of construction site chemicals; distance between new and operating onsite disposal systems and ground water, and their nitrogen loadings; and controlling runoff from roads, highways and bridges.

Further details on the Coastal NPS Pollution Control Program will appear in upcoming issues of the Virginia Coastal Program News newsletter and on this web site. For more information on the program, or to request a copy of the findings document, please call Rick Hill, DCR, at (804) 786-7119, or visit the agency's web site.

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Polecat Creek Watershed Water Quality Monitoring

n April 1993, the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department, with the assistance of the Virginia Coastal Program, initiated a 10-year water quality monitoring study in the Polecat Creek watershed. The study goal is to determine whether the regulations and policies adopted pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act are effective in protecting water quality from the impacts of adjacent urban development activities.

The Polecat Creek study, conducted by CBLAD, will provide information about how trends in water quality are affected by local land use regulations. The 10-year period of this study will allow the data to reflect the average of a variety of weather/climatic conditions, which is necessary for the project's findings to be considered scientifically valid. The study measures baseline levels of chemical, physical and biological parameters of streams, ground water and rainfall, and will statistically evaluate any changes in these levels as the watershed is developed.

The project has received funding from the Virginia Coastal Program since 1991, when CBLAD began design of the project. The project has also received financial support from the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, Nonpoint Program (Section 319) funding through the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Water Quality Monitoring (Section 604B) funding through the Department of Environmental Quality.

Description of study area

The 30,000-acre Polecat Creek watershed is located in the south central section of Caroline County, Virginia. The headwaters of the Polecat Creek rise in the Piedmont province of the Commonwealth, flow through the fall zone, and converge in the coastal plain with the Mattaponi River, which is one of the main tributaries to the York River. The watershed contains the Ruther Glen wetlands system, one of the most undisturbed natural wetlands in the United States. The predominant land cover in the watershed is forest, followed by open fields and pasture land.

The Polecat Creek watershed was selected for this study for several reasons. In 1993, at the onset of the project, the watershed was predominantly rural and undeveloped. However, it lies on the I-95 and Route 1 corridors between Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and is likely to see a substantial increase in urban development during the 10 year project period.

About two-thirds of the watershed are designated as primary growth area in the county comprehensive plan. A regional wastewater treatment plant, servicing much of the area, was beginning to operate in 1993, and more feeder lines were being laid. These factors made it likely that development would occur as planned. Indeed, a number of development projects have been proposed in the last three years. Several of these have either been built, or are currently under construction. Much of the development in the watershed has been suburban in nature, with more urban development beginning to center at the juncture of I-95 and Route 301.

Components of study

The Polecat Creek project has three components: (1) a system of water quality monitoring networks that provide quantitative information about chemical, physical and biological parameters of surface water and rainfall; (2) a database of land use activities and land cover characteristics in the watershed with a method to monitor changes in each over the life span of the project; and (3) a geographic information system that links water quality data and land use/land cover data to a digital geographic base map.

There are two types of water quality monitoring networks being used: trend monitoring stations and special studies. The network of trend stations comprise the "back bone" of the monitoring program. Data collected from these stations will be used to perform statistical trend analyses. These are fixed stations where samples are taken at specific time intervals using standard operating procedures describing collection, preservation and analytical techniques. These methodologies will not change over the life of the project (with the possible exception of chemical analytical methodologies).

A network of stations will monitor: chemical and physical parameters to identify long-term changes to water quality; benthic macroinvertebrate community structure and fish community structure in the watershed and at several pristine locations outside the watershed; quality, quantity and intensity of rainfall to identify changes in nutrients, as well as pH and temperature on surface waters; and the quality of ground water near agricultural sites and other land uses to determine the impact of these activities.

Special studies and intensive sampling efforts will be used in the Polecat Creek project to determine the specific reasons for any changes in water quality that are detected, and whether these changes can be traced to nonconformance to Bay act regulations.

CBLAD is currently conducting a comparative biological monitoring study at a site outside the watershed. Other special studies might also be conducted as the results of trend monitoring in the watershed are documented. These studies include: monitoring during high-flow events; monitoring logging and/or construction activities; monitoring base flow and high flow events near potential agricultural, commercial or industrial nonpoint sources; and monitoring septic system discharges through ground water to nearby streams.

The development and maintenance of a land use/land cover data base and a GIS, which allow links between land use/land cover data, water quality data and geographic data, are integral components of the Polecat Creek Project. CBLAD has acquired 1:12,000 scale color infrared digital orthophotography, which is used as the base map of the GIS. The GIS is also being used to develop a nonpoint source pollution model for the watershed. Because many other watersheds in the Middle Atlantic region are similar physiographically to the Polecat Creek watershed, the results of the project and the predictive model should be transferable to other areas.

Current status of project

The Polecat Creek project is currently in the fourth year of biological monitoring, the third year of physical/chemical monitoring, and the first year of ground water monitoring. Early background monitoring (before development began) indicated that water quality was very high, and no significant variations have yet occurred in the data. However, land development has been under way in the watershed for the past two years. CBLAD is just now at the point where the agency can begin to evaluate trends in the data and begin work on developing the nonpoint source pollution model.

CBLAD has committed grant funds to Caroline County to employ a full-time inspector for its Bay act program to ensure that farmers, developers and others implement the Bay act requirements correctly. This will allow an accurate determination of whether these requirements actually accomplish water quality protection as intended. The agency publishes an annual newsletter, usually each fall, and has developed a display to provide citizens in the Polecat Creek watershed and the general public with updates on the progress of the project.

For more information about this project, please call Scott Crafton at (804) 371-7503 or (800) CHES-BAY (800-243-7229), or visit the agency's website.

Scott Crafton and Darryl Glover contributed to this article.

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Project WET Making a Big Splash in Virginia

Armed with sponges, 25 educators withdraw water from a 5-gallon "reservoir" to learn how water consumption in Virginia has changed over time. The lesson is one of the 100 interactive lesson plans from Project WET, a national water education program sponsored in Virginia by the Department of Environmental Quality, and funded by the Virginia Coastal Program. The activities in Project WET are designed to increase understanding of water resources and build responsible attitudes toward management.

During a typical workshop, educators learn how to conduct science-based Project WET activities such as H2Olympics, Sparkling Water and The Incredible Journey. They learn how to use a ground water flow model, interpret a watershed model and how to make a personal water meter using Project WET's hand-on instructional materials. Participants also learn the fundamentals about important coastal issues such as water quality, ground water monitoring, and wetlands.

The Project WET curriculum and activity guide is correlated to Virginia's new science standards of learning and is available in Virginia to all classroom teachers, as well as nonformal educators, through six-hour workshops taught by volunteer instructors. Workshops are free and can be scheduled any time for groups of 20 or more educators or youth group leaders. Shorter one-hour presentations on specific topics can also be requested.

Another resource from Project WET is the Water Resources Education Trunk -- a trunk filled with a ground water flow model, instructional videos, lesson plans, maps, posters, reference books and a Chesapeake Bay mini-unit. Trunks can be borrowed from state parks and Soil and Water Conservation offices around the state.

Interested people can become volunteer instructors by attending a leadership workshop. Volunteers become part of a statewide network to deliver water education and receive training and new materials on a regular basis. Applications are being accepted for the free two-day seminar offered this year at the Jamestown 4-H Center on June 18-19, 1998.

For more information about Project WET or other environmental education resources, please call Ann Regn, Environmental Education Coordinator, at (804) 698-4442.

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Puraflo Demonstration Project 

In June 1997, the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, with funding from the Virginia Coastal Program, installed a new onsite wastewater treatment system, called Puraflo, at a single-family residence to test the effectiveness of its patented biofiltration system.

Unlike traditional septic systems, which use a soil absorption drainfield to break down liquid effluent, this new system uses Irish peat as a substrate for microbial activity. Liquid effluent, which is pumped from an existing septic tank, is evenly distributed over peat modules, or pads, where it fosters the growth of a variety of microorganisms, which further degrade any particles in the water. As the water percolates down through the modules, it emerges and is dispersed as clear water into a gravel bed and finally into the surrounding soil. This system effectively and safely treats and disposes of wastewater without harming the environment, and can also be modified to operate on land where traditional septic systems cannot be used at all.

The demonstration project included several modifications to test the effectiveness of the treatment process on nutrients, since the site chosen experienced seasonal high water table near the ground surface. The system allowed for 50 percent recirculation of the effluent through the peat modules. Since the peat substrate is highly fibrous, and the modules receive effluent at dosed intervals, the treatment process in the modules is aerobic. The pump tank effluent is anaerobic. Therefore, recirculation allowed for the nitrification/denitrification of the effluent, a process which releases nitrogen into the air.

Monitoring wells were installed to test the quality of the water released through the biofibrous treatment system. Although the summer and fall of 1997 were dry and limited testing, tests taken showed the total nitrogen below the pad was reduced by 89 percent from the pump chamber. Phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform and biochemical oxygen demand levels were comparable at both the pad and upgrade wells. Monthly monitoring will continue. Halcyon Associates Inc. is the regional distributor for the Puraflo system.

For more information on this project, please call Jim Uzel, MPPDC, at (804) 758-2311.

Jim Uzel contributed to this article.

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Riparian Buffer Procol

Riparian reforestation, replanting forests adjacent to streams and rivers, is one strategy for restoration of water quality and wildlife habitat in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and one of the major goals of the partners in the Chesapeake Bay Program. Virginia, as one of those partners, has committed to restoring 610 miles of riparian forest by the year 2010.

The problem of determining where, along the thousands of miles of shoreline in the Commonwealth, restoration efforts might be most beneficial has been the focus of a project conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science for the Virginia Coastal Program. Using the Rappahannock River watershed as a study area, VIMS developed a protocol for targeting riparian forest restoration efforts, using a geographic information system. This computer-based GIS protocol uses data collected from satellite images to identify where opportunities to restore riparian forests exist, and further, where restoration is most likely to produce benefits to water quality and/or habitat.

The VIMS protocol uses information from the LANDSAT Thematic Mapper satellite, which is analyzed to indicate the types of land cover found throughout the Commonwealth. This information makes it possible not only to determine where forests already line the shores of rivers and streams in Virginia, but also how land is being used in unforested areas. The VIMS protocol then uses a simple assumption -- highly developed areas are not likely to be converted back to forests, but undeveloped/unforested areas might be returned to forested conditions.

Once opportunity to restore riparian forests has been mapped, the second step is to assess potential benefit. This is accomplished by considering land uses adjacent to potential riparian forest areas. Using information from the scientific literature and simple assessment models, the VIMS protocol assigns a relative ranking to each area which might be reforested, based on the probable benefit to water quality and to habitat functions. Cumulatively, these rankings allow managers to evaluate entire watersheds and select areas where there is not only an opportunity to restore riparian forests, but where the effort will potentially generate the greatest benefits.

For more information on this project, please contact Carl Hershner, Department of Resource Management and Policy, VIMS, at (804) 684-7387; e-mailcarl@vims.edu.

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New Shellfish General Permit and Regulation Passed

At its November 1997 meeting, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission unanimously passed a general permit for certain noncommercial riparian shellfish growing activities and a regulatory provision pertaining to structures used for on-bottom shellfish aquaculture.

General Permit #3 will streamline the permitting requirements for noncommercial, riparian shellfish growing activities like those using shellfish floats. Although a permit has not been required for shellfish floats provided they were being used for noncommercial purposes, e.g., as tools to improve water quality, floats were not exempt from the permitting requirements in Section 28.2-1203 of the Virginia Code.

General Permit #3 authorizes the permittee to place up to 160 square feet of floats in riparian waters opposite his property. The permittee is responsible for complying with the Department of Health requirements and fisheries regulations regarding shellfish grown in condemned or restricted waters. The floats may not be placed in a manner that interferes with navigation or which adversely impacts existing stands of submerged aquatic vegetation.

The On-Bottom Shellfish Regulation will also streamline the permitting process by authorizing certain structures on leased shellfish grounds without a subaqueous permit. Shellfish growers have recently started using low-profile structures such as nets and trays on leased bottoms to provide protection to their cultured oysters and clams.

The new regulation authorizes the placement of nontoxic structures extending up to 12 inches above the substrate, provided the structures will not interfere with navigation and are not placed on existing stands of submerged aquatic vegetation. The leaseholder will still be required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations concerning the harvesting of shellfish. The regulation also requires the boundary of the lease to be marked.

For more information on General Permit #3 and the On-Bottom Shellfish Regulation, please call (757) 247-2200, or visit VMRC's web site.

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Oyster Reef Enhancement in the Great Wicomico

In 1991, the Oyster Blue Ribbon Panel found Virginia's oyster populations were suffering dramatic declines in the face of environmental pressures and disease. Following a suggestion by the panel, a program was initiated to build intertidal reefs to enhance oyster settlement and growth.

In 1993 and 1995, reefs were built in the Piankatank and James rivers under the direction of Dr. James Wesson at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. In 1996, a reef was built on the Great Wicomico River.

Based on the premise that natural recruitment would favor development of disease-free broodstock sanctuaries, the reefs in the Piankatank and the James rivers were not enhanced by addition of broodstock (mature adult oysters.) It is now known that reefs unenhanced by the introduction of broodstock do enhance settlement and growth of settling oysters, but when endemic diseases become established in these oyster populations, it takes many years to establish a dense oyster population.

Unlike previous reef programs, the Great Wicomico reef was enhanced with large adult oysters from Tangier and Pocomoke sounds that had survived disease. These adult oysters were transferred in the late fall of 1996 with assistance of commercial waterman and citizen groups. A unique spawning population of oysters was created with approximately 2,500 bushels of oysters placed on a 2,500 square meter reef. The stocking density of oysters at the Tangier and Pocomoke sites also suggested a reproduction capability that approaches two or three orders of magnitude higher than any current population in Virginia.

With funding support from the Virginia Coastal Program, and the assistance of graduate students Melissa Southworth and Juli Harding, Professor Roger Mann of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has been examining the impact of enhancing the broodstock in the Great Wicomico River through intensive monitoring of the reef and the surrounding region for the presence of actively spawning oysters, oyster larvae in the water column, and oyster settlement.

Although the broodstock oysters contracted endemic diseases, mortalities were modest. Oyster spawning continued through the summer of 1996, and an exceptionally high number (31,000 per cubic meter) of oyster larvae were detected in the water column. Drifter studies indicated that larvae would settle in the river in abundance, a suggestion confirmed when shell string collectors showed a 100-times increase in spatfall during June through September, when compared with five years prior. This level of spatfall had not been recorded in the Great Wicomico since the mid-1980s, when large oyster populations existed.

Encouraged by the success of the 1997 efforts, VMRC will continue broodstock enhancement programs in the Great Wicomico and Piankatank Rivers on the western shore of the Bay, and Pungoteague Creek on the Eastern Shore.

For more information contact Dr. James E. Wesson of VMRC, (757) 247-2121, or Dr. Roger Mann of VIMS, (804) 684-7360.

Roger Mann and James Wesson contributed to this article.

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Zoar State Forest

Walking the woodland trail in Zoar State Forest, visitors are certain to witness firsthand how the forces of nature continue their never-ending cycle of ebb and flow, of dry year and wet -- each bearing its mark.

For the more adventuresome, a brisk canoe ride from the state forest downriver to the newly renovated Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public landing five miles away provides a memorable, close-up look at the Mattaponi River corridor. Net dipping for herring, as they make their spawning run up the Mattaponi River, is a popular long-held tradition on Herring Creek each spring.

Zoar Nature Trail is located on one of three tracts, donated to the Virginia Department of Forestry by a local family in 1987, which comprise the Zoar State Forest system in King William County. Zoar's other two tracts feature a working farm with a wildlife plant demonstration nursery and a managed pine plantation.

Local teen-agers, working with the Three Rivers Soil and Water Conservation District, began trail development at Zoar in 1989. In 1997, local Boy Scouts helped build another shorter trail which loops along upland bluffs overlooking Herring Creek, and the Department of Forestry built a new canoe launch at the creek. Interpretive signage was installed at the head of both trails, and new comprehensive trail guides were developed through funding from the Virginia Coastal Program. The program is also funding an innovative vegetative shoreline stabilization project on Herring Creek to address a growing erosion problem.

This spring, the Zoar Corps, a network of volunteers established by the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers Association, will join the Department of Forestry in celebrating the forest's 10-year anniversary. A native plant sale, guided canoe trips, and guided interpretive trail hikes are just a few of the activities planned.

For information on visiting Zoar, call King William County Forester Dave Jackson, at (804) 769-2692, or King and Queen County Forester Warren Coburn, at (804) 769-2655.

Sally Mills, MPRA, contributed to this article.

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Coastal Contributions:

Catalogue of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection
Recently published by EPA. Call the National Center for Environmental Publications and Information for free copies at (513) 489-8190.
NOAA's 1995 National Shellfish Register of Classified Growing Areas
Seventh edition in a series, which began in 1966 for the purpose of evaluating the status and condition of U.S. shellfish growing waters. Published every five years as a cooperative effort among the nation's shellfish-producing states, federal agencies like NOAA, the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The 1995 register includes information on the status of estuarine and non-estuarine commercial shellfish-growing waters as of January 1, 1995. The register provides data for more than 4,200 shellfish-growing waters in 21 coastal states, reflecting an assessment of nearly 25 million acres of estuarine and non-estuarine waters. The register is also available on CD-ROM, or can be accessed through NOAA's Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment. For more information, or to obtain a copy of the report or CD-ROM, please call (301) 713-3000, or e-mailshellfish@seamail.nos.noaa.gov.

The 1995 register CD-ROM is a product of NOAA's State of the Coast Project. Additional CD-ROMs in the series include:

  • Turning the Tide: America's Coasts at a Crossroads, containing national-level information on coastal population and development, overviews of six estuaries, and video tours of 17 marine sanctuaries and estuarine research reserves.
  • Our Crowded Shores: Balancing Growth and Resource Protection, an expanded treatment of the coastal development topic in Turning the Tide, it includes population and development information for 35 coastal states and territories, impacts of development on coastal ecosystems, and management efforts to balance the protection and use of coastal spaces and resources. For more information visit: http://state_of_coast.noaa.gov.
Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration, and Landscaping - Riparian Forest Buffers
Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. For a copy of this new brochure call (804) 786-7951, or visit the DCR-DNH web site.
Virginia Chesapeake Bay Water Quality and Living Resources Monitoring Programs, Executive Report, 1985-1996
This January 1998 report represents a synthesis of the overall findings of water quality and living resources data generated over the first 12 years of the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program. Patterns of nutrient loadings are examined for the entire watershed of Virginia's Bay tributaries; however, status and trends in water quality and living resources are represented only for the tidal portion of each river. A series of more technical documents is also available which contain detailed statistical results that are the basis of this report:
  • Virginia Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program Benthic Communities Report 1985-1996 (ODU)
  • Phytoplankton Indicators Within the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program (ODU)
  • Resource Limitation of Phytoplankton in the Virginia Chesapeake Bay and Tributaries Using Nutrient-Addition Bioassays (VIMS)
  • Zooplankton Status and Trends in Virginia Tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay 1985-1996 (ODU)
  • Phytoplankton Status and Trends in Virginia Tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay 1985-1996
  • Water Quality Status and Trends in the Virginia Tributaries and Chesapeake Bay 1985-1996 (ODU)
  • Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries: Results of Monitoring Programs and Status of Resources
  • 1998 Biennial Report of Secretary of Natural Resources to the Virginia General Assembly
  • Annual Report on the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund - Point Source Pollution Control (January 1998). This is an annual report, submitted by DEQ to the Governor and the General Assembly, on the implementation of the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund. This report covers the point source component of the fund.
  • The 1997 Users Guide to Chesapeake Bay Program Biological and Living Resources Monitoring Data.

For a copy of any of the above Chesapeake Bay reports, please call Rick Hoffman, Chesapeake Bay Program Office, DEQ, at (804) 698-4334.

Pfiesteria
The two primary scientific consensus documents on management implications of Pfiesteria and toxic dinoflagellate problems in the mid-Atlantic region are now available in their entirety from the Web:

 

Web sites

Web sites for the northeast state coastal programs

  • NOAA Coastal Services Center, Charleston, S.C. (800) 789-2234. A coastal science and resource advisory center that draws on the expertise of NOAA and its partners to address critical coastal resource issues. Established in 1994, the center's mission is to identify, develop and facilitate the use of technologies and information that support use and management of coastal resources. The center offers an online coastal information directory, bibliography of GIS applications and library.
  • Intercoast Network coastal management newsletter. Global newsletter for coastal managers and others interested in coastal management issues. Most recent issue focuses on Coastal Zone 97. April issue will concentrate on tourism, shoreline development and urbanization.
  • Clean Water Action Plan is available for viewing on the Internet. Visit www.epa.gov/cleanwater.
  • Information on Aquarius, the world's only underwater laboratory, installed 63 feet at Conch Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

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