Requesting Final Approval of the 2011 Roanoke River Basinwide Water Quality Plan My name is Melanie Williams and I’m here today to request final approval of the 2011 Roanoke River Basinwide Water Quality Plan. This is the same presentation that was given to the WQC in November with a few minor changes. Melanie Williams

Presentation Outline Overview of Basin Impaired Waters Water Quality Update Issues / Actions / Needs Status & request for approval to send to EMC This presentation will cover… A broad overview of the basin, Location of past and current Impaired waters, An update of water quality, General issues, actions, and needs found within the basin, As well as status of the Plan.

The entire Roanoke River Basin is split between two states The entire Roanoke River Basin is split between two states. North Carolina and Virginia. As seen on this map, major rivers in the basin cross the state line multiple times, increasing the need for bi-state coordination.

The NC portion of the Basin stretches from the mountainous regions of the state to the coast. This unique basin is the only one in NC that has both trout and swamp waters. The population has gradually increased, mostly around the urban and suburban areas. Land cover is mostly forest and agriculture, with 42 small municipalities scattered throughout the basin.

Farmers Lake This map is showing you the 2010 Impaired Waters in red. One stream segment was added to the Impaired Waters List since the previous 2006 Plan. This segment, which is shown in the black box, is a 90 acre portion of Farmers Lake on County Line Creek. The lake is impaired for chlorophyll a and turbidity. The top three reason for Impairment throughout the basin include: Biological integrity of Benthos (25%) Fecal Coliform Bacteria, and (20%) Turbidity (17.5%) There were no waters removed from the Impaired Waters List since the 2006 Plan. *** Note: I know we would like to say what the majority of Impairments are but here that is hard to do for many reasons Dan and Smith have several segments But we are getting away from doing it by miles Lots of these are covered under a TMDL but are still technically Impaired.

Water Quality Update Review of: Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Fish Community Physical/Chemical (Ambient) Data The next few slides will give you a general overview of water quality data collected within the Roanoke basin during this cycle as compared to the previous basin cycle. This data is explained in more detail throughout the plan; however, I just wanted to give you an overview of the data assessment.

Benthic Community Health The Benthos Community (which are bottom dwelling aquatic organisms) were mostly sampled in the summer of 2006. The map shows you where the stations are located throughout the basin and what rating they received during this cycle. Most of those stations were rated Excellent. The bar chart in the lower left of the slide, groups these ratings by assessment category to give you a better idea as to how those ratings translate. Excellent, Good and Good-Fair ratings are Supporting and Fair and Poor ratings are Impaired. However, no samples received a Poor rating during this cycle. The pie chart in the lower right corner shows the changes in rating from the previous cycle. 38% of stations had no change in rating. Ten stream segments are currently Impaired for benthos. ***Note: Not Impaired is a sample that is known not to meet Fair or Poor criteria but it can not be determined if it is Excellent, Good, or Good-Fair.

Fish Community Health Fish community samples were taken during this same time period. The map again shows you where the fish community stations are located throughout the basin as well as the rating they received during this cycle. Most of those stations were rated Good. The bar chart shows you the assessment category. It indicates the majority of ratings are supporting as with the benthic community. And again the pie chart shows the changes in rating from the previous cycle. 42% of stations had no change in rating. And an equal number of stations declined in rating as improved. Only two segments within the basin are Impaired for Fish Community which are Nutbush Creek and Smith Creek. Elevated levels of turbidity and nutrients are possible stressors for both the benthic and fish communities within the basin. There are indications that restoration activities by local organizations within the basin have helped to improve the health of the biological community; however, additional work is needed to help restore other declining areas. ***Note: The Smith Creek sample was taken during the previous cycle; therefore, it does not show up on this map.

Physical/Chemical Water Quality Data Copper Turbidity Fecal Coliform Bacteria There are 18 Ambient Monitoring Stations within the this basin. The majority of Impairments from physical/chemical data (or ambient data) are due to the three parameters; Copper, Turbidity, and Fecal Coliform Bacteria. Each of which I will show you in more detail.

Physical/Chemical Water Quality Copper 12 stations had no exceedances 4 stations exceeded the standard but not impaired (Orange) 2 impaired stations (Red) Copper 12 out of 18 stations had no exceedances for copper There were four other stations (indicated by orange arrows) with samples exceeding the standard; however, not to the point of Impairment Two stations (indicated by red arrows) are Impaired for copper (one on Smith Creek and the other on Marlowe Creek). ***Note: Not newly Impaired but newly Impaired for this parameter due to the most current Use Support Methodology

Physical/Chemical Water Quality Turbidity 10 stations had no exceedances 6 stations exceeded the standard but not impaired (Orange) 2 impaired stations (Red) Turbidity 10 stations had no turbidity exceedances. Six stations had samples exceeding the standard; however, not to the point of impairment. These are shown in orange. Two stations with red arrows are exceeding the state standard for turbidity Both of these stations are located on the Dan River which has a long history of being turbid. Previously this has been linked to instream mining operations and agricultural fields along the river. However, no permitted mining operations remain and many agricultural practices have adopted better management practices to reduce turbidity levels. ***Note: 7 segments are Impaired for turbidity due to exceedances or TMDLs

Physical/Chemical Water Quality Fecal Coliform Bacteria (FCB) 10 stations other stations with elevated levels but not impaired (Orange) 3 impaired stations (Red) Fecal Coliform Bacteria There are 10 stations that have elevated levels of FCB but not enough data to determine impairment (as shown in orange). There are three stations that are Impaired for Fecal Coliform Bacteria which are shown by red arrows. These are the Dan and Smith Rivers. *** Note: A TMDL was completed for both Rivers in July of 2009 Geomean of 200/100ml or 400/100ml in 20% of samples

Impairments for Copper, Turbidity, & Fecal Coliform Bacteria As you can see on the map, Impairments for these three parameters are all within the western portion of the basin. From left to right, Stations are Impaired for: Turbidity FCB Copper & FCB Turbidity & FCB Copper

Highlights of Issues, Actions, & Needs Basinwide The next few slides discuss highlights of general issues, actions and needs found within the basin. These topics are discussed at a much smaller scale throughout the basin plan

Issues/Actions/Needs Basin Needs Turbidity Fence out livestock; Conservation Cover; Crop Cover; Field Borders Education of Ag BMPs; Continued BMP installation Fecal Coliform Bacteria Fence out livestock; Installing Watering Facilities Nutrient levels Field borders; Grassed waterways; heavy use area protection; Critical area planting Low Dissolved Oxygen USGS Study Support the need for continued monitoring of low DO Issues that are found in particular portions of the basin include: Turbidity: Elevated FCB & Nutrients which are all mostly in the western regions And Low DO: In the lower portions of the Roanoke River. 319 funded Division of Soil and Water Conservation projects have placed several needed agricultural BMPs on the ground to reduce turbidity, FCB and nutrients levels. These BMP’s, which are listed in the table, were mostly installed throughout the Dan River and Smith Creek watersheds. Also USGS conducted a study to determine if point source discharging was contributing to the low DO levels found in the lower portions of the Roanoke River. The study concluded that during the sampling period, the discharge was not significantly effecting the low DO. Further needs to reduce turbidity, FCB and nutrient levels include continued funding for farmers through the Ag Cost Share Program or other programs to install additional BMPs throughout the western portion of the basin. Other funding options should be explored. NC and Virginia have also began a bi-state cooperative effort to further study sources of water quality impairments in the Dan River watershed on either side of the state line. This effort is in it’s beginning stages. DWQ will also support the need for USGS to continue monitoring DO levels at their current gage stations in the lower Roanoke River to further identify possible sources of the low DO. *** Note: Dan River 319 project is in its last year and has completed multiple BMP’s on 11 sites and has spent about $130 thousand.

Status of Plan WQC approved draft in November Duke Univ. Class Project Performed an analysis of DWQ’s Basin Plans Completed an in-depth review of the Roanoke Plan Provided suggestions on organization, collaboration & notifications The draft plan was approved in November by the Water Quality Committee. Since this time we did get some feedback on the basin plan. I went on maternity leave and Duke University students provided comments on the draft Roanoke Plan as part of a class project. Dukes comments are relative to all basin planning processes and include suggestions for improving the organization of the plans for user-friendliness, suggestions for collaboration, ideas for notification and a method for providing user feedback were all provided. We are grateful for this input and plan to incorporate the things that we can into the 5th cycle of basin plans.

Request Final Approval of the 2011 Roanoke River Basinwide Water Quality Plan At this time I would like to request final approval of this Basinwide Plan.

Kerr Dam & Reservoir Section 216 Feasibility Study Purpose: Improve quality of environment downstream of dam Purpose: The study has focused on examining the feasibility of addressing downstream environmental resource concerns in the Lower Roanoke River drainage area through changes in operations or structures at the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir. Coverage area: Stakeholders: Along with US ACE, the non-federal cost sharing partners for this study are Virginia and NC Status: The project is currently completing a wide range of studies and is working on

Fish Community Health The Fair sample on the map indicated by the arrow here is located on Deep Cr. This sample was taken in 2009; therefore, it will be added to the 2012 Impaired Waters List. Elevated levels of turbidity and nutrients are possible stressors for both the benthic and fish communities There are indications that restoration activities by local organizations within the basin have helped to improve the health of the biological community; however, additional work is needed to help restore other declining areas.