Time to Pay Attention to Oxygen for the Bay

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Blocked VDOT roadside ditch flooding adjacent land.

Blocked VDOT roadside ditch flooding adjacent land.

I wrote a report in 2012. If anyone in authority had paid attention then, we’d be seeing results now, instead of looking at more flooded ditches and damaged roads. Expect our TMDL numbers (total maximum daily load) for E. coli levels to stay the same, because the problem is not primarily land-based. It’s VDOT ditch based.

Although nothing about dissolved oxygen levels made it into the final EPA-accepted Water Quality Improvement Plan, there was a recommendation for a Ditch Task Force involving the Virginia Department of Transportation. The intent was to discuss and plan ways to improve the drainage for our state roads. Instead, we have the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission advocating the creation of a Ditching Authority to charge landowners and counties for VDOT’s failures.

MPPDC is basing its Ditching Authority concept on states and countries which drained wetlands for agricultural purposes–and must continue to drain them to continue farming. Ohio, for example, drained 7.4 million acres of wetlands, and today, 2/3s of their cropland and 500,000 homes depend on that land staying drained. They have a Ditching Authority.

Our drainage problem is rainfall from state roads cannot reach receiving bodies of water because of failed and neglected VDOT maintenance. The cause is not wetland drainage, not agricultural land drainage, not private property drainage, not sea level rise, not land elevation or land subsidence.

Read the report and see for yourself if it makes sense.

Report for Working Groups for the Shellfish TMDL Implementation Plan for the Piankatank River, Gwynns Island and Milford Haven Watersheds, August 27, 2012

submitted by Carol J. Bova

A review of the original Shellfish Sanitation Surveys and outstanding violations for the Piankatank River, Gwynns Island and Milford Haven Watersheds doesn’t document enough ongoing septic system violations to account for the continuing high levels of bacteria in the TMDL waters. From the June 30th report, only Healy Creek had one prior uncorrected septic issue. There were two kitchen deficiencies: one at Healy Creek and one at Edwards Creek.

There are no large agricultural operations, fewer farms than decades ago when the waters were not impaired, and not enough hobby livestock to account for current bacterial impairments. It’s equally unlikely that pets are the main factor, and while wildlife contributes a significant amount, it is not the sole source.

Based on scientific findings over the last six years across the United States, in Canada and in Europe, naturalized E. coli is the most likely major source of the ongoing high bacterial readings.

These studies show E. coli does not require a human or animal host to survive for extended periods in soil, sand, sediments and water. Wind and storms stir up sand and sediment and release bacteria back into the water column. Bottom feeding fish like spot and croaker can take in E. coli while feeding and become carriers. Studies in Michigan show E. coli can survive 5 months in water as long as the temperature is above 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Average water temperatures for the TMDL areas only go below that in January and February and may not go that low in some years. E. coli doesn’t only survive on its own–it can reproduce if it has adequate carbon based nutrients. The presence of muck, which is partially decomposed vegetation, provides that nutrition and shelters E. coli, because no sunlight can get through it. It takes four days of sunlight to kill E. coli.

Part of the key to eliminating E. coli in the TMDL waters is to get the water clear enough to allow sunlight to penetrate. The plan to restore oysters is intended to do that, as well as filter the water, but oysters can’t live in the muck and must be suspended above it. The headwaters and some of the small inlets of the creeks are among the worst areas, with heavy muck, little circulation and probably low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water which must be addressed before oyster placement. Submerged aqueous vegetation will also benefit from more sunlight.

The long-term goal of restoring oysters is solid, but needs to be backed up with a multi-layered approach to cleaning up the waters, with a plan tailored to the characteristics of each TMDL segment. In Queens Creek, for example, at least 3-4 feet of muck exists on the sides of the channel, possibly more in the center. If the channel could be dredged to remove most of that muck, the creek could then be treated with probiotic decomposer bacteria to help break down what remains. This would create a more favorable environment for oysters and other water animals and allow sunlight to reach deeper into the water, killing even more E. coli.

Using small aeration units attached to private docks to provide additional oxygenation has been tried in Maryland. William Wolinski of Talbot County Maryland Dept. of Public Works stated the aeration used there from May through October created ‘oxygen sanctuaries’ for fish and other creatures and allowed positive bacterial action to break down sludgy sediment. A simple unit costs about $500-$600 and covers 1/4 acre placed at a 4′ depth according to one manufacturer. Any aeration provided will improve the action of probiotic bacteria in decomposing muck sediments.

Before any direct action is taken in TMDL creek headwaters and inlets, the Virginia Department of Transportation roadside ditches and related outfall ditches leading to those waters must be cleaned, pipe blockages cleared and overgrown vegetation removed to allow clean rainwater to reach the waterways. Currently, the water in outfall ditches is deoxygenated by decaying plant matter and has little to no flow except during storm events. Major storms flush the stagnant water into areas leading to the headwaters, and the load of rotting vegetation and silt with it adds to the mucky sediment already present.

The Virginia Department of Transportation should be named a stakeholder in the TMDL Implementation Plan for low dissolved oxygen levels in water in ditches which connect to TMDL waters. Credit trading should not be an option because the actions required to improve oxygenation fall within normal roadside maintenance and budget. DCR and DEQ staff can support citizen requests for a VDOT 5-year plan for roadside and outfall ditch maintenance to provide an outlet to an adequate receiving channel and body of water as required by VDOT Drainage Manual policies. This will allow clean, oxygenated rainwater to reach TMDL waters, giving other measures a better chance of success.

MPPDC Part 1– Accuracy Not Guaranteed

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Planning District Commissions are supposed “to conduct studies on issues and problems of regional significance” according to the Code of Virginia. The Code fails to mention, though, those studies should contain accurate information.

Perhaps that’s too much to expect, especially when the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission posts a disclaimer on the copyright page of the 2002 report, Water Supply Management on the Middle Peninsula that says,  “No warranty, expressed of implied, is made by the MPPDC as to the accuracy of this report or related materials. Publication and distribution of the material contained in this report does not constitute any such warranty, and the MPPDC assumes no responsibility in connection therewith.” Since this report was an “information review,” MPPDC apparently didn’t want to check the accuracy of the information, but MPPDC expects its member counties’ representatives to take care of those details on its own grant-funded reports.

The MPPDC said that same 2002 water supply document included “significantly outdated” material from a 1977 State Water Control Board report, but the statements again appeared in the 2011 regional water supply plan: “Yorktown Aquifer has low yield potential. Principal and upper artesian aquifers not suitable for potable use (high chlorides).” This was the belief prior to the 1983 discovery of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater, and studies since then have shown that “wedges” of ancient sea water were trapped by the impact debris as it fell back to earth and could contaminate some wells today.

The MPPDC Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy in 2013, again picked up the same 1977 information as an inset in  Figure 10, “Ground Water Zones in the Middle Peninsula,” and doesn’t list the Yorktown/Eastover Aquifer, the only major water source used in Mathews County.

Lewis Lawrence, Executive Director of the MPPDC,  replied to a request for a correction of the aquifer descriptions saying, “I encourage you to review why comprehensive economic development strategy exists and what the Economic Development Administration requires.  A comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic roadmap to diversify and strengthen regional economies….” He went on to say that it was up to the localities “to appoint representatives to make sure local and regional issues are addressed and that the quality and accuracy of the work meets expectations against the requirement of the funder.”

So if a county’s representatives don’t have or don’t communicate specific knowledge about the county’s water source, and MPPDC recycles 1977 information it described as “significantly outdated” in 2002, it absolves MPPDC from responsibility, even if the use of that information in 2013 is detrimental to the local economy by discouraging businesses who might otherwise consider locating in the county.

While the PDCs are funded in part by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and in part by the localities, and obtain grants to conduct studies and issue reports, do the counties know it’s up to their county representatives to fact check the PDC report for accuracy and to see if their reports meet the expectations of the funding agency?

Watch for an upcoming post on what happens when citizens do offer comments and corrections to MPPDC flawed reports.

Sharing What We Learned About VDOT Myths and Mathews Drainage

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Since the fall of 2011, I’ve been digging into the reasons for flooded land and ditches in Mathews. G.C. Morrow taught me the basics of ditches and we formed The Ditches of Mathews County project in early 2012.  We thought identifying the causes of drainage issues and working out solutions would help VDOT. When VDOT said they needed temporary easements to address outfall maintenance, we tracked owners through tax records and internet resources. G.C. visited local folks and called some who lived in other states. All were glad to help. But apparently, VDOT had other ideas.

Two small outfalls were cleaned on 609, and the water drained a considerable area that had been flooding from road drainage for years. The third project opened the outfall between Canoe Yard Trail and 609, but in the process, the VDOT contractor blocked the outlet to a second outfall. Months passed, and after the District Administrator Quintin Elliott and Resident Engineer Sean Trapani accompanied us on a tour of problem spots, VDOT finally addressed a dead tree preventing the roadside ditch on Canoe Yard Trail from draining to the outfall. But the cleaning of 609 pipes needed to drain the roadside ditches near the tidal marshes didn’t happen. The one time we know the pipe truck arrived–it came at high tide. And never came back to do the job.

We kept working on gathering information, and the story that emerged was not a pretty one. Going through the Board of Supervisors’ meetings, month after month for thirty-odd years was a test of endurance. Transcribing key sections and sorting by topic and choosing which statements would illustrate the ongoing saga felt like an impossible task for a time. Eventually, though, the outline emerged showing how three years of VDOT/County revenue sharing projects ran on into the sixteenth year, and how those involved seemed to forget the original reason for the projects.

It’s all laid out now in Drowning a County, and everyone reading it will see what happened and when, and more importantly, what didn’t happen that should have. The pattern of County Supervisors and Administrators forgetting or overlooking details of agreements with VDOT and accepting incorrect statements without challenge cannot be allowed to repeat itself now and in future years. Drowning a County can provide the facts and the history to help our leaders and our citizens avoid being misled even once more by VDOT mythology.

 

Don’t Like the Weather? Wait a Few Minutes.

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Winter isn’t letting go of us this St. Patrick’s Day. We’ve had rain, sleet and snow here in Mathews, and it’s down to 27, but the sky is quiet for now. Our writing critique group meets in Williamsburg, and so the question is: how are the roads?3-17-14 blog traffic cam

I dialed 511 for road information. It used to be a pretty straightforward call, if you were in a quiet enough place for the voice-activated computer to understand you. If not, you could pull over and use the keypad. Well, the 511 system has been improved, effective November 20th, some menu options have changed, please listen carefully, as the recording tells us. I asked for 17, and it gave me the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.

Second try: “Say the name of an interstate, bridge or tunnel.”

U.S. 17  This time I opted for the keypad, and 17# got me a series of options, but nothing familiar. Hampton Roads seemed the most reasonable of the choices. (I used to be good at multiple choice answers, but guess not any more.) I apologized to the human who answered because she couldn’t help me with US Route 17.

Third try: Before I spoke, the system interpreted some sound as a request for tourism information, and I couldn’t get it to start over, go back, (go to) menu, and I ran out of ideas to try while it wanted me to pick a tourism location.

Fourth try: Not sure how it happened, but I got I-81.

Fifth try: It gave me US Route 7.

Sixth try: I got ride share information. (Usually done by hitting 4 on the keypad twice, which I hadn’t pressed.)

Seventh try: I got  U.S. Route 7 again, and tried to use the keypad to go back. No luck. “After many tries, the system has not received a valid response.”  Neither have I.

Just because I’ve invested this much energy already, I want my road information, and I want to know how to get an answer out of this system. Now this isn’t a case of road noise. I’m in the house. I used to be able to get an answer, so what am I doing wrong on this new, improved system? I need to know whether to stay or go.

Eighth try: Got it! It told me, “Select your direction of travel.” Progress! Then a selection from Winchester to Route 66; 66 to Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg to Yorktown… And we get off at my stop!

I hear about tomorrow’s bridge opening. Good to know. Then a report of icy conditions between the Junction of US 1 and US 2.

Huh? I don’t even know where they are, but they’re not in Gloucester. I go online and find 511Virginia.org.

I check the traffic cameras on the Coleman Bridge. Nobody’s skidding, but they seem to be going way too fast for the weather. I click on the scrolling banner, “Get the Latest Road Conditions.” Mathews is clear; Gloucester is clear; York County and the Coleman Bridge have minor icy patches. Don’t know where to look for Williamsburg, but it’s decision time. Leave now or call and cancel. One more look at the bridge cams, and I leave.3-14-14 blog cam 2

Takes a few minutes to get the icy snow off the windshield, but I’m just about to pull out when my phone rings. The group’s off for tonight because others have cancelled, and I can’t be sure I’ll be able to make it either.   (Bless you all!)

Celebrating my relief, I get a rotisserie chicken from the market and settle in front of the computer. The 511virginia.org page is still up on the monitor where conditions on the bridge have gone from minor patches to Icy Conditions with an advisory.  Since I first walked out the door, the Doppler radar weather map has colored the whole area from here to Williamsburg and further in shades of frozen pink.

I don’t know if my guardian angel stepped in to rescue my foolish self, or if I’d have had the sense to know things were bad and cancel out half-way, but I’m home safe. Just have to remind myself next wintry mix time of the Mathews weather slogan: Don’t like the weather? Wait 15 minutes and it’ll change. I forgot that doesn’t always mean for the better.

But spring will be here in a couple of days. I saw fat daffodil buds ready to prove it when I drove in tonight, and that’s one change I’ll be happy to wait for.

Springing Forward

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Inside the Crater went silent a year ago, but life kept on moving ahead, dragging and pushing me along too. With the time change this morning to move ahead an hour for Daylight Savings Time, I thought this would be a good time to reactivate Inside the Crater.

VDOT finished a part of the Canoe Yard Trail outfall and roadside ditch last year, so the rainfall runs crystal clear to the marsh now.

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This is our one shining success story for the Ditches of Mathews County Project, even if it’s incomplete, but we’ll accept it with thanks. It proves what we’ve said all along: if the roadside and outfall ditches are cleaned, have the proper grade and the pipes are open–Mathews has no trouble draining its stormwater, even in Onemo with its low elevation.

The EPA approved our TMDL Implementation Plan to improve the water quality in the Piankatank/Milford Haven/Gwynn’s Island watershed, but the Ditch Maintenance Task Force recommendation still needs to be organized. It’s on my list, after I finish my book, Drowning a County.

Drowning a County traces the history of highway drainage in Mathews County and the institutional myths the Virginia Department of Transportation’s used to explain away their failure to maintain their systems for decades. The book debunks those myths with published mainstream scientific information, translated into normal English.

To do this, I tracked down Army Corps of Engineers hurricane surveys from the 1950’s and 60’s and a 1980 drainage study of the Garden Creek watershed. I learned a lot about Mathews County in reading through 34 years of Board of Supervisors minutes about ditches and VDOT and the revenue-sharing for ditches saga from 1993 to 2008.

Wetlands ecology wasn’t on my reading list, but turned out to be an essential element, aided by the Mathews Memorial Library’s acquisition of an excellent textbook.

GC Morrow taught me how to find overgrown outfall ditches and probe for pipes under the road that could no longer be seen and how to use topo maps to track the streams channelized as outfalls.

Blue dashed lines were drainage structures and streams in 1965–some of which are now totally obstructed. Image courtesy of USGS from Mathews topo map

Can’t count how many wonderful Mathews residents stopped to see if I needed help while photographing ditches from the roadside. And that is probably the biggest factor in why I kept going on this project: the people of Mathews. They are good people with a long history here. They’ve kept the environment in such good condition that if the ditches could drain to the appropriate creeks and rivers and carry fresh rainwater, nature could solve a lot of the E. coli problem the TMDL plan addresses.

But VDOT mythology turned highway ditches into retention ponds filled with muck and algae and stagnant water.

Algae in flooded ditch with blocked pipe

This spring, VDOT just might realize their mythology has kept the roadbeds saturated and caused more freeze damage  to the roads this winter than they ever imagined.

For me, I’ve made it through the winter and over the despair of feeling I’d taken on an impossible task. Spring is on the way, and Drowning a County is on the way to completion too.

Check out Carol’s Ditches of Mathews County columns at http://ChesapeakeStyle.com.

 

Public Meeting for Piankatank – Milford Haven TMDL Implementation Plan Feb 27, 2013, 6-8 PM

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Mathews High School 9889 Buckley Hall Rd. (Route 198 near 14)

As a result of the the Clean Water Act, we have to show how we’re going to deal with the problem of waters condemned for excessive E. coli bacteria levels in a Piankatank/Milford Haven TMDL Implementation Plan. TMDL (total maximum daily load), is the maximum amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment or bacteria a waterway can handle without exceeding acceptable levels.

We are fortunate here that those before us kept the waters clean, and the only factor we need to address for 16 specific areas* in Mathews, Gloucester and Middlesex is the bacteria in the water. Currently, the recreational standards are met, but not those for shellfish.  While shellfish water standards are much stricter than recreational standards, we don’t have the regulatory option to downgrade the use of our bays, creeks or rivers. Commonwealth policy states “the existing uses shall be maintained and protected.”

The first TMDL public meeting last May in Hartfield brought up a lot of questions and concerns. There were two work group (residential and business) meetings and a steering committee meeting and many emails since then to cover each point and to challenge the numbers and statistics first presented last year. I am very pleased to say that the state agency people from DCR and DEQ took our concerns input to heart and have updated the numbers and facts based on actual counts where available, and best estimates provided by local citizens where exact numbers were impossible. They have also affirmed there is no intention to force us into any HRSD expansions.

We still need to review the Implementation Plan at this public meeting in February, but I believe we can accept and live with the plan.  Please make every effort to attend. This is something that affects all of us in one way or another. If you or a neighbor cannot attend, there is a 30-day comment period after the meeting. At that point, after any changes made as a result of the meeting or comments, the plan is ours to follow for the next 10 years.

*The areas to be covered by this IP, in addition to parts of the Piankatank River, are:
Mathews: Edward and Barn Creeks on Gwynn’s Island; Cobbs, Queen/Winder, Lanes, Stutts, Morris, Hudgins, and Billups Creeks
Gloucester: Harper, Dancing (Dancer), Ferry, French’s Creeks
Middlesex: Wilton, Healy Creeks

 

MAIN STREET DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT

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DESIGN PUBLIC HEARING

DECEMBER 12, 2012

5-7 PM THOMAS HUNTER MIDDLE SCHOOL

Public Meeting notice in Gazette Journal 11/15/12

The meeting will only cover Main Street drainage from Hyco Corner to Kingston Parish Hall, and comments will be limited to that area.

Wondering why now? Why no mention at the October board meeting? Why no documents are available for inspection in Mathews?

The Ditches of Mathews County

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Route 611/Church Street in Mathews looking towards Rt. 14

The latest picture story on Facebook by The Ditches of Mathews County shows a small section of Church St/Route 611 going from Mathews Courthouse towards Rt. 14. Wish I could say this level of vegetation is an unusual situation, but it’s becoming the norm with the reduction in VDOT mowing cycles as a cost-saving measure. The question then becomes: How much is this going to cost in the long run when so many cross pipes are blocked?  Each blocked ditch section becomes a mini-lake and young trees and marsh grasses and weeds in general are flourishing undisturbed.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm… Gov. McDonnell on Virginia’s Oyster Harvests

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How does this glowing report connect with the US Army Corps of Engineers Native Oyster Restoration Plan? Will the USACE Plan change the outlook for Virginia?  Read the Governor’s announcement below, then take a look at the Executive Summary of the USACE Master Plan: http://insidethecrater.com/?p=295

Virginia’s Oyster Harvests Boom
– 2011 Harvest was the Best Since 1989; 2012 Harvest May be Largest in 25 Years  –

Over Past Decade Harvest Increases Ten-Fold: from 23,000 bushels in 2001 to 236,000 bushels in 2011; Dockside Value of Harvest Increased from $575,000 to $8.26 million

February 07, 2012

NEWPORT NEWS – Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that Virginia’s oyster harvest has skyrocketed over the past decade, a boom fueled through the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s use of a rotational harvest system, sanctuaries and targeted shell plantings on public oyster grounds. Over the past decade, the oyster harvest in Virginia has increased ten-fold, from 23,000 bushels in 2001 to 236,000 bushels in 2011. In that time, the dockside value of the oyster harvest increased from $575,000 to $8.26 million. In fact, last year’s oyster harvest in Virginia was the largest since 1989.

Speaking about the growth in the harvest, the Governor noted, “Virginia oysters are not only delicious, they are also profitable. Our oysters are hitting tables all across the nation and the world, on the half-shell, fried, steamed, roasted and in stew. Whether they be Stingrays, Chincoteagues, Lynnhavens, or any kind of Virginia oyster, they are in demand. The incredible growth in our oyster harvests is bringing in new revenue to the state, and creating new jobs for our citizens. I applaud the actions of previous gubernatorial Administrations which have helped Virginia oysters to make such a vigorous comeback, and we are committed to furthering the growth of this local industry in the years ahead. And, I would also note, nothing goes better with a half-dozen Virginia oysters on the half-shell than a glass of Virginia Viognier, the signature white wine of the Commonwealth.”

“The strides made have been remarkable, and indications are this year’s harvest may be the best we’ve seen in 25 years,” said VMRC Commissioner Steven G. Bowman. “It can get even better if we stay the course and continue to spend the funds necessary to maintain our current level of productivity.”

That harvest level remains a far cry from the 1960s, when annual harvests of more than 1 million were commonplace. That was before two diseases, Dermo and MSX, spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay. The diseases do not harm humans, but kill oysters when they reach market size, around three years of age.

Over the decades, VMRC tried numerous approaches to combat the affect of those diseases on the oyster harvest and oyster stocks, with little to no success. But a new management scheme enacted four years ago has shown some impressive results.

Some harvest areas have been put on rotational management plans. They work like this: Harvest areas are opened on a staggered basis for one harvest season then closed for one or two years in order to give oysters a chance in those areas to grow to market size. Individual harvest area openings are staggered on a two or three year rotational basis. This allows harvests in some areas while others remain closed so the oyster stocks can regenerate and be reopened later, in time to harvest the market-sized stocks before the diseases kill them.

Combined with annual pre-season stock surveys, permanent oyster sanctuaries to act as broodstock, mid-season monitoring with stock updates as necessary, and planting oyster shells on public oyster grounds with available state funds, this proactive oyster management regime is paying off.

VMRC’s Dr. Jim Wesson estimates every $1 spent by the state to plant oyster shell yields $7 in economic benefits in the form of larger harvests, and increased jobs for oyster shuckers and oyster packing houses.

Over the past four years of rotational harvests, the harvest off public oyster grounds has almost tripled, from 36,000 bushels to 99,000 bushels last year.

In that time, the total oyster harvest – including privately leased oyster grounds and oyster farming operations – has grown from 95,000 bushels in 2008 to 236,000 bushels in 2011. That’s an increase in dockside value from $3.5 million to $8.26 million in just the past four years.

The ripple effects through the economy from last year’s harvest resulted in roughly $22 million in economic value, using a multiplier of 2.63 on a dockside value of $8.26 million, a formula established by Virginia Institute of Marine Science seafood industry economist Dr. James Kirkley.

“This oyster management plan is working,” said Kim Huskey, Executive Director of the Virginia Seafood Council. “This shows the fantastic results that can be achieved with VMRC and the seafood industry working together. For every $1 the state allocates to shell planting on public oyster grounds, $7 in economic benefits accrue. Last year’s harvest resulted in an economic impact of $22 million. This means jobs and economic benefits for Virginia. And it can get even better in the years to come.”

A chart of Virginia oyster ground production since 1957 is available here: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/utility/docs/Virginia%20Oyster%20Ground%20Production%20History%20as%20of%202011.PDF

Will the USACE Plan make things better for Virginia? http://insidethecrater.com/?p=295