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The state is looking at new rules to reduce stormwater runoff, which harms river water quality and aquatic life. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
After heavy rains, the Rappahannock River runs brown with runoff from farm fields, development sites, streets, parking lots and shopping centers.
The result--besides erosion of the riverbank--is a toxic soup of pollutants such as fertilizer, heavy metals, antifreeze and petroleum products that harm water quality and aquatic life.
While the Fredericksburg area has been making inroads in reducing the effects of stormwater pollution with the adoption of low-impact development ordinances, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has drafted rules that proponents say will go further in cleaning up the Rappahannock, other tidal rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
John Tippett, executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock, has long been calling for more controls on stormwater runoff.
To that end, FOR worked with Stafford County to develop its low-impact development ordinance that encourages builders to be river-friendly by adding development components that allow some of that water to soak into the ground.
Fredericksburg, working with FOR, adopted a similar ordinance a few weeks ago. Spotsylvania County has similar rules, but with voluntary compliance.
Tippett, who served on one of several technical committees that developed the proposed state rules, says more comprehensive controls are needed now.
Tippett says Rappahannock feeder streams such as Hazel Run, Claiborne Run, Massaponax Creek, England Run and Little Falls Run, "have undergone some of the most rapid commercial and residential growth in the country. And I have watched these streams die."
During a July public hearing in Richmond, Tippett said that summer thunderstorms are causing erosion and pollution of alarming magnitude.
"Conventional stormwater management does not address this problem," he said. "The runoff-reduction approach of the proposed regulations does."
The draft plan would require local stormwater programs in localities across the state. For now, only large counties and cities along the coast covered by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act must have them. That doesn't include jurisdictions such as Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania, which opted for controls on their own.
The draft state plan includes fees to fund the programs, and stricter rules for cutting phosphorus on developed areas. Phosphorus, like nitrogen, is a serious pollutant because it promotes the growth of algae,
the tiny organisms which create vast "dead" zones in the bay. When the algae die they decompose, using oxygen that other marine life needs. Phosphorus is also an indicator of other pollution problems.
The Chesapeake Bay Program office estimates that 32 percent of the phosphorus and 28 percent of sediment washing into the bay watershed come from urban and suburban runoff.
The Home Builders Association of Virginia has proposed loosening current stormwater standards on development regarding phosphorus, from 0.45 pounds per acre per year, to 0.6 pounds. The developer would buy down the difference at a rate of $15,000 per pound, contributing that amount to the state to buy water-quality improvements elsewhere.
Chris Hornung, vice president of commercial engineering and construction for the Silver Cos., crunched the numbers.
"We calculated that in a 20-year period, the net effect is that [the regulations] would remove about 1.4 percent more pollution" than under current rules, he said. "Looking at that and calculating the cost on a site-by-site basis, it would cost about $15,000 a pound to remove that level of phosphorus.
"We don't have a problem with paying for it. It's just [the cost] of squeezing that last little drop of blood from the turnip."
The proposed reductions, he says, would require builders to scale down projects because more land on development sites would have to be left undeveloped.
He says much bigger phosphorus reductions can be achieved by tighter controls on agricultural practices.
"We want a bay cleanup, but we don't want to throw money away," said Hornung, who has spoken with state officials about his concerns.
He adds that the proposed rules are about "correcting the sins of the past" in that there were no controls on urban runoff until the mid-1980s.
The public comment period ends tomorrow.
Next, the Soil and Water Conservation Board will draft and approve a final draft, with approval of local programs by spring of 2012.
To read the state draft regulations, dcr.virginia.gov/lr2b.shtml To comment online, http://town hall.virginia.gov/L/entercomment .cfm?stageid=5106Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
KEY ELEMENTS OF PLAN If adopted, the new stormwater regulations will: Determine the requirements localities need to meet to operate a qualifying local program. Revise statewide stormwater fee program to provide localities no less than 70 percent of the fees generated to run their programs. Significantly improve stormwater quality and quantity standards. Lower statewide phosphorus standard for new construction. Raise required phosphorus reduction on redevelopment projects. Improve stream channel and flood protection. Provide developers with a new methodology and more efficient stormwater practices. --Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation |
