December 26, 2008

Mr. David C. Dowling

Policy, Planning and Budget Director

203 Governor Street

Suite 302

Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Mr. Dowling:

I am writing to express support for amending the General Permit for Discharges from Construction Activities (permit 4VAC50-60) found in Part XIV of the Virginia Stormwater Management Permit Program Regulations and its associated definitions found in Part I of those regulations.

Since 1993, Shenandoah University’s Environmental Studies Department has investigated aquatic ecosystems and water quality in northwestern Virginia.  Our focuses have been upon tributaries to Opequon Creek and the Shenandoah River, which flow into the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.  These studies – as well as related investigations by other universities and nongovernmental organizations – indicate impairment of benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities and consistently point to sediment as a principal stressor.

Opequon Creek and its tributary Abrams Creek clearly illustrate this relationship.  In 1996, the DEQ placed the entire reach of Abrams Creek on its Impaired Waters List because of benthic and bacterial impairments.  Opequon Creek also appears on the Impaired Waters List, with a benthic impairment in its lower segment.  Shenandoah University examined BMI communities at six Abrams Creek sites in 2006 using the EPA’s Rapid Bioassessment Protocols.  Our results confirm benthic impairments at all six sites.  TMDL studies by Virginia Tech’s Department of Biosystems Engineering identify sediment as the primary stressor of BMIs in both the Abrams Creek and lower Opequon Creek watersheds.

These findings are consistent with TMDL studies across this commonwealth that, taken together, identify sediment as the predominant stressor of aquatic life in Virginia (with a few exceptions located on the western slopes of the Blue Ridge, where acidity apparently plays a role).  I concur with comments by Shenandoah Riverkeepers that sediment entering water bodies from construction will only add to benthic impairments that already exist.  Controlling sediment runoff into Virginia’s streams, rivers and other bodies of water is essential to protecting aquatic life and restoring the water quality of Virginia’s impaired waters.  

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Woodward S. Bousquet

Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology

Chair, Environmental Studies Department

Shenandoah University

1460 University Drive

Winchester, Virginia 22601