This is a notice for the fourth meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for the Accotink Creek Watershed Benthic TMDL project. Biological monitoring data collected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have shown that portions of Accotink Creek and Long Branch do not meet Virginia’s water quality standard for aquatic life use due to poor health in the benthic biological communities. The stressor identification analysis, which was finalized on September 29, 2015, identified chloride, hydromodification, habitat modification, and sediment as the most probable stressors contributing to the benthic impairments in the Accotink Creek watershed. Of the four most probable stressors, only chloride and sediment are pollutants. DEQ, with assistance from the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB), have been developing TMDLs for chloride and sediment in accordance with the Clean Water Act. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an update on the status of both the sediment and chloride TMDL studies. We will provide an overview of the modeling framework and status for both pollutant TMDLs, and share information on allocations and/or allocation options moving forward. This is an opportunity to solicit input from the TAC on these studies and allocation development, as well as spell out the next steps in this process that are necessary to prepare the draft TMDL report(s). If you have any questions regarding the TAC, this meeting, or the Accotink TMDL project, please contact Will Isenberg via phone, email, or conventional mail using the information listed at the bottom of this notice. All materials related to this project will be posted on the DEQ website at: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/TMDL/TMDLDevelopment/DocumentationforSelectTMDLs.aspx  

Sponsored by State Water Control Board
http://www.deq.virginia.gov