TMDL Community Engagement Meeting - Watershed Cleanup Study for the South Fork Rivanna River
Sep 23, 2025 3:00 PM
PURPOSE OF THE MEETING: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will host the third TMDL Community Engagement meeting for the South Fork Rivanna River TMDL on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. The meeting is open to the public and any member of the public may participate in the proceedings. Meeting participants will assist in development of cleanup studies, also known as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), to address benthic impairment of the South Fork Rivanna River and several of its tributaries in Albemarle County, which have been listed on Virginia’s § 303(d) list of impaired waters for failing to meet Virginia’s water quality standards due to an altered benthic community. TMDLs will be developed for sediment, which has been identified as the most probable contributor to the poor health of both of the impaired stream segments. A phosphorus TMDL will be developed for the mainstem of the South Fork Rivanna River since it has been identified as an additional stressor in the river. In addition, a nitrogen TMDL will be developed for an unnamed tributary to Parrott Branch. This project began in 2020 and was placed on hold in 2021 due to challenges in model development for the watersheds. This meeting will restart the public process for this project. The meeting will include a review of the TMDL process and the benthic stressor analysis completed for the watersheds. DEQ will present a pollutant source assessment completed for sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen in the watersheds, and participants will discuss the development of pollutant reduction scenarios based on this assessment. Information about this study can be found here: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/tmdl-development/tmdls-under-development. In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will be held on September 24, 2025 at the same time and location stated above. CONTACT INFORMATION: Nesha McRae, DEQ Valley Regional Office, 4411 Early Road, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801; Phone: (540) 217-7173; E-mail: Nesha.mcrae@deq.virginia.gov.
Sponsored by Department Of Environmental Quality
http://www.deq.virginia.gov/
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, such as sign language interpreters and/or real-time captioning services, are available upon request. Please send accommodation requests to the meeting contact as early as possible but no later than seven business days before the date of the meeting.