West Virginia’s Water Quality Assessment 305(b) Report 2002 Upper Ohio South Dunkard Creek Monongahela R West Fork River Cacapon River Little Kanawha River Lower Ohio Big S andy Greenbrier Twelvepole Ck River Lower New River Upper Guyandotte James River Upper New River Focus on Watersheds Assessed in 1999 & 2000 West Virginia Water Quality Status Assessment Table of Contents Part Page I. Executive Summary / Overview 7 II. Surface Water Assessments 12 SURFACE WATER ASSESSMENTS - BY WATERSHED 21 Greenbrier River 23 James River 28 Little Kanawha River 32 Lower New River 37 Monongahela River 43 Upper New River 48 Big Sandy River 53 Cacapon River 58 Dunkard Creek 63 Lower Ohio River 68 Twelvepole Creek 73 Upper Guyandotte River 79 Upper Ohio River South 84 West Fork River 89 III. Lake Water Quality Assessment 94 IV. Groundwater Quality 102 V. Wetlands 104 VI. Water Pollution Control Program 105 Chapter One: Point Source Control Program 105 Chapter Two: Nonpoint Source Control Program 107 Chapter Three: Cost/Benefit Assessment 110 Chapter Four: Surface Water Monitoring Program 112 Chapter Five: Special State Concerns and Recommendations 123 Page 2 2002 305(b) Report List of Tables Table Page Table 1. Water Resources Atlas 9 Table 2. West Virginia Waterbody Assessment Matrix 13 Table 3. Overall Designated Use Support Summary: Statewide 14 Table 4. Individual Use Support Summary: Statewide 15 Table 5. Summary of Impairment Causes: Statewide 18 Table 6. Summary of Impairment Sources: Statewide 19 Table 7. Trophic State Indices of Priority Lakes 95 Table 8. Overall Designated Use Support Summary: Lakes 97 Table 9. Individual Use Support Summary: Lakes 97 Table 10. Summary of Impairment Causes: Lakes 99 Table 11. Summary of Impairment Sources: Lakes 99 Table 12. West Virginia Fish Consumption Advisories 115 Table 13. Ambient Water Quality Network Stations 117 Table 14. SOS Stream Workshops 119 Table 15. SOS Stream Scores 121 Table 16. SOS Land Uses 122 Appendix A. Sample Locations 130 A1. Greenbrier River Watershed Sample locations 130 A2. James River Watershed Sample locations 133 A3. Little Kanawha River Watershed Sample locations 133 A4. Lower New River Watershed Sample locations 137 A5. Monongahela River Watershed Sample locations 139 A6. Big Sandy River Watershed Sample locations 142 A7. Upper New River Watershed Sample locations 143 A8. Cacapon River Watershed Sample locations 145 A9. Dunkard River Watershed Sample locations 146 A10. Lower Ohio River Watershed Sample locations 147 A11. Twelvepole Creek Watershed Sample locations 149 A12. Upper Guyandotte River Watershed Sample locations 151 A13. Upper Ohio River South Watershed Sample locations 154 A14. West Fork River Watershed Sample locations 156 Appendix B. 2002 303(d) listed Streams 164 Page 3 West Virginia Water Quality Status Assessment List of Figures Figure 2. Greenbrier River Watershed 21 Figures 3a-c. Greenbrier R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 22 Figure 4. James River Watershed 27 Figures 5a-c . James River W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 28 Figure 6. Little Kanawha River Watershed 31 Figures 7a-c. Little Kanawha R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 32 Figure 8. Lower New River Watershed 37 Figures 9a-c. Lower New R W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 38 Figure 10. Monongahela River Watershed 43 Figure 11a-c. Monongahela R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 44 Figure 12. Upper New River Watershed 47 Figures 13a-c. Upper New R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 48 Figure 14. Big Sandy River Watershed 53 Figures 15a-c. Big Sandy R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 54 Figure 16. Cacapon River Watershed 57 Figure 17a-c. Cacapon River W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 58 Figure 18. Dunkard River Watershed 63 Figure 19a-c. Dunkard River W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 64 Figure 20. Lower Ohio River Watershed 67 Figures 21a-c. Lower Ohio R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 68 Figure 22. Twelvepole Creek Watershed 73 Figures 23a-c. 12pole Ck W’shedhedUse Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 74 Figure 24. Upper Guyandotte River Water 79 Figures 25a-c. Upper Guy. R. W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 80 Figure 26. Upper Ohio River South Watershed 83 Figures 27a-c. U. Ohio R. South W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 84 Figure 28. West Fork River Watershed 89 Figures 29a-c. West Fork River W’shed Use Support & Impairment Causes & Sources 90 Figure 30. Stream Sediment Deposition 120 Figure 31. Stream Riparian Zones 121 Page 4 2002 305(b) Report Page 5 West Virginia Water Quality Status Assessment Acknowledgments Without the assistance of numerous people within the Department of Environmental Protection, other state and federal agencies, private organizations, watershed associations, and individuals, compilation of this report would have not have been possible. The Division of Water Resources would like to take this opportunity to thank the many individuals and agencies that volunteered data and dedicated time and resources toward the compilation of this report. An electronic version of this report, as well as other reports prepared by the Division of Water Resources, are accessible through the Department of Environmental Protection’s web page on the Internet at http://www.dep.state.wv.us. Page 6 2002 305(b) Report PART I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / OVERVIEW This report has been prepared to meet the requirements of section 305(b) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). It is compiled from data collected by a number of state, interstate and federal agencies, including the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR), West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (BPH), United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), United States Geological Survey (USGS), United States Forest Service (USFS), and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USCE). Also, data from a number of third party sources was used to prepare this report, including colleges and universities, public utilities, private consultants, and volunteer monitors. The report provides a general assessment of the quality of West Virginia’s surface and ground water resources. The report addresses public health and aquatic life concerns and provides updated assessments on West Virginia’s lakes, wetlands, and nonpoint source programs. It also discusses special state concerns and describes existing programs for the monitoring and control of water pollution. In addition, the report provides a list of recommendations for the improvement of water quality management in West Virginia. There are more than 9,000 streams in West Virginia, comprising a total length of more than 32,000 miles. This includes approximately 21,000 miles Table 1. Water Resource Atlas of perennial streams and State population (2000) 1,808,344 over 11,000 miles of State surface area (square miles) 24,282 intermittent streams. Only a Number of major watersheds broad overview can be (USGS 8-digit HUCs) 32 included in an assessment of Total number of river and stream miles this type. More specific 32,278 information on individual Number of perennial river miles (subset) 21,114 streams can be found in the Number of intermittent stream miles (subset) 11,164 various watershed Number of ditches and canals (subset) 18 assessment reports being published annually by Number of border miles (subset) 619 DEP’s Division of Water Number of lakes/reservoirs/ponds Resources (DWR). A brief (publicly owned) 108 inventory of West Virginia’s Acres of lakes/reservoirs/ponds (publicly-owned) water resources is provided 22,373 in Table 1. Acres of freshwater wetlands 102,000 Page 7 West Virginia Water Quality Status Assessment DWR’s Watershed Assessment Section (WAS), as part of its rotating basin assessment strategy, collected the majority of data used in this report. In 1996, WAS established a five-year rotating basin approach to stream monitoring, called the West Virginia Watershed Management Framework. For five consecutive years beginning in 1996, WAS collected water quality data in each of the state’s 32 major watersheds (eight-digit USGS hydrologic units). Each year, a group of five to eight watersheds was assessed. The first five-year cycle ended in 2000; the second cycle was initiated in 2001. The format used in this 305(b) report is similar to that used in the 2000 report, which focused on 11 of the state’s 32 major watersheds. This report will focus on 14 watersheds. The watersheds included in this report are the Greenbrier, James, Little Kanawha, Lower New, Monongahela, and Upper New (Figure 1, group D), and the Big Sandy, Cacapon, Dunkard, Lower Ohio, Twelvepole, Upper Guyandotte, Upper Ohio South, and West Fork (Figure 1, group E). WAS monitored the group D watersheds in 1999 and the group E watersheds in 2000. Data collected by WAS was not the only data used in this 305(b) assessment. Data collected from other sources, including those mentioned inWAS paragraph one of this section, were utilized. In addition to the group D and E watershed summaries, an overall statewide summary is provided in this report utilizing data collected from 1996-2001. It is important to note that many of the streams selected for monitoring during this reporting period were not selected in random fashion, but were sampled because of known or suspected pollution problems. Because stream sampling in West Virginia traditionally has not been performed randomly, general inferences should not be made about the overall quality of West Virginia streams based solely upon the data used in this report. However, in order to provide a more accurate picture regarding general water quality conditions in the state, WAS established a random monitoring program in 1997 to complement its targeted stream program. Random monitoring enables DEP to make general inferences regarding the state’s overall water quality in a statistically valid manner.