WEST VIRGINIA INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT REPORT 2010 Prepared to fulfi ll the requirements of Sections 303(d) and 305(b) of the federal Clean Water Act and Chapter 22, Article 11, Section 28 of the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act for the period of July 2007 through June 2009. Earl Ray Tomblin Governor Randy C. Huffman Cabinet Secretary Department of Environmental Protection Scott G. Mandirola Director Division of Water and Waste Management www.dep.wv.gov Promoting a healthy environment 1 Division of Water and Waste Management Table of Contents Introduction 4 Major Basin Summaries 25 Dunkard Creek 25 West Virginia Water Quality Standards 4 Guyandotte River 25 Ohio River Criteria 7 Kanawha River and major tributaries - New, Bluestone, Greenbrier, Gauley, Elk and Coal rivers 26 Surface Water Monitoring and Assessment 7 Monongahela River and major tributaries - Streams and Rivers 7 Tygart and West Fork rivers 26 Probabilistic (random) sampling 7 Cheat River Watershed TMDLs 27 Ambient water quality monitoring network 7 Little Kanawha River 27 Targeted sampling 8 Ohio River 27 Pre-TMDL development sampling 8 Tug Fork River 27 Lakes and Reservoirs 9 Wetlands 9 Interstate Water Coordination 28 Citizen monitoring 10Joint PCB monitoring and TMDL development effort with Virginia 28 Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission - ORSANCO 28 Data Management 11Chesapeake Bay 28 Assessed data 11 Interstate Commission on Potomac River Basin 28 External data providers 11 Ohio River Basin Water Resources Association 29 Use Assessment Procedures 12 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Development Process 29 303(d) Listing Methodology 12 Numeric water quality criteria 12 Water Pollution Control Programs 30 Segmentation of streams 12 Division of Mining and Reclamation 30 Evaluation of fecal coliform numeric criteria 13 Division of Water and Waste Management 31 Narrative water quality criteria - biological impairment data 14 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Program 31 Narrative water quality criteria - fi sh consumption advisories 15 Nonpoint Source Control Program 32 Narrative Water Quality criteria - Greenbrier River algae 15 Groundwater Program 32 Assessment Results 16 Cost Benefi ts Analysis 33 Funding for Water Quality Improvements 33 Probabilistic Data Summary 20 Clean Water Sate Revolving Fund Program 33 Mine drainage 20 Low Interest Loan Program 34 Bacterial contamination 21 Agriculture Water Quality Loan Program 34 Acidity 21 Onsite Systems Loan Program 34 Habitat quality 22 Biological impairment 23 Public Participation and Responsiveness Summary 35 Sources of bio-impairment 24 2010 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report 2 Table of Contents U.S. EPA Approval and Resultant Revisions 46 List Format Description 56 List Supplements Overview 57 List Key List Key 1 List Supplements West Virginia Draft 2010 Section 303(d) List List Page 1 Supplemental Table A - Previously Listed Waters - No TMDL Developed A1 Supplemental Table B - Previously Listed Waters - TMDL Developed B1 Supplemental Table C - Water Quality Improvements C1 Supplemental Table D - Impaired Waters - No TMDL Needed D1 Supplemental Table E - Total Aluminum TMDLs Developed E1 Supplemental Table E - Manganese TMDLs E-Mn1 Supplemental Table F - New Listings for 2010 F1 3 Division of Water and Waste Management Introduction has recommended these requirements be accomplished in a single report that combines the comprehensive Section 305(b) report on water quality The federal Clean Water Act contains several sections requiring and the Section 303(d) list of waters that are not meeting water quality reporting on the quality of a state’s waters. Section 305(b) requires a standards. The suggested format of this “Integrated Report” includes comprehensive biennial report and Section 303(d) requires, from time to provisions for states to place their waters in one of the fi ve categories time, a list of waters for which effl uent limitations or other controls are described in Table 1. not suffi cient to meet water quality standards (impaired waters). West Virginia code Chapter 22, Article 11, Section 28 also requires a biennial This Integrated Report is a combination of the 2010 Section 303(d) List report of the quality of the state’s waters. and the 2010 Section 305(b) report. In general, this report includes data collected and analyzed between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2009, from This document is intended to fulfi ll West Virginia’s requirements for the state’s 32 major watersheds by the West Virginia Department of listing impaired waters under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act and Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) Watershed Assessment Branch and the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulations, 40CFR130.7. other federal, state, private and nonprofi t organizations. Waters that are In addition to the list of impaired waters, it explains the data evaluated included on the 2010 Section 303(d) List are placed in Category 5 of this in the preparation of the list and methodology used to identify impaired report. waterbodies. Information is provided that allows the tracking of previously listed waters that are not contained on the 2010 list. The EPA Water Quality Standards Table 1 - Integrated Report categories Water quality standards are the backbone of the 303(d) and 305(b) Category 1 fully supporting all designated uses processes of the federal Clean Water Act. Instream data are compared Category 2 fully supporting some designated uses, but no or insuffi cient with water quality standards to determine the use attainment status information exists to assess the other designated uses of streams and lakes. In West Virginia, the water quality standards Category 3 insuffi cient or no information exists to determine if any of the are codifi ed as 47CSR2 – Legislative Rules of the Department of uses are being met Environmental Protection – Requirements Governing Water Quality Standards. Impairment assessments conducted for the 2010 cycle Category 4 waters that are impaired or threatened but do not need a Total Maximum Daily Load are based upon water quality standards that have received the EPA’s approval and are currently considered effective for Clean Water Act Category 4a waters that already have an approved TMDL but purposes. In that regard, the EPA has recently approved several are still not meeting standards changes to the West Virginia Water Quality Standards. Information Category 4b waters that have other control mechanisms in regarding the approved changes can be found on the DEP’s Web page place which are reasonably expected to return at http://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/Programs/wqs/Documents/EPA%20 the water to meeting designated uses Letters/2009_09_16_07_57_00.pdf Category 4c waters that have been determined to be impaired, but not by a pollutant A waterbody is considered impaired if it violates water quality Category 5 waters that have been assessed as impaired and are expected to standards and does not meet its designated uses. Use attainment is need a TMDL determined by the comparison of the instream values of various water 2010 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report 4 quality parameters to the numeric or narrative criteria specifi ed for Appendix E of the water quality standards. the designated use (see the Assessment Methodology section for more information on use attainment determination). Waterbodies that are Numeric criteria consist of a concentration value, exposure duration impaired by a pollutant are placed on the 303(d) List and scheduled for and an allowable exceedance frequency. The water quality standards TMDL development. prescribe numeric criteria for the “propagation of fi sh and other aquatic life” use in two forms: acute criteria that are designed to prevent lethality, Some examples of designated uses are water contact recreation, and chronic criteria that prevent retardation of growth and reproduction. propagation and maintenance of fi sh and other aquatic life, and public The numeric criteria for acute aquatic life protection are specifi ed as one- water supply. Designated uses are described in detail in Section 6.2 of hour average concentrations that are not to be exceeded more than once 47CSR2 and are summarized in Table 2. Each of the designated uses has in a three-year period. The criteria for chronic aquatic life protection are associated criteria that describe specifi c conditions that must be met to specifi ed as four-day average concentrations that are not to be exceeded ensure that the water can support that use. For example, the “propagation more than once in a three-year period. The exposure time criterion and maintenance of fi sh and other aquatic life” use requires that the pH for human health protection is unspecifi ed, but there are no allowable remain within the range of 6.0 to 9.0 standard units at all times. This exceedances. is an example of a numeric criterion. Numeric criteria are provided in Table 2 - West Virginia designated uses Category Use Subcategory Use Category Description A Public Water Human Health waters, which, after conventional treatment, are used for human consumption Warm Water propagation and maintenance of fi sh and other aquatic life in streams or stream segments that contain B1 Aquatic Life Fishery populations composed of all warm water aquatic life propagation and maintenance of fi sh and other aquatic life in streams or stream segments that sustain year- B2 Trout Waters Aquatic Life round trout populations. Excluded are those streams or stream segments which receive