COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY WATER PLANNING DIVISION JUTTA SCHNEIDER, DIRECTOR P.O. BOX 1105 Richmond, VA 23218 Subject: Guidance Memo No. GM21-2002 2022 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual To: Regional Directors From: Jutta Schneider, Water Planning Division Director Date: 4/26/2021 Copies: Water Quality Planning Managers and Staff, Water Permitting Division Director, Director of Central Operations, Director of Regional Operations Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) original 2006 Integrated Report Guidance recommends that states submit an “Integrated Report”(IR) that will satisfy Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements for both Sections 305(b) water quality reports and 303(d) impaired waters lists. According to EPA this Integrated Report should include the following information: delineation of water quality assessment units (AUs) based on National Hydrography Dataset (NHD); status of and progress toward achieving comprehensive assessments of all waters; Water Quality Standard attainment determination for every AU; additional monitoring that may be needed to determine Water Quality Standard attainment status and, if necessary, to support development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for each pollutant/AU combination; schedules for additional monitoring planned for AUs; pollutant/AU combinations still requiring TMDLs; TMDL development schedules reflecting the priority ranking of each pollutant/AU combination. DEQ has incorporated the EPA Integrated Reporting guidance into the Virginia 2022 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual. The 2022 IR guidance is designed to integrate or combine the 305(b) overall assessment of Virginia’s waters and separate out those waters impaired and needing a TMDL as per Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. The EPA Integrated Report Guidance and Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS V1.0.6) has five different assessment categories in which every segment or “assessment unit” (AU) will be placed. The EPA Guidance allows the states to subdivide the federal categories in order to address state programmatic needs. Virginia’s 2022 IR guidance contains the categories and subcategories Virginia has chosen for enhanced tracking and data management purposes. The 2022 IR guidance manual contains a number of changes, all enumerated in Part II. A few notable updates include bacteria assessment methodologies developed to assess new recreational criteria, recreation use assessment determinations made using Virginia Department of Health harmful algal bloom notices, identifying indicators of aquatic life use impairments due to chlorophyll a in the tidal James River, consolidated lake/reservoir assessment guidance and discontinue the listing and delisting of facilities solely based on water quality-based effluent limits. i The data window to be used in the development of the 2022 Integrated Report is January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2020. The manual uses excerpts from the “EPA 2006 Integrated Report Guidance”, “2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 EPA Integrated Report Clarification Guidance Memoranda”, and “EPA 1997 Guidelines for the Preparation of the 1998 State Water Quality Assessment 305(b) Reports”, along with other State and Federal guidelines. The assessment methodologies in this guidance were developed based on the water quality standards in effect on the date of issuance of the draft version of this guidance; as described in 9VAC-25-260, the current water quality standards became effective on October 13, 2020. These water quality standards will be used to complete assessments for the 2022 Integrated Report. Electronic Copy: An electronic copy of this guidance in PDF format is available for staff internally on DEQNET, and for the general public on DEQ's website at: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/water-quality/water-quality- assessments/most-recent-year-wqa-guidance-manual. Contact information: If you have any questions regarding the guidance manual, you can contact Amanda Shaver, Department of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Telephone (804) 698-4181, FAX (804) 698-4032, or via e-mail [email protected]. Certification: As required by Subsection B of § 2.2-4002.1 of the APA, the agency certifies that this guidance document conforms to the definition of a guidance document in § 2.2-4101 of the Code of Virginia. Disclaimer: This document has been developed based on Virginia’s Water Quality Standards Regulation (9 VAC 25- 260), with amendments approved by the State Water Control Board resulting from iterative Triennial Reviews or periodic rulemakings. It is provided as guidance and, as such, sets forth standard operating procedures for the agency. However, it does not mandate nor prohibit any particular method for the analysis of data, establishment of a wasteload allocation, or establishment of a permit limit. If alternative proposals are made, such proposals should be reviewed and accepted or denied based on their technical adequacy and compliance with appropriate laws and regulations. ii WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE MANUAL for 2022 305(b)/303(d) Integrated Water Quality Report April 2021 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART PAGE I. REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND OBJECTIVES................................. 1 II. MODIFICATIONS TO PREVIOUS GUIDANCE.............................................. 4 III. FEDERAL AND VIRGINIA ASSESSMENT CATEGORIES........................... 4 IV. GENERAL RULES OF WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT........................... 6 V. ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 5.1 Monitoring Station Siting and Delineation........................................................ 11 5.2 Evaluation of Designated Uses.......................................................................... 12 5.3 Chesapeake Bay Assessment............................................................................. 20 5.4 Biological Assessments..................................................................................... 24 5.5 Toxics Assessment............................................................................................ 28 5.6 Swamp Waters Assessment............................................................................... 30 5.7 Lakes/Reservoirs Assessment............................................................................ 30 5.8 Nonpoint Source Assessment............................................................................ 39 5.9 Coastal Assessment........................................................................................... 40 5.10 Wetlands Assessment........................................................................................ 41 5.11 Freshwater Probabilistic Monitoring Assessment............................................. 60 5.12 Continuous Monitoring Assessment.................................................................. 60 VI. PROCEDURES FOR NON-AGENCY DATA..................................................... 63 VII. 303(D) LISTING/DELISTING AND TMDL PRIORITY RANKING............... 68 VIII. APPENDICES A – Clean Water Act References............................................................................... 73 B – Regional Biologist Assessment Fact Sheet......................................................... 75 C – Classification of Virginia’s Shellfish Growing Areas........................................ 77 D-1– Incorporating the Proactive Approach for Impaired Waters Delisting............ 81 D-2- Category 5R Requirements………………………………………………….. 83 E-1 – Fish Tissue Values (TVs)................................................................................ 84 E-2 – Fish Tissue Screening Values (TSVs)............................................................. 87 F – Consensus-Based and ER-M Sediment Screen Values....................................... 89 G – Estuarine Aquatic Life Use Assessment using the Sediment Quality Triad...... 92 H – Significant Lakes by DEQ Regional Offices…………………………………. 111 I – Shenandoah River Algae Monitoring and Assessment Summary……………….. 114 J – Memo to Standardize Rounding Method for Assessment……………………….. 118 iv List of Tables Table 1 Designated Use Matrix P. 17 Table 2 Designated Use Assessment Methodology P. 18 Table 3 Trophic Status in ATTAINS P. 36 Table 4 Lake/Reservoir Designated Use Assessment Summary P. 38 Table 5 Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Elements P. 46 Table 6 Long-term Wetlands Field Assessment Strategy P. 47 List of Figures Figure 1 Annual temperature cycles in stratified lakes P. 32 Figure 2 Multi-tiered sampling design of wetlands P. 45 Figure 3 Wetland Water Quality Stress Condition P. 50 Figure 4 Comparison of Wetland Water Quality Condition Scores P. 51 Figure 5 Comparison of In-Stream Water Quality Parameters P. 51 Figure 6 Non-tidal Wetlands Data Viewer P. 52 Figure 7 Incorporation of linear corridor analysis for cumulative assessment of transportation projects P. 53 Figure 8 Summary output for cumulative analysis of transportation projects P. 54 Figure 9 Incorporation of mitigation bank location and footprint P. 55 Figure 10 Wetland and Stream credit availability P. 56 Figure 11 Mitigation bank service areas P. 56 Figure 12 Relative frequency of stressor in Coastal Plain wetlands sampled in 2004 (n = 1,326), 2010 (n = 122) and 2014 (n = 127) P. 57 Figure 13 Relative frequency of stressor in Ridge & Valley, Blue Ridge and Appalachian Plateau wetlands sampled in 2008 (n = 198) and 2013 (n = 42) P. 58 Figure 14 Data collected by VDEQ