090208 Elizabeth River WatersheElizabeth River Watershed
Restoration and Conservation
Action Plan
Clay Bernick
Department of Planning
Environmental Management Center
September 2, 2008
Briefing Objectives
? The Elizabeth in Virginia Beach
? City Initiatives and Activities
? City Coordination with River Partners
? The Elizabeth River Action Plan
? Request Council to Formally Adopt a
Resolution in Support of the Action Plan
The Elizabeth in Virginia Beach
? Approximately 9,400 acres
? Less than 5% of City Area
? Over 20% of City
Population
? 42 Major BMPs
? Approximately 200
stormwater outfalls (more
per capita and per acre
than the Lynnhaven)
? Location of some of
earliest Historic Sites and
Activities in the City
The Elizabeth in Virginia Beach
? Water Quality Impairments
? Aquatic Life –TBT (Tributylstanne),
Estuarine Bioassessments, Dissolved Oxygen
? Recreation -Enterococcus
? Open-Water Aquatic Life –Dissolved
Oxygen
? Fish Consumption -PCB in Fish Tissue
City Initiatives and Activities
? Water Quality
TMDLs
?
Clean Waters Task Force
?
Green Ribbon Committee
?
Public Works
?
? Stormwater Retrofit Projects
? Stormwater Plans
Public Utilities
?
? Sanitary Sewer System Upgrades
City Initiatives and Activities
? Open Space
City Scenic Waterway
?
Parks and Recreation
?
? Land Acquisition
? Greenways Planning
Planning
?
? Chesapeake Bay Gateways Designation
? Elizabeth River Nature and Canoe Trails
? Historic Kempsville Plan
City Initiatives and Activities
? Education and Awareness
? Clean Community Commission
Adopt Programs –Waterways, Parks, Others
?
? Public Works
Waterway Markers
?
? Planning
Trail Maps and Guides
?
Handout Materials
?
City Initiatives and Activities
? Regulatory Programs
? Planning
Wetlands Board
?
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Board
?
Development Review Process
?
? Public Works
State Stormwater Permit
?
City Coordination with River
Partners
? Federal Government
? U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
? Environmental Restoration Study
? NOAA
? Commonwealth of Virginia
? DEQ
? VMRC
? VDCR
? SHD
? Regional Entities
? Hampton Roads PDC ER Steering Committee
? HRSD
? Port Authority
? Watershed Communities
? Chesapeake
? Norfolk
? Portsmouth
? Community Organizations
? Elizabeth River Project
? Action Plan
? Wetlands Watch
Resolution
? Indicate City Support of Action Plan
? Commit to Continue Activities with other
River Partners
? Coordinate Action Plan with City’s Plans
and Policies
? Comprehensive Plan
? Outdoors Plan
Achieving
The River of the Future
Briefing to Virginia Beach City
Council
September 2, 2008
Elizabeth River
Watershed
Lafayette River
Most of us work
Mainstem
or play on this
river…
The dominant
Portsmouth
Virginia Beach
natural feature
uniting four cities
Chesapeake
The Elizabeth River Project
-15 years of river restoration -
Mission:
Restore the Elizabeth River to the
highest practical level of environmental
quality with government, business, &
community partnerships.
Win-Win Partnerships
Win-Win Partnerships
1.Established Green Ribbon Committee
2.Conservation of Avalon Woods parcel (13.15
acres)
3.Establishment of Elizabeth River Nature and
Canoe Trail
4.Continued participation on the Elizabeth River
Steering Committee
5.Partners on the Clean Waters Task Force
3nd Revised Watershed Action Plan
Prepared by Watershed Action Team 2008:
100 plus diverse stakeholders
?
Hon. Harry Diezel & Clay Bernick
?
Consensus: river’s worst problems
?
Consensus: “affordable, acceptable,
?
effective”solutions
Vision
Our legacy will be a clean river that is safe
?
for fishing and swimming,
Vision
Teeming with wildlife;
?
Vision
While
?
sustaining
a thriving
economy
,
Vision
So that our
?
children and
grandchildren
will know
that we had
them in mind.
Action 1
The goo must go! Clean up the
bottom of the Elizabeth River.
Elizabeth River sediment
contamination, the highest PAH
levels in the Chesapeake Bay
(Over 463 times average for bay)
2020 “Goo”Goals
?
Make the “mummichog”well again as a
symbol for reducing contamination to non-
toxic levels.
?
Reduce mummichog cancer to background
levels.
Action 2
Restore and conserve wetlands, shellfish beds
and forested shores.
Habitat Challenge
Severe habitat loss
•
Loss of 50 percent of tidal wetlands
•
2020 Habitat Goals
Net gain in wetlands
•
Retain wetlands despite sea level rise.
•
Increase tree cover 20 percent.
•
Restore native oysters, clams and crabs.
•
Reduce litter.
•
Habitat Solutions
New -Work with the cities to plan
?
proactively to limit impacts and reduce
causes of sea level rise
Dark blue –regular
inundation in next 100 yrs
Action 3
Restore thriving marine life by increasing dissolved
oxygen and reducing excess nutrients as well as
toxics in the water.
Clean Water Challenge
Fish need dissolved oxygen to breathe
•
Elizabeth –unhealthy levels each summer
•
Southern Branch –worst on bay
•
Excess nutrients /algae –key contributor
•
-The Eastern
Branch received
a score of
Severely
Degraded
Chesapeake
2020 Clean Water Goal
?
Meet federal /state standards & criteria,
dissolved oxygen, nutrients, toxics.
Action 4
Make fishing and swimming safe for humans by
reducing harmful bacteria to acceptable levels.
Fishable:
Safe for human
consumption of
fish & shellfish.
Swimmable:
Safe for human
contact.
Human Health Challenge
VA advises against eating more than 2 meals
•
per month of most fish (PCBs)
Swimming not advised due to bacteria, PAH
•
Clam & oyster harvest banned due to bacteria.
•
2020 Goal: Human Health
?
Meet state water quality standards for swimming
and commercial harvest of shellfish.
Human Health Solutions
Convene a diverse stakeholder focus
•
session to determine how to reduce
contaminated sewage from boaters
•Is No Discharge Zone appropriate?
•Promote state cost-share program to help
all marinas build accessible pump out
facilities
Clean Marinas
•
“Scoop the poop”
•
Total Maximum Daily Load allocations
•
Action 5
Make environmental
responsibility the
standard for
business and
development
activities in the
Elizabeth River
watershed.
Action 6
Safeguard the river through integrated, protective
public policies and regulations.
Public Policy Challenge
Inconsistent policies among four cities,
?
state and federal government
Policies do not necessarily reflect latest
?
advances
2020 Public Policy Goal
?
Well-integrated public policies and
regulations promote up-to-date
environmental protection of the Elizabeth
River at the city, state and federal level
.
2014 Public Policy Goal
?
Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and
Virginia Beach adopt consistent, pro-active
policies to remove roadblocks and provide
incentives for environmentally responsible
land-use/conservation.
Public Policy Solutions
Create a forum for improving the
?
integration and efficiency of
environmental policies
DONE –Hampton Roads Planning District
?
Commission Elizabeth River Steering
Committee
Consider enlisting Center for Watershed
?
Protection, or similar group, to provide
technical guidance
Action 7
Create a river revolution, led by a grassroots
citizens of all ages who understand,
embrace & promote restoration of the
Elizabeth River.
2020 Education Goals
25,000 individuals
?
participate in web-based
menu of stewardship
activities.
All 4 city school systems
?
add Elizabeth River
curriculums.
Virtually all schools are
?
River Star Schools (150,
up from 88 now)
Education Solutions
Elizabeth River Project and UVA
?
establish the Learning Barge as
nation’s only floating classroom on a
steel barge featuring a living wetland
You’re invited!
Benefit cocktail
?
party to celebrate
the new plan
Sept. 27,
?
7-10 pm at High
Street Ferry
Landing
The Fishable, Swimmable Plan:
Partner Endorsements
Media event Monday Sept. 15, 10:30 a.m.
?
Multiple agency endorsements
?
Virginia Beach Support
1.Endorse plan at media event Sept. 15
2.Implement recommendations from
Green Ribbon Committee
3.Begin planning for sea level rise
4.Help plan additional wetland
restorations & tree conservation
projects in E. Branch
5.Consistent policies with other cities
6.Stormwater improvements/TMDLs
Thank you Virginia Beach for
leading the greening of Tidewater
www.elizabethriver.org
Questions ?