August 9, 2008

Water was the hot topic Saturday at the University of Virginia, as representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality hosted their annual state-wide water protection summit.

Volunteers at the local, state, and regional levels met at the environmental science building to talk about the quality of Virginia's waters. These volunteers measure water quality in their areas, and they discussed the need for legislators to increase funding for watershed monitoring.

"All states have water quality problems. Virginia has its fair share," says James Beckley of D.E.Q.

Beckley says Virginia is a wet state with lots of water for its size. According to Virginia Citizens for Water Quality, the Commonwealth has over 50,000 miles of streams and rivers. And with all that water, there's bound to be some pollution.

"We do have a lot of water quality pollution issues," says Beckley. "We have a lot of urbanization, a lot of agriculture. But we also see good water quality as well."

Water experts shared the latest in water quality monitoring technology. They say some of the chemicals found in the water could be contributing to fish kills in Virginia rivers.

"Chemicals in the environment, especially pharmaceutical chemicals or anything related to pesticides...may compromise the immune systems of the fish that are being killed as a result," says Chris French of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteers also learned how to test water for E-coli. However, it's not the strain you find in un-cooked ground beef. E-coli in the water is safe to drink, but it could mean there's a high amount of fecal matter there, which can be a concern if too much builds up.

"E-coli that we monitor in water is not necessarily the kind of e-coli where people become sick," says Beckley.

Locally, over 700 volunteers from the Rivanna Conservation Society are members of Virginia Citizens for Water Quality.

"There's a lot of awareness," says Chris Anderson of the Dept. of Environmental Services in Page County. "And I think that's something to be optimistic about."

Especially in Charlottesville, where almost 100 people from the Rivanna Conservation Society signed up for the all-day summit.

UVA has hosted the annual water summit for four years.

Virginia's 2008 fiscal year budget allocates the VDEQ almost $8 million to monitor water quality throughout the state, but for the next fiscal year, the allocated budget is $400,000 less.