Leesville Lake Association

"Dedicated to protecting Virginia's environment and promoting the health and well-being of the citizens of the Commonwealth."

In July, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released its draft 2006 Water Quality Assessment 305(b) and 303(d) Integrated Report (IR), which describes the water quality conditions in the Commonwealth of Virginia during the time period beginning January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2004. The primary purpose of this report is to satisfy the water quality reporting requirements of the Commonwealth of Virginia under the Federal Clean Water Act and the Virginia Water Quality Monitoring, Information and Restoration Act. The various bodies of waters are evaluated in terms of whether the appropriate designated uses are met.

At the request of the Leesville Lake Association Board, two representatives of the Virginia DEQ (Mike McCleod and Greg Anderson from the Roanoke office) made a presentation on the Report at the August 10th Board meeting. The emphasis of the presentation was on water quality in Leesville Lake and the two main tributaries feeding Leesville Lake-the Pigg River and Old Woman's Creek. They also explained some of the processes the DEQ goes through to do it's job. It all starts with a few key assessment documents which are "Water Quality Standards", "EPA 2006 Integrated Report (IR) Assessment Guidance" and "VA 2006 Assessment Guidance".

Download a PDF version of the presentation. Leesville_2006_AUG10_06.pdf   (6.2 MB - 40 min download time at 45.2 kbps)
Summary of of Assessment - LEESVILLE_LAKE_WATER_QUALITY.doc

Water Quality Standards

Standards are regulations based on federal and state law that set the numeric and narrative limits on pollutants. The purpose of standards is the protection of the six designated uses (see below) as well as to provide a target for the restoreation of state waters, which are called TMDLs (Total Maxamim Daliy Load). The TMDL is daily amount of pollutants allowed for a body of water. It sets numeric limits on specific physical, chemical, and radiological characteristics of the waters such as a minimum of 4.0 mg/L dissolved oxygen or instantaneous bacteria criterion of E.coli - 235 cfu/100 ml and Fecal coliform - 400 cfu/100 ml. A TMDL will also set narrative limits like a general protective statement known as the “free froms".

"All state waters shall be free from substances attributable to sewage, industrial waste, or other waste in concentrations, amounts, or combinations which contravene established standards or interfere directly or indirectly with designated uses of such water or which are inimical or harmful to human, animal, plant, or aquatic life."

Water quality standards are implimented through a set of procedures starting with water quality monitoring. Then an assessment is made of point and non point sources leading to an integrated report called the 305(b) and 303(d) (Point, NPS). Impaired waters are put on the EPA 303(d) list. After the TMDL is determined the DEQ holds meetings for public participation on the implementation plans. A plan for the entire watershed, 303(e) can then be made with more public input. Then control measures and reduction stratages can be implimented. The process starts over again with more quality monitoring.

Water Quality Programs

Water Quality Monitoring Chemical Parameters Water Quality Assessment 303(d) Listing (TMDLs) Water Supply Planning

Water Quality Standards Fish Tissue Benthics Sediment Trend Analysis Probability Monitoring

Water Quality Monitoring Parameters

Field data DO Temp pH Cond	Nutrients Phosphorus Nitrogen	E. Coli Alkalinity, Hardness Benthic community metrics
Solids total suspended dissolved turbidity	Metals Hg Cr Cu Pb etc.	Pesticides DDT Kepone etc.	Toxins dioxin PCBs etc

Probabilistic Monitoring

Probabilistic Monitoring is a network of randomly chosen stations used to make assessments of water quality conditions on a statewide basis. It provides statistically based information about water quality in Virginia that can be used to identify regions, basins, or types of streams or problems that need to be addressed.

2006 Integrated Report EPA CATEGORIES

Category 1

All waters Fully Supporting all Uses.

Category 2

Waters Fully Support Some Designated Uses.

Category 3

Insufficient Data. No data available.

Category 4A

TMDL Study is complete & EPA approved for a specific pollutant or pollutants causing impairment.

Category 4B

TMDL Study is not required as other pollution control mechanisms are in place.

Category 4C

TMDL Study is not required as the impairment is not caused by a pollutant or is a natural condition.

Category 5

TMDL Study is required as the impairment is caused by a pollutant. (VA Category 5C suspected Natural)

Leesville Lake 2006 Assessment

Leesville Lake 2006 assessment data window is January 2000 to December 2004. The sampling frequency is on a 3 year rotation which began in 2004. A total of 15 surface sampling runs were taken from April to October 2000, 2001 and 2003. Bodies of water are split into assessment units and each is put in one of the EPA categories listed below. Leesville Lake has five 2006 assessment units and six monitoring stations that can be seen on the map below. Assessment units are indicated by color and monitoring stations are the white circles.

Assessment Summary

Below are highlights of the 2006 Leesville Lake Assessment for each section of the lake. The water in the lake meets many of the water quality standards. In addition, PCBs in fish tissue meet the standard throughout Leesville Lake. That is good news and cannot be said for some of the upper and lower sections of the Roanoke River. However, some sections of the lake exceed one or more of the water quality standards. Some of the exceedances are a result of the natural aging process in the reservoir and others are a result of human activity. The Leesville Lake Association plans to become more actively involved in water quality issues to determine if: (1) more data is needed, (2) there is a role for the Association in data gathering, and (3) to assist in improving the water quality as appropriate.

VAW-L13L_ROA03A02 - Green

Roanoke River from the Smith Mountain Dam downstream to confluence w/ Pigg River
There are no water quality monitoring stations in this section of the lake. DEQ uses water quality samples from the Smith Mountain Dam to assess the water quality in this section and the water quality is good. It supports all of the water uses mentioned above.

VAW-L13L_ROA02A02 - Red

Roanoke River from confluence w/ Pigg River downstream to confluence w/ Old Womans Creek
This section of the lake meets many of the water quality standards such as pH, temperature, nitrates and chlorides. However, the bottom of this lake section does not meet the Dissolved Oxygen standard of 4.0 mg/l in 14 of 110 measurements and is considered "impaired" for aquatic life. Low Dissolved Oxygen levels at the bottom of the lake are part of the natural aging process of the reservoir.
This section of the lake is also considered "impaired" for E. coli. The high levels of the E. coli are primarily a result of runoff from agricultural land after heavy rains. Since heavy rains also wash silt and mud into the lake, when the lake is muddy, it may also contain levels of E. coli that exceed the water quality standard. Unfortunately, there is extremely little data and no monitoring program to determine precisely when this section of the lake may not support recreational use such as swimming. Therefore, as a general precaution, it is advisable to not swim in the lake when it is muddy. This is particularly true for young children, older adults and anyone with an impaired immune system.

VAW-L13L_ROA01A02 - Pink

Roanoke River from confluence w/ Old Womans Creek to Leesville Dam
This section of the lake meets most of the water quality standards such as temperature, nitrates, chlorides and E. coli. The Dissolved Oxygen exceeds the standard in both the top and bottom portions of the lake. An extremely dry period occurred within the assessment data window, which contributed to the DO exceedances in the top portion of the lake. DO exceedances in the bottom portion are due to the natural aging process in the lake. Three of the 19 pH measurements exceed the water quality standard maximum of 9.0. As a result of the Dissolved Oxygen and pH exceedances, this section of the lake is considered "impaired" for aquatic life.

VAW-L13L_OWC01A02 - Blue (Riverine - Red)

Old Womans Creek from confluence w/ Roanoke River upstream to its backwaters.
Like the Pigg River, Old Woman's Creek is considered "impaired" for E. coli. Five of the 18 samples taken exceed the standard. As mentioned above, a TMDL plan for Old Woman's Creek was completed earlier this year.

VAW-L13L_PGG01A02 - Red

Pigg River from confluence w/ Roanoke River upstream to its backwaters.
The Pigg River meets most of the water quality standards such as Dissolved Oxygen, pH, temperature, nitrates and chlorides. However, five of the twelve water samples taken during the assessment period exceed the E. coli instantaneous criterion of 235 cfu/100 ml. Therefore, the Pigg River is considered "impaired" and does not support recreational use such as swimming.

Lessville Lake Trophic Status 2006

Pigg River & Old Woman Cr.

Future Reports & Requirements

The WQS Triennial Review pending

www.deq.virginia.gov/wqs/rule.html#TR

Lake Nutrient Criteria Effective pending EPA Approval.

www.deq.virginia.gov/wqs/rule.html#TR

HB 1150 – Requires Sec. of Natural Resources to report status of TMDLs every six months. First report due January 2007.

www.deq.virginia.gov/tmdl/ipproj.html

2008 Assessment Guidance Summer of 2007.

DEQ Internet Resoures

DEQ Home Page

deq.virginia.gov

2006 Water Quality Assessment & Maps

www.deq.virginia.gov/wqa/305b2006.html

Water Quality Data- DEQ

gisweb.deq.virginia.gov/monapp/mon_data_retrieval_app.html#

Fish Tissue Data

www.deq.virginia.gov/fishtissue/fishtissue.html

Sediment Data

www.deq.virginia.gov/fishtissue/sediment.html

VDH Fish Consumption Advisories

www.vdh.virginia.gov/epi/publichealthtoxicology/fishingadvisories.asp

DEQ Contacts

Arial Photo

The photo below was taken after a rainfall in the Leesville Lake and Pigg River areas. The dark water is free of sediment while the lighter water is sediment laden from storm run off. One interesting feature is Smith Mountian Dam was pumping water from Leesville Lake "back" into Smith Mountian Lake when the picture was taken. As you can see, the sediment is going upstream from the Pigg River and out the other side of the dam into Smith Mountian Lake.

Picture Taken April 2002