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By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Some of Rappahannock County’s streams are overloaded with bacteria, and a new study is trying to find out just how much pollution the county’s waters can take if they are to be fit for recreational activities.
An audience of 25 people gathered on the evening of Oct. 11 at the Rappahannock County Library for the first public meeting on the Upper Rappahannock River Basin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study. Representatives from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Engineering Concepts, Inc., explained the purpose and process of determining TMDLs during a two-hour presentation.
A TMDL is the amount of pollution a body of water can take in and still meet water quality standards set by state and federal governments. Waters that do not meet those standards are labeled “impaired.” As of 2002, the DEQ listed about 1,450 bodies of water as impaired in the commonwealth.
The Upper Rappahannock project aims to determine acceptable levels of pollutants for 16 stream segments with high bacteria content in the basin, which includes parts of eight counties. Three of the segments are on the Hughes, Rappahannock and Rush rivers in Rappahannock County. The streams have high levels of E. coli and fecal coliform bacteria, which indicate the potential
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