WVEC Action Alert

May 24, 2007

WV DEP Water Quality Meetings, May 29, May 30, May 31

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is hosting three public meetings to discuss proposed water quality improvement plans in the Elk, Lower Kanawha, and North Branch of the Potomac watersheds.

Representatives from the Division of Water and Waste Management will discuss total maximum daily load, or TMDL, development in impaired streams in the area. A TMDL is a plan of action used to clean up streams that are not meeting water quality standards.

Staff from DEP will present its monitoring and assessment plans for the following streams from the 2006 West Virginia Section 303(d) List of impaired waters at each of the public meetings.

The Lower Kanawha meeting is scheduled for May 29 at Winfield High School in Winfield to discuss the following
streams:

Pond Branch
Polar Fork
Jakes Run
Saltlick Creek
Buckelew Hollow
Unnamed tributary of an unnamed tributary at river mile 0.4 Little Buffalo Creek at river mile 1.0 Hurricane Creek Cow Creek Long Branch Unnamed tributary of Crooked Creek Sleepy Creek Rider Creek Armour Creek Unnamed tributary of Scary Creek river mile 0.13 Rockstep Run Unnamed tributary of an unnamed tributary at river mile 0.4 of Scary Creek at river mile 2.1 Gallatin Branch Ward Hollow Rays Branch Coal Hollow

Joplin Branch
Pocatalico River
Harmond Creek
Rocky Fork
Spring Branch
Grapevine Creek
Broadtree Run
Unnamed tributary of Dog Fork at river mile 2.0 Raccoon Creek Leaterhwood Creek Camp Creek Anderson Lick Run

The Elk watershed meeting is May 30 at Elkview Middle School in Elkview. The following streams will be discussed:

Green Bottom (Belcher Hollow)
Newhouse Branch
Coonskin Branch
Kaufman Branch
Whiteoak Fork
Mudlick Branch
Big Sandy Creek
Camp Creek
Laurel Fork
Reed Fork
Summers Fork
Grassy Fork
Leatherwood Creek
Buffalo Creek
Lilly Fork
Big Branch
Jacks Run
Upper Mill Creek
Bear Run
Unnamed tributary of Granny Creek
Old Woman Run

The North Branch of the Potomac will be held May 31 at the Mineral County Health Department in Keyser to discuss the following streams:

Patterson Creek
Pargut Run
Unnamed tributary of Patterson Creek at river mile 16.0 Mill Creek Unnamed tributary of an unnamed tributary at river mile 0.5 of New Creek at river mile 4.3

During the pre-TMDL monitoring, DEP field staff will carry out water quality monitoring and pollutant source tracking in the listed waters and watersheds to support TMDL development. Field personnel will also be assessing other nearby streams, and any stream that is determined to be impaired will also have the appropriate TMDLs developed.

All three meetings will begin at 7 p.m.

For information, contact Steve Young at (304) 926-0495 or e- mail syoung@wvdep.org.