On the last night of November, a smattering of locals gathered in the Scottsville Town Council Chambers to discuss a messy topic: water quality problems in the Hardware and North Fork Hardware Rivers. Set in between Charlottesville and Scottsville, the rivers flow into the James and are on the State’s impaired waters list for fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria. That means they are contaminated by human or animal waste at levels unsafe for human contact. The purpose of the night’s meeting was to kick off a study, the first step in the process of cleaning up a polluted water body (a similar project is underway for the Rivanna). And the first step in the study is the identification of all sources of fecal bacteria in the watershed.
“E. coli naturally lives in the gut of warm blooded animals,” explained Robert Brent of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and both it and fecal coliform are only found in animal and human waste. Sources include livestock, pets, wildlife, water treatment centers, septic systems, fertilizers and pesticides. In a rural area such as the Hardware River watershed, contamination can come from septic systems (if they are not pumped every three-five years), but the most significant threat is from livestock. Of 12 samples taken last year, only one violated the safe rate for human contact, though by a wide margin. The source? Cattle. One cow produces the same amount of bacteria as 16 people or 100 deer. “Tell your friends that trivia,” Brent joked. “Show them what a nerd you are.”
How to combat the cows? Brent said that the most effective countermeasures include planting trees along rivers, as well as stream fencing. “The most important place to protect is the small streams that run into a river,” he said.
Will the study result in more regulation? wondered the audience. While only the State legislature can pass such regulations, the DEQ can target certain areas for State and federal money to help with the enforcement of an implementation plan, which is the next step after a study is completed. According to Brent, the Hardware River study should be completed by the end of April.
For more information on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, go to: