According to today’s Daily Progress, a three-year study by StreamWatch has found that three-quarters of the streams tested in the Rivanna River watershed failed to meet Department of Environmental Quality standards. The new report shows substantially more failing sites than a 2004-05 report, but that news is tempered just a bit by StreamWatch’s John Murphy who points out that DEQ standards have also toughened. As a result, so have his.
C-VILLE profiled Murphy and his nonprofit a year ago as part of a larger article on the shitty state of the Rivanna and what’s being done about it by groups like StreamWatch.
John Murphy of StreamWatch has toughened his standards when appraising the cleanliness—or lack thereof—of the Rivanna River.