Wva milestone
4
West Virginia’s Plan for Clean Water: Is the State On Track? Residents in the region are starting to see the benefits of investments and improvements made in local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The practices that protect and restore our waterways— tree plantings, conservation planning, septic hookups, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants— ultimately improve our quality of life by reducing flooding, securing healthier drinking water, beautifying our neighborhoods, and ensuring safer waters for recreation. Unfortunately, despite mak- ing progress, the Chesapeake Bay watershed still remains a system dangerously out of balance. Too much nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to run off our lawns, city streets, and farm fields into local creeks and streams and the Bay. In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bay jurisdictions established science- based limits for these pollutants and state-specific plans to achieve them, together known as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. EPA, the states, and Washington, D.C., also committed to implement actions to achieve 60 percent of the needed reductions by 2017 and 100 percent by 2025. To ensure these clean-water efforts stay on track, each of the states and Washington, D.C., committed to two-year goals or milestones detailing the programs and practices intended to be met in the near- term to achieve the 2017 and 2025 long-term goals. The milestones are a critical accountability tool, providing the opportunity to measure progress in the context of long-term Bay restoration efforts. Be- cause of the importance of the milestones, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose Clean Water Coalition are collaborating to evaluate and publicize pollution-reduction progress. This report evaluates, for select practices, whether West Virginia achieved its 2012/2013 two-year milestone goals and whether or not this progress is on a trajectory to achieve 60 percent implementation by 2017 and full implementation by 2025. Conclusion West Virginia achieved three of the five 2013 milestones selected for evaluation. In particular, West Vir- ginia’s accomplishments on forest buffers and wastewater treatment are to be commended. The state rose to the occasion, in passing legislation that commits funding to construct or upgrade wastewater treatment facilities. Six have already been upgraded, with four more planned to come into compliance with the state’s Blueprint requirements. On the other hand, in some areas, the state is falling behind. It needs to bolster its efforts to find creative and effective ways for accelerated implementation of agricultural practices such as nutrient application management and stream fencing. West Virginia also has to refocus efforts to address urban and suburban polluted runoff. Instead of decreasing modeled pollution loads in this sector, pollution is expected to increase. West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection is expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment of new growth and pollution loadings for the urban sector in the next two years. This assessment needs to produce aggressive recommendations for practices and programs to address this growing source of pollution for West Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay headwaters. June 2014 AT A GLANCE Agriculture Total Nutrient Application Management Stream Access Control with Fencing Forest Buffers Animal Waste Management Systems Wastewater/Septic Wastewater Treatment Plants See the charts on the inside of this sheet for more information. For more detailed information on all of West Virginia’s milestone goals, go to: www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/tmdl/ Chesapeake Bay/EnsuringRe- sults.html. 2012/2013 FINAL ASSESSMENT West Virginia Milestones
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West Virginia’s Plan for Clean Water: Is the State On Track?Residents in the region are starting to see the benefits of investments and improvements made inlocal waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The practices that protect and restore our waterways—tree plantings, conservation planning, septic hookups, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants—ultimately improve our quality of life by reducing flooding, securing healthier drinking water,beautifying our neighborhoods, and ensuring safer waters for recreation. Unfortunately, despite mak-ing progress, the Chesapeake Bay watershed still remains a system dangerously out of balance. Toomuch nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to run off our lawns, city streets, andfarm fields into local creeks and streams and the Bay.
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bay jurisdictions established science-based limits for these pollutants and state-specific plans to achieve them, together known as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. EPA, the states, and Washington, D.C., also committed to implementactions to achieve 60 percent of the needed reductions by 2017 and 100 percent by 2025.
To ensure these clean-water efforts stay on track, each of the states and Washington, D.C., committedto two-year goals or milestones detailing the programs and practices intended to be met in the near-term to achieve the 2017 and 2025 long-term goals. The milestones are a critical accountability tool,providing the opportunity to measure progress in the context of long-term Bay restoration efforts. Be-cause of the importance of the milestones, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose CleanWater Coalition are collaborating to evaluate and publicize pollution-reduction progress. This reportevaluates, for select practices, whether West Virginia achieved its 2012/2013 two-year milestone goalsand whether or not this progress is on a trajectory to achieve 60 percent implementation by 2017and full implementation by 2025.
Conclusion West Virginia achieved three of the five 2013 milestones selected for evaluation. In particular, West Vir-ginia’s accomplishments on forest buffers and wastewater treatment are to be commended. The staterose to the occasion, in passing legislation that commits funding to construct or upgrade wastewatertreatment facilities. Six have already been upgraded, with four more planned to come into compliancewith the state’s Blueprint requirements. On the other hand, in some areas, the state is falling behind.It needs to bolster its efforts to find creative and effective ways for accelerated implementation of agricultural practices such as nutrient application management and stream fencing. West Virginia alsohas to refocus efforts to address urban and suburban polluted runoff. Instead of decreasing modeledpollution loads in this sector, pollution is expected to increase. West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection is expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment of new growth and pollution loadings for the urban sector in the next two years. This assessment needs to produce aggressive recommendations for practices and programs to address this growing source of pollution forWest Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay headwaters.
June 2014
AT A GLANCE
Agriculture
Total Nutrient Application Management
Stream Access Control with Fencing
Forest Buffers
Animal Waste Management Systems
Wastewater/Septic
WastewaterTreatment Plants
See the charts on the inside ofthis sheet for more information.
For more detailed informationon all of West Virginia’s milestone goals, go to:www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/tmdl/Chesapeake Bay/EnsuringRe-sults.html.
2012/2013 FINAL ASSESSMENT
West Virginia Milestones
6 Herndon Avenue | Annapolis, Maryland 21403888/SAVEBAY | cbf.org
How this Report was CompiledWe selected a subset of implemented practices within three pollution source categories—agricultural runoff, urban/suburbansources, and wastewater treatment—based on their potential toprovide substantial nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollutionreductions and offer important lessons for implementation mov-ing forward. For each practice, progress (% achievement) was eval-uated by looking at incremental progress between the base year,2011, and 2013, compared to the 2013 milestone goal. Progressduring this milestone period was also compared to the long-term(2017 and 2025) implementation benchmarks that the states andWashington, D.C., committed to in their Watershed Implemen-tation Plans. Data were provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office.
706 Giddings Avenue Suite 1-B | Annapolis, Maryland 21401443/759-3400 | choosecleanwater.org
Pollution Reduction in West Virginia at a GlanceWest Virginia achieved its overall pollution-reduction goals for2013. Much of this success is due to progress in wastewater treatment through completed facility upgrades. Some agricul-tural practices are showing modest improvement, but need toincrease in pace to achieve long-term goals. Polluted runoff fromurban and suburban sources is one of the areas of growing nitrogen pollution. Investment in more ambitious practices andprogramming for polluted-runoff management is needed to re-verse this trend.
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
3,000
2025201720132011
2025GOAL
AGRICULTURE
2,500
2017GOAL
POLLUTED RUNOFF
WASTEWATER/SEPTIC
Modeled Nitrogen Loads and Long Term Goals in West Virginia by Sector (thousands of pounds)
Source: Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model 5.3.2
0
100
200
300
400
600
2025201720132011
2025GOAL
POLLUTED RUNOFFWASTEWATER
AGRICULTURE
500
2017GOAL
Modeled Phosphorus Loads and Long Term Goals in West Virginia by Sector (thousands of pounds)
Success StoryIn addition to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, acontributor to the success in exceeding the forest buffer milestone isthe West Virginia Project CommuniTree (CTree).
CTree promotes tree planting and education on public land throughvolunteerism in the Potomac Headwaters of West Virginia. The programalso focuses on enhancing and promoting awareness of watershedand stream-side needs such as polluted-runoff mitigation, water-quality issues, buffer-zone planting, and reducing soil erosion.
The project is funded by the USDA Forest Service and West VirginiaChesapeake Bay Program to engage stakeholders in the process of mak-ing priority decisions within their respective communities. It also offers astrong educational message along with a physical planting component.
CTree is a model public-private partnership led by Cacapon Institute,West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Conservation Agency, andthe West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. As membersof the West Virginia Chesapeake Tributary Team, they are driving on-the-ground actions throughout the Potomac headwaters.
0
20,000
40,000
80,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
60,000
2013 2017G
2025G
MILESTONEPROGRESS
0
2,000
4,000
8,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
6,000
2013 2017 2025
MILESTONEPROGRESS
0
5,000
10,000
20,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
15,000
2013 2017G
2025G
Assessment of West Virginia’s Progress on Selected Pollution-Reduction Practices for 2013
Total Nutrient Application Management acresWest Virginia fell short of meeting the 2013 milestone goal for thispractice. However, the 2013 milestone goal was set before the statehad completed cleaning up historical nutrient management data, re-
sulting in a goal set inadvertently high. Farm acres with nutrient applicationmanagement need to continue to increase each year to achieve the 2017 goal.
0
30,000
60,000
150,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
120,000
2013 2017 2025
90,000
18,913 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
81,367 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 23%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Stream Access Control with Fencing acresFalling short, this program still shows success, with help from Farm Billprograms, the state Agriculture Enhancement Program, and innovativepartnerships with non-governmental groups like Trout Unlimited. West
Virginia is relying heavily on this practice to achieve its nitrogen and phosphoruspollution-reduction goals, so implementation efforts must be sustained.
1,194 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
1,457 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 82%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Forest Buffers acresThe success of this practice is largely due to the Farm Bill Conserva-tion Reserve Enhancement Program, which incentivizes conservationuses of land. This is a highly successful voluntary program. To achieve
long-term (2017 and 2025) implementation goals for forest buffers, however,will require the implementation rate to roughly double in coming years.
391 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
380 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 103%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Animal Waste Management Systems animal unitsWest Virginia exceeded its 2013 goal for this practice with a steady increasein implementation in the past couple of years. This practice is important toeffectively reduce nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. Implementation of the
West Virginia Confined Animal Feeding Operations Program has encouraged bettermanure storage practices that have helped accelerate implementation.
12,004 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
435 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 2,760%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (animal units)
Wastewater Treatment Plants# of permits issued meeting Blueprint requirementsWest Virginia accomplished its milestone goal for wastewater treat-ment through upgrades to six facilities. New construction and up-
grades are made possible through a funding bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature.
0
15
20
2011 2015 2019 2021 20232013G
2017G
2025G
10
5
6 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
6 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 100%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (# of permits)
Agriculture Wastewater/Septic P 2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS M 2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE
MILESTONE MILESTONE
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
PM
P
M
PROGRESS PROGRESS MILESTONE PROGRESS
0
20,000
40,000
80,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
60,000
2013 2017G
2025G
MILESTONEPROGRESS
0
2,000
4,000
8,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
6,000
2013 2017 2025
MILESTONEPROGRESS
0
5,000
10,000
20,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
15,000
2013 2017G
2025G
Assessment of West Virginia’s Progress on Selected Pollution-Reduction Practices for 2013
Total Nutrient Application Management acresWest Virginia fell short of meeting the 2013 milestone goal for thispractice. However, the 2013 milestone goal was set before the statehad completed cleaning up historical nutrient management data, re-
sulting in a goal set inadvertently high. Farm acres with nutrient applicationmanagement need to continue to increase each year to achieve the 2017 goal.
0
30,000
60,000
150,000
2011 2015 2019 2021 2023
120,000
2013 2017 2025
90,000
18,913 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
81,367 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 23%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Stream Access Control with Fencing acresFalling short, this program still shows success, with help from Farm Billprograms, the state Agriculture Enhancement Program, and innovativepartnerships with non-governmental groups like Trout Unlimited. West
Virginia is relying heavily on this practice to achieve its nitrogen and phosphoruspollution-reduction goals, so implementation efforts must be sustained.
1,194 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
1,457 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 82%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Forest Buffers acresThe success of this practice is largely due to the Farm Bill Conserva-tion Reserve Enhancement Program, which incentivizes conservationuses of land. This is a highly successful voluntary program. To achieve
long-term (2017 and 2025) implementation goals for forest buffers, however,will require the implementation rate to roughly double in coming years.
391 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
380 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 103%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)
Animal Waste Management Systems animal unitsWest Virginia exceeded its 2013 goal for this practice with a steady increasein implementation in the past couple of years. This practice is important toeffectively reduce nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. Implementation of the
West Virginia Confined Animal Feeding Operations Program has encouraged bettermanure storage practices that have helped accelerate implementation.
12,004 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
435 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 2,760%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (animal units)
Wastewater Treatment Plants# of permits issued meeting Blueprint requirementsWest Virginia accomplished its milestone goal for wastewater treat-ment through upgrades to six facilities. New construction and up-
grades are made possible through a funding bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature.
0
15
20
2011 2015 2019 2021 20232013G
2017G
2025G
10
5
6 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)
6 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 100%
Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (# of permits)
Agriculture Wastewater/Septic P 2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS M 2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE
MILESTONE MILESTONE
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
P
M
PM
P
M
PROGRESS PROGRESS MILESTONE PROGRESS
West Virginia’s Plan for Clean Water: Is the State On Track?Residents in the region are starting to see the benefits of investments and improvements made inlocal waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The practices that protect and restore our waterways—tree plantings, conservation planning, septic hookups, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants—ultimately improve our quality of life by reducing flooding, securing healthier drinking water,beautifying our neighborhoods, and ensuring safer waters for recreation. Unfortunately, despite mak-ing progress, the Chesapeake Bay watershed still remains a system dangerously out of balance. Toomuch nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to run off our lawns, city streets, andfarm fields into local creeks and streams and the Bay.
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bay jurisdictions established science-based limits for these pollutants and state-specific plans to achieve them, together known as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. EPA, the states, and Washington, D.C., also committed to implementactions to achieve 60 percent of the needed reductions by 2017 and 100 percent by 2025.
To ensure these clean-water efforts stay on track, each of the states and Washington, D.C., committedto two-year goals or milestones detailing the programs and practices intended to be met in the near-term to achieve the 2017 and 2025 long-term goals. The milestones are a critical accountability tool,providing the opportunity to measure progress in the context of long-term Bay restoration efforts. Be-cause of the importance of the milestones, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose CleanWater Coalition are collaborating to evaluate and publicize pollution-reduction progress. This reportevaluates, for select practices, whether West Virginia achieved its 2012/2013 two-year milestone goalsand whether or not this progress is on a trajectory to achieve 60 percent implementation by 2017and full implementation by 2025.
Conclusion West Virginia achieved three of the five 2013 milestones selected for evaluation. In particular, West Vir-ginia’s accomplishments on forest buffers and wastewater treatment are to be commended. The staterose to the occasion, in passing legislation that commits funding to construct or upgrade wastewatertreatment facilities. Six have already been upgraded, with four more planned to come into compliancewith the state’s Blueprint requirements. On the other hand, in some areas, the state is falling behind.It needs to bolster its efforts to find creative and effective ways for accelerated implementation of agricultural practices such as nutrient application management and stream fencing. West Virginia alsohas to refocus efforts to address urban and suburban polluted runoff. Instead of decreasing modeledpollution loads in this sector, pollution is expected to increase. West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection is expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment of new growth and pollution loadings for the urban sector in the next two years. This assessment needs to produce aggressive recommendations for practices and programs to address this growing source of pollution forWest Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay headwaters.
June 2014
AT A GLANCE
Agriculture
Total Nutrient Application Management
Stream Access Control with Fencing
Forest Buffers
Animal Waste Management Systems
Wastewater/Septic
WastewaterTreatment Plants
See the charts on the inside ofthis sheet for more information.
For more detailed informationon all of West Virginia’s milestone goals, go to:www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/tmdl/Chesapeake Bay/EnsuringRe-sults.html.
2012/2013 FINAL ASSESSMENT
West Virginia Milestones
6 Herndon Avenue | Annapolis, Maryland 21403888/SAVEBAY | cbf.org
How this Report was CompiledWe selected a subset of implemented practices within three pollution source categories—agricultural runoff, urban/suburbansources, and wastewater treatment—based on their potential toprovide substantial nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollutionreductions and offer important lessons for implementation mov-ing forward. For each practice, progress (% achievement) was eval-uated by looking at incremental progress between the base year,2011, and 2013, compared to the 2013 milestone goal. Progressduring this milestone period was also compared to the long-term(2017 and 2025) implementation benchmarks that the states andWashington, D.C., committed to in their Watershed Implemen-tation Plans. Data were provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office.
706 Giddings Avenue Suite 1-B | Annapolis, Maryland 21401443/759-3400 | choosecleanwater.org
Pollution Reduction in West Virginia at a GlanceWest Virginia achieved its overall pollution-reduction goals for2013. Much of this success is due to progress in wastewater treatment through completed facility upgrades. Some agricul-tural practices are showing modest improvement, but need toincrease in pace to achieve long-term goals. Polluted runoff fromurban and suburban sources is one of the areas of growing nitrogen pollution. Investment in more ambitious practices andprogramming for polluted-runoff management is needed to re-verse this trend.
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
3,000
2025201720132011
2025GOAL
AGRICULTURE
2,500
2017GOAL
POLLUTED RUNOFF
WASTEWATER/SEPTIC
Modeled Nitrogen Loads and Long Term Goals in West Virginia by Sector (thousands of pounds)
Source: Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model 5.3.2
0
100
200
300
400
600
2025201720132011
2025GOAL
POLLUTED RUNOFFWASTEWATER
AGRICULTURE
500
2017GOAL
Modeled Phosphorus Loads and Long Term Goals in West Virginia by Sector (thousands of pounds)
Success StoryIn addition to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, acontributor to the success in exceeding the forest buffer milestone isthe West Virginia Project CommuniTree (CTree).
CTree promotes tree planting and education on public land throughvolunteerism in the Potomac Headwaters of West Virginia. The programalso focuses on enhancing and promoting awareness of watershedand stream-side needs such as polluted-runoff mitigation, water-quality issues, buffer-zone planting, and reducing soil erosion.
The project is funded by the USDA Forest Service and West VirginiaChesapeake Bay Program to engage stakeholders in the process of mak-ing priority decisions within their respective communities. It also offers astrong educational message along with a physical planting component.
CTree is a model public-private partnership led by Cacapon Institute,West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Conservation Agency, andthe West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. As membersof the West Virginia Chesapeake Tributary Team, they are driving on-the-ground actions throughout the Potomac headwaters.
