Pollution in the Rush, Hughes and Hazel rivers, primarily caused by livestock in the streams, will require development of a clean-up plan to meet federal clean-water standards, state and regional officials told a gathering of Rappahannock County residents Tuesday.

Virginia law requires the development of an "implementation plan" designed to reduce high levels of bacterial pollution in segments of the three rivers, representatives of several state and local agencies said. The clean-up plan, expected to be unveiled by next spring, could call upon farmers and homeowners to take steps to reduce pollution–such as fencing off streams from livestock and repairing or replacing failing home septic systems.

At a meeting at Rappahannock County High School, officials of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission and several state agencies, including the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, briefed citizens and local government officials from Rappahannock, Madison and Culpeper counties. They reported on tests of pollution levels taken in 2006 and 2007 in the three stream segments, and explained the process of developing an "implementation plan" aimed at reducing pollution.

Much of the presentation was highly technical and couched in bureaucratic jargon that didn’t communicate well to the small gathering, which included more government officials than ordinary citizens. "I wish there were more local people here, but I don’t see many, maybe three or four," remarked Robert Anderson, chairman of the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, who welcomed the few citizens who came to hear the presentation.

May Louise Sligh of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation told the meeting that the study phase of the effort now is completed and it’s time to develop a plan for reducing high levels of fecal coliform and e-coli bacteria found in segments of the three rivers. The agencies want to involve farmers, landowners, local officials and others in devising specific goals and steps to improve the streams, she said.

"We are trying to restore this watershed and improve water quality," Sligh told the meeting. Once high levels of the bacterial pollutants are found in the streams, Virginia state law requires that a formal "implementation plan" be developed, outlining specific goals and timetables for reducing pollution and steps to be taken to achieve the clean-water standards, officials said.

The clean-up will aim at eliminating both residential and agricultural sources of bacterial pollution. On the residential side, this will involve such actions as dealing with failing septic systems by pumping-out septic tanks, repairing or replacing failing septic systems, and eliminating all "straight pipes" that connect home septic systems directly to streams, according to briefing papers and comments by officials at the meeting.

On the agricultural side, implementation actions will focus on excluding livestock from streams by fencing, development of planted buffer zones along streams, and installation of alternative watering systems for livestock, such as ponds, springs and wells.

The clean-up effort will rely on voluntary compliance by homeowners and farmers and others, aided by various state and federal programs that pay at least part of the costs of fixing residential septic systems or steps by livestock raisers to keep animals out of streams, officials said.

"We need to get livestock out of the streams," said Charlie Lunsford of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in Richmond. He was asked if the voluntary clean-up program might someday become mandatory–requiring farmers to fence livestock out of streams. He replied that the program now relies on encouragement and incentives to farmers, but that efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed might change that. "Who knows where the regulatory hammer may go?" he asked, suggesting that some mandatory steps my eventually be required.

The next meeting on developing the streams clean-up plan will be held Nov. 18, officials said, with a goal of finishing a plan by next March.

For more information, contact Deirdre Clark of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission at (540) 829-7450 (e-mail to dbclark@rrregion.org) or Mary Louise Sligh of Virginia DCR at (804) 443-1494 (e-mail to may.sligh@dcr.virginia.gov).