Shrimp Farming in Ohio? Why Not West Virginia?

Microculture presents interesting possibilities for growing crops or raising animals on small areas of land. I have heard of small scale shrimp farming in Vietnam, but I figured that was due to lower costs and a tropical climate, but here's somebody who's raising shrimp in . . . Youngstown, Ohio, on some abandoned lot. I don't see how it could be cost-effective without scaling up the project, but it's an interesting endeavor. It makes you wonder how much of this type of small scale farming might be suited to a place like West Virginia.

Water Fight in the East?

Fights over water have been common in the arid West, and they have developed a system for deciding who gets what little water is available. It is a first in time, first in right approach that allows lots of people to withdraw water when the rainfall or snow melt is good, but only a lucky few, who have the oldest rights of withdrawal, get water during times of drought. This system provides some degree of certainty to water users, and allows the owners of water rights to sell those rights to others, meaning the water can go to those who presumably can make the most productive use of the water. In theory.

In the East, we tend to follow the riparian model that developed in England, where there was plenty of water. The idea was that you could use as much of a stream flow as you wished, as long as you didn't harm downstream users. Generally, in the East, the problem was managing too much water, as everyone tried to slough off extra water onto those downgradient, to avoid being flooded.

Now, though, the East is seeing the same problems as the West, as there is not enough water for all uses, particularly in times of drought. States are contending over water supplies, as Georgia, Alabama and Florida are doing. Atlanta needs a lot of water for those in its metropolitan area, while downstream Georgia, Alabama, and Florida need the water for their populations, irrigation, and healthy fisheries in the Gulf. See this article from the Associated Press to learn more about the issue.

Don't think it can't happen in West Virginia. Particularly in the eastern part of the state, where our headwaters drain into the Potomac, the downstream users in Maryland and Virginia have been crying out for greater flow on many occasions. At some point, they may stifle development in West Virginia by claiming a preexisting right to water that flows out of the state. To try to forestall that, the Legislature enacted the Water Resources Protection and Management Act, WV Code Chapter 22, Article 26. It requires reporting of water withdrawals greater than 750,000 gallons per calendar month, so the state can keep track of who is using water, and for what. It also contains a legislative finding that the states waters should be available for the benefit of the citizens of West Virginia, while preserving individual rights.

WV Highlands Conservancy Reports on Environmental Legislation

You can find the Highlands Conservancy's report on the environmental/energy legislation that was adopted in the most recent Special Session here. While I don't agree with Don Garvin's interpretation on what happened during the session, his report does give an idea of the issues that were considered.

Methamphetamine and Hazardous Waste

You find hazardous waste in the strangest places, as this post from Brackett Report Pages will attest. The ingredients used to make methamphetamine are a toxic brew that results in generation of hazardous waste as bad as, or far worse than, anything you'll find in an industrial facility. West Virginia has a significant meth production problem, according to the police reports in state newspapers. The result is felt by the DEP, which is called upon to remove dangerous chemicals when they are found by police during meth raids. One effect of that is to draw down funds in the DEP's emergency response fund, which is ordinarily used to respond to more conventional releases of hazardous waste, like industrial spills or highway accidents.

The DEP has developed some guidance for recognizing meth labs, although for some reason it no longer is connected to the DEP web site. You can find the material here.

EPA Files Report on TMDL Development in West Virginia

Back in 1995 several public interest attorneys, led by Perry McDaniel, filed a lawsuit against EPA for not doing its duty in West Virginia under the Clean Water Act. Each state is required, by Section 303(d) of the Act, to prepare a list of water bodies that are not meeting water quality standards, and to prepare a plan, called a total maximum daily load, or TMDL, for bringing each water body into compliance with standards. The TMDLs consist of load allocations, for nonpoint sources, and wasteload allocations, for point sources, which are limits on the discharge of any substance that is causing impairments. So, for example, if a stream is too high in iron, the nonpoint sources are expected to implement best management plans to reduce sediment getting into the stream, and point sources, like factories, will see their permit limits for iron reduced.

If states don't develop the list of impaired waters and TMDLs, because of lack of resources or otherwise, EPA is required to do so. The requirement of the Act is clear, so EPA entered into a settlement that required it to develop the 303(d) list and TMDLs over a period of years. For the last several years, the WV DEP has actually been developing the 303(d) list and most of the TMDLs. Each year the DEP gives notice of the streams for which it intends to develop TMDLs, to give people time to submit data to justify taking streams off the list, or to use in the development of the TMDLs.

One of the requirements of the settlement was that EPA had to issue a regular report of its progress. You can see a copy of EPA's report, without the attachments, here. It is a good summary of where the TMDL program has been, and where it is going.

WV DEP Taking Public Comment On Water Quality Standards

Every 3 years states are expected to review their water quality standards and propose changes. This is referred to as the "triennial review" and it is required under the CleanWater Act. The West Virginia DEP intends to conduct a triennial review during the 2010-2011 rulemaking time frame, and the following public notice invites comments on the process. That's a long way away, but the DEP is giving everyone a lot of advance notice so that those who want to do studies, or perform additional sampling and analysis, in order to support a proposed change to the standards will have time to do so.

The DEP has already held a meeting where it described the current status of its work with fish consumption (a factor used to set standards for substances that bioaccumulate in fish), nutrients, iron and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). If you have any interest in seeing the materials provided at the May, 2009 meeting, go here.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 @ 4:42 PM
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Public Input on Water Quality Standards Accepted Until August 14

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s DEP Water Quality Standards Program is providing an opportunity for the public to submit information and data concerning the agency’s triennial review of the state’s water quality standards.

In response to a request for public input discussed at a public meeting on May 18, the DEP is offering a 45-day public comment period to allow involvement from West Virginia citizens.

All correspondence will need to be received by August 14, 2009, and should be mailed to:
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
ATTN: Water Quality Standards Program
601 57th Street S.E.
Charleston, WV 25304

Comments and information may also be e-mailed to Linda.B.Keller@wv.gov.