Title of Regulation: 9VAC25-260. Water Quality Standards (amending 9VAC25-260-310).

Statutory Authority: § 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia; 33 USC § 1251 et seq. of the Clean Water Act; 40 CFR Part 131.

Public Hearing Information:

February 26, 2019 - 1 p.m. - Department of Environmental Quality, Piedmont Regional Office, 4949-A Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA

Public Comment Deadline: March 22, 2019.

Agency Contact: Tish Robertson, Department of Environmental Quality, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4309, FAX (804) 698-4116, or email tish.robertson@deq.virginia.gov.

Basis: Section 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia mandates and authorizes the State Water Control Board to establish water quality standards and policies for any state waters consistent with the purpose and general policy of the State Water Control Law and to modify, amend, or cancel any such standards or policies established. Section 303(c) of the federal Clean Water Act mandates the State Water Control Board to review and, as appropriate, modify and adopt water quality standards. The promulgating entity is the State Water Control Board.

The corresponding federal water quality standards regulation at 40 CFR 131.6 describes the minimum requirements for water quality standards. The minimum requirements are use designations, water quality criteria to protect the designated uses, and an antidegradation policy.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Quality Standards regulation (40 CFR 131.11) is the regulatory basis for the EPA requiring the states to establish water quality criteria to protect designated uses, and the criteria are used to assess whether or not a waterbody is meeting those uses.

Purpose: The proposed amendments to the special standards and requirements section (9VAC25-260-310) of the Virginia Water Quality Standards Regulation reflects new understanding resulting from a seven-year study aimed at updating the chlorophyll a criteria for the tidal James River with best available science. Chlorophyll a criteria, which enable the regulatory management of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), were adopted for the tidal James River in 2005. The scientific basis of the existing James River chlorophyll a criteria was questioned in response to the stringent nutrient load reductions determined by the EPA to be necessary for attainment of these criteria.

The study of the existing regulation revealed some substantial weaknesses. First, the existing chlorophyll a criteria were developed from datasets that were relatively limited in scope and were drawn from areas of the Chesapeake Bay that may not be representative of the James River. Secondly, while the existing criteria were developed to promote a balanced phytoplankton assemblage that is relatively free from harmful taxa, the absence of clear relationships between chlorophyll a and phytoplankton composition necessitated some subjective decision-making in the selection of thresholds. Also, physicochemical effects stemming from algal blooms, like poor water clarity and high pH, were not considered when the existing criteria were developed. Thirdly, the study found that the existing criteria must be assessed as geometric means (as directed by implementation guidance specified in 9VAC25-260-185 D) even though they were developed as arithmetic means. Research conducted by the EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program Office in 2010 determined that the geometric mean is the more appropriate statistic for characterizing James River chlorophyll a central tendency. Finally, the existing assessment methodology and the rules used to delineate allowable exceedance frequency, both described in references cited in 9VAC25-260-185 D, were developed separately from the existing criteria and were found to be ill-suited for a parameter like chlorophyll a, which can vary considerably in space and time even under ideal conditions. The mismatch between these elements and the existing criteria likely accounts for some of the stringency of the nutrient load reductions determined by the EPA under the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) to be necessary for criteria attainment. Another factor was that the modeling framework used at the time had limitations in its ability to accurately predict chlorophyll concentrations resulting from simulated nutrient reduction scenarios. An enhanced model is now being used in the analysis with improved calibration and validity.

The proposed amendments to the regulation address these weaknesses. DEQ staff have concluded that implementation of the proposed amendments will benefit the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth by protecting the water quality and living resources of the tidal James River from the harmful effects of excessive nutrients.

Substance: New text in 9VAC25-260-310 provides the criteria for site-specific chlorophyll a levels in the tidal James River (excluding tributaries) and contains a table listing two seasonal mean criteria (spring and summer) for each of the five James River segments (delineated by salinity regime), for a total of 10 paired sets of criteria. The proposed amendments would lower eight of these values and raise two of them. Compliance with these revised criteria should minimize both long-term and short-term effects on aquatic life attributable to algal blooms. Additionally, a new table of criteria that apply only during the summer would be inserted. Compliance with these new criteria should minimize short-term effects on aquatic life stemming from potentially toxic harmful algal blooms. Finally, the proposed amendments remove the reference to 9VAC25-260-185 D and insert new language stipulating that (i) seasonal means should be calculated as geometric means; (ii) the allowable exceedance frequencies of both sets of criteria and the length of the assessment period over which they should be evaluated; (iii) the manner in which chlorophyll a data should be aggregated and how segments should be subdivided for the purposes of data aggregation; and (iv) the reference to the EPA technical document that provides the boundaries of the James River segments.

Issues: There are a number of advantages of the proposed amendments. First, DEQ will be able to better detect potentially harmful changes to the tidal James River stemming from excessive nitrogen and phosphorus loads that may affect the aquatic life designated use. DEQ will also be able to produce more confident assessments so that the public can be properly informed about the status of water quality in the tidal James River. Additionally, the proposed amendments strengthen the technical defensibility of the regulation so that the regulated community and resource managers can better understand the benefits expected to be gained with regulatory compliance. More defensible permit limits and nonpoint source management plans will result from the adoption of these amendments. A final benefit is that the costs needed to attain the proposed criteria may be less than what attainment of the existing criteria have been estimated to cost.

There is no disadvantage to the agency or the Commonwealth that will result from the adoption of the amendments.

Department of Planning and Budget's Economic Impact Analysis:

Summary of the Proposed Amendments to Regulation. The State Water Control Board (Board) proposes to amend the Chlorophyll-a water quality criteria applicable to the tidal James River to reflect findings from a comprehensive scientific study overseen by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that focused on chlorophyll-a dynamics and linkages to aquatic life effects in the James River.

Result of Analysis. The proposed regulation would pave the way to provide a cost avoidance of a possible $695.3 million for 36 industrial and municipal point sources while adequately protecting the water quality of the James River.

Estimated Economic Impact. Chlorophyll is the green pigment found within the cells of algae and plants. It is a commonly used indicator of phytoplankton biomass in surface waters of large rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. High concentrations of chlorophyll are indicative of nutrient pollution in the water. Based on a comprehensive analysis, the Board proposes to amend all ten of the current established chlorophyll-a criteria in this regulation, which represent five segments of the James River across two seasons, March 1 - May 31 (spring) and July 1 - September 30 (summer). The proposed changes to the ten criteria would lower the magnitude of the acceptable chlorophyll content (micrograms per liter) for eight of the criteria and would raise it for the other two criteria. The Board also proposes to revise the allowed exceedances (frequency) and the assessment methodology. The proposed allowable exceedance frequency is less stringent¹ than the rule applied to the current criteria, resulting in a less stringent standard overall. DEQ believes that despite this reduced stringency, the protection to aquatic life is maintained.

Less stringent chlorophyll criteria would lead to lower reductions in total nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loads for compliance. DEQ estimates that attainment of the proposed criteria would require point source annual discharges up to 10.1 million pounds of nitrogen and 580.5 thousand pounds of phosphorus compared to 8.7 million pounds of nitrogen and 490.7 thousand pounds of phosphorus required to achieve the current criteria.

Lower nutrient reductions would reduce capital and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs associated with pollution controls. Affected facilities have been required to comply with the current more stringent standard as soon as possible, but not later than January 1, 2023. Based on a 2002 study adjusted for inflation,² DEQ estimates that the proposed change has the potential to reduce total future capital costs of 11 industrial point sources from $98.1 million to $51.7 million and O&M costs from $6.4 million to $3.4 million. Similarly, aggregate future capital and O&M costs of 25 municipal point sources may be reduced from $784.8 million to $171.6 million and from $59.5 million to $26.7 million, respectively. The total future compliance costs for all point sources could decrease from $948.8 million to $253.5 million, a possible $695.3 million or a 73.2% cost avoidance. However, these cost avoidances would be realized by point sources, not upon promulgation of this regulation, but instead when their permits are revised to reflect the less stringent chlorophyll-a criteria, which could take two to four years. In other words, this regulation sets the stage for the potential reductions in point source pollution control costs but cannot reduce those costs without further action by DEQ. The proposed regulation is beneficial in that it paves the way for potential cost avoidances to be eventually realized by the affected point sources.

It should be noted that while there is the potential for lower compliance costs to control the point source nutrient discharges to the James River, wastewater facilities are not the only source of nitrogen and phosphorus loads that can lead to excessive chlorophyll levels. A large part of the total loadings comes in the form of nonpoint source runoff from agricultural land, urban/suburban land, air deposition and even forested land. It remains to be determined, through the development of Virginia's Bay Watershed Implementation Plan what the respective load reduction responsibilities will be for the point sources and nonpoint sources in the James River basin.

Businesses and Entities Affected. There are 11 industrial and 25 municipal point sources that would eventually be affected by the proposed less stringent criteria. None of the affected industrial facilities are small businesses.

Localities Particularly Affected. The 38 counties and 17 cities that drain into the James River are Counties of Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Botetourt, Buckingham, Campbell, Charles City, Chesterfield, Craig, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Giles, Goochland, Greene, Hanover, Henrico, Highland, Isle of Wight, James City, Louisa, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Nottoway, Orange, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Surry, and York and Cities of Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Covington, Hampton, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Richmond, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and Virginia Beach.

The 36 affected industrial dischargers and municipal wastewater plants are located in Counties of Albemarle, Alleghany, Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, Chesterfield, Fluvanna, Hanover, Henrico, James City, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince Edward, and Rockbridge and Cities of Buena Vista, Covington, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Richmond, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.

Projected Impact on Employment. The proposed regulation is not expected to have an impact on employment upon promulgation. However, when individual permits are revised, the demand for labor associated with reduced need for capital investment and O&M efforts may decrease. On the other hand, cost avoidances made possible by the criteria change may avoid possible facility downsizing or even closures and avoid a possible negative impact on employment.

Effects on the Use and Value of Private Property. The proposed regulation is not expected to have an impact on the use and value of private property upon promulgation. The potential cost avoidances for industrial point sources would likely avoid a possible future negative effect on their asset values.

Real Estate Development Costs. The proposed regulation is unlikely to affect real estate development costs. Albeit less stringent criteria, DEQ concludes that the proposed criteria is adequately protective of James River water quality.

Small Businesses:

Definition. Pursuant to § 2.2-4007.04 of the Code of Virginia, small business is defined as "a business entity, including its affiliates, that (i) is independently owned and operated and (ii) employs fewer than 500 full-time employees or has gross annual sales of less than $6 million."

Costs and Other Effects. The proposed regulation would not create costs and other effects for small businesses.

Alternative Method that Minimizes Adverse Impact. The proposed regulation does not adversely affect small businesses.

Adverse Impacts:

Businesses. The proposed regulation does not adversely affect businesses.

Localities. The proposed regulation does not adversely affect localities. In fact, it is expected to have a positive impact on municipal point sources in terms of reduced future capital and O&M costs of pollution control.

Other Entities. The proposed regulation does not adversely affect other entities.

___________________________

¹Change from no more than 10% space-time exceedance rate over three consecutive summer seasons to no more than two exceedances over six consecutive spring or summer seasons.

²https://www.chesapeakebay.net/content/publications/cbp%2013136.pdf

Agency's Response to Economic Impact Analysis: The board has reviewed the economic impact analysis prepared by the Department of Planning and Budget and has no comment.

Summary:

The proposed amendments modify and add site-specific chlorophyll a criteria applicable to the tidal James River to enable watershed management of nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that drive algal blooms in the tidal James River. The proposed amendments are the result of a comprehensive scientific study overseen by the Department of Environmental Quality that focused on chlorophyll a dynamics and linkages to aquatic life effects in the James River and include (i) modifying seasonal mean criteria, of which eight are lower than the existing criteria and two are higher; (ii) adding a new short-duration criteria intended to protect aquatic life from the effects of toxic algae; and (iii) inserting two new sets of criteria: a description of how data should be analyzed and the allowable exceedance frequencies.

Part VII
Special Standards and Scenic Rivers Listings

9VAC25-260-310. Special standards and requirements.

The special standards are shown in small letters to correspond to lettering in the basin tables. The special standards are as follows:

a. Shellfish waters. In all open ocean or estuarine waters capable of propagating shellfish or in specific areas where public or leased private shellfish beds are present, including those waters on which condemnation classifications are established by the Virginia Department of Health, the following criteria for fecal coliform bacteria will apply:

The geometric mean fecal coliform value for a sampling station shall not exceed an MPN (most probable number) or MF (membrane filtration using mTEC culture media) of 14 per 100 milliliters (ml) of sample and the estimated 90th percentile shall not exceed an MPN of 43 per 100 ml for a 5-tube decimal dilution test or an MPN of 49 per 100 ml for a 3-tube decimal dilution test or MF test of 31 CFU (colony forming units) per 100 ml.

The shellfish area is not to be so contaminated by radionuclides, pesticides, herbicides, or fecal material that the consumption of shellfish might be hazardous.

b. Policy for the Potomac Embayments. At its meeting on September 12, 1996, the board adopted a policy (9VAC25-415. Policy for the Potomac Embayments) to control point source discharges of conventional pollutants into the Virginia embayment waters of the Potomac River, and their tributaries, from the fall line at Chain Bridge in Arlington County to the Route 301 bridge in King George County. The policy sets effluent limits for BOD₅, total suspended solids, phosphorus, and ammonia, to protect the water quality of these high profile waterbodies.

c. Canceled.

d. Canceled.

e. Canceled.

f. Canceled.

g. Occoquan watershed policy. At its meeting on July 26, 1971 (Minute 10), the board adopted a comprehensive pollution abatement and water quality management policy for the Occoquan watershed. The policy set stringent treatment and discharge requirements in order to improve and protect water quality, particularly since the waters are an important water supply for Northern Virginia. Following a public hearing on November 20, 1980, the board, at its December 10-12, 1980 meeting, adopted as of February 1, 1981, revisions to this policy (Minute 20). These revisions became effective March 4, 1981. Additional amendments were made following a public hearing on August 22, 1990, and adopted by the board at its September 24, 1990, meeting (Minute 24) and became effective on December 5, 1990. Copies are available upon request from the Department of Environmental Quality.

h. Canceled.

i. Canceled.

j. Canceled.

k. Canceled.

l. Canceled.

m. The following effluent limitations apply to wastewater treatment facilities treating an organic nutrient source in the entire Chickahominy watershed above Walker's Dam (this excludes discharges consisting solely of stormwater):

CONSTITUENT	CONCENTRATION
1. Biochemical oxygen demand 5-day	6 mg/l monthly average, with not more than 5% of individual samples to exceed 8 mg/l.
2. Settleable solids	Not to exceed 0.1 ml/l monthly average.
3. Suspended solids	5.0 mg/l monthly average, with not more than 5% of individual samples to exceed 7.5 mg/l.
4. Ammonia nitrogen	Not to exceed 2.0 mg/l monthly average as N.
5. Total phosphorus	Not to exceed 0.10 mg/l monthly average for all discharges with the exception of Tyson Foods, Inc., which shall meet 0.30 mg/l monthly average and 0.50 mg/l daily maximum.
6. Other physical and chemical constituents	Other physical or chemical constituents not specifically mentioned will be covered by additional specifications as conditions detrimental to the stream arise. The specific mention of items 1 through 5 does not necessarily mean that the addition of other physical or chemical constituents will be condoned.

n. No sewage discharges, regardless of degree of treatment, should be allowed into the James River between Bosher and Williams Island Dams.

o. The concentration and total amount of impurities in Tuckahoe Creek and its tributaries of sewage origin shall be limited to those amounts from sewage, industrial wastes, and other wastes which that are now present in the stream from natural sources and from existing discharges in the watershed.

p. Canceled.

q. Canceled.

r. Canceled.

s. Canceled.

t. Canceled.

u. Maximum temperature for the New River Basin from the Virginia-West Virginia state line upstream to the Giles-Montgomery County line:

The maximum temperature shall be 27°C (81°F) unless caused by natural conditions; the maximum rise above natural temperatures shall not exceed 2.8°C (5°F).

This maximum temperature limit of 81°F was established in the 1970 water quality standards amendments so that Virginia temperature criteria for the New River would be consistent with those of West Virginia, since the stream flows into that state.

v. The maximum temperature of the New River and its tributaries (except trout waters) from the Montgomery-Giles County line upstream to the Virginia-North Carolina state line shall be 29°C (84°F).

w. Canceled.

x. Clinch River from the confluence of Dumps Creek at river mile 268 at Carbo downstream to river mile 255.4. The special water quality criteria for copper (measured as total recoverable) in this section of the Clinch River are 12.4 µg/l for protection from chronic effects and 19.5 µg/l for protection from acute effects. These site-specific criteria are needed to provide protection to several endangered species of freshwater mussels.

y. Tidal freshwater Potomac River and tidal tributaries that enter the tidal freshwater Potomac River from Cockpit Point (below Occoquan Bay) to the fall line at Chain Bridge. During November 1 through February 14 of each year the 30-day average concentration of total ammonia nitrogen (in mg N/L) shall not exceed, more than once every three years on the average, the following chronic ammonia criterion:

(	0.0577	+	2.487	)	x 1.45(100.028(25-MAX))
	1 + 107.688-pH		1 + 10pH-7.688

MAX = temperature in °C or 7, whichever is greater.

The default design flow for calculating steady state wasteload allocations for this chronic ammonia criterion is the 30Q10, unless statistically valid methods are employed which demonstrate compliance with the duration and return frequency of this water quality criterion.

z. A site specific dissolved copper aquatic life criterion of 16.3 µg/l for protection from acute effects and 10.5 µg/l for protection from chronic effects applies in the following area:

Little Creek to the Route 60 (Shore Drive) bridge including Little Channel, Desert Cove, Fishermans Cove, and Little Creek Cove.

Hampton Roads Harbor including the waters within the boundary lines formed by I-664 (Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel) and I-64 (Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel), Willoughby Bay, and the Elizabeth River and its tidal tributaries.

This criterion reflects the acute and chronic copper aquatic life criterion for saltwater in 9VAC25-260-140 B X a water effect ratio. The water effect ratio was derived in accordance with 9VAC25-260-140 F.

aa. The following site-specific dissolved oxygen criteria apply to the tidal Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers and their tidal tributaries because of seasonal lower dissolved oxygen concentration due to the natural oxygen depleting processes present in the extensive surrounding tidal wetlands. These criteria apply June 1 through September 30 to Chesapeake Bay segments MPNTF, MPNOH, PMKTF, PMKOH and are implemented in accordance with subsection D of 9VAC25-260-185. These criteria supersede the open water criteria listed in subsection A of 9VAC25-260-185.

Designated use	Criteria Concentration/Duration	Temporal Application
Open water	30 day mean = 4.0 mg/l	June 1 - September 30
	Instantaneous minimum = 3.2 mg/l at temperatures <29°C Instantaneous minimum = 4.3 mg/l at temperatures = 29°C

A site-specific pH criterion of 5.0-8.0 applies to the tidal freshwater Mattaponi Chesapeake Bay segment MPNTF to reflect natural conditions.

bb. The following site-specific seasonal mean criteria should not be exceeded in the specified tidal James River segment more than twice over six consecutive spring or summer seasons.

Designated Use	Chlorophyll a µ/l	Chesapeake Bay Program Segment	Temporal Application
Open water	8	JMSTF2	March 1 - May 31 (spring)
	10	JMSTF1
	13	JMSOH
	7	JMSMH
	8	JMSPH
	21	JMSTF2	July 1 - September 30 (summer)
	24	JMSTF1
	11	JMSOH
	7	JMSMH
	7	JMSPH

The following site-specific chlorophyll a concentrations at the specified duration should not occur more than 10% of the time over six consecutive summer seasons in the specified area of the tidal James River. These criteria protect against aquatic life effects due to harmful algal blooms. Such effects have not been documented in the upper portion of JMSTF2 or in JMSOH.

Chlorophyll a µg/l	Chesapeake Bay Program Segment	Spatial Application	Duration
--	JMSTF2	Upstream boundary of JMSTF2 to river mile 95	--
52	JMSTF2	River mile 95 to downstream boundary of JMSTF2	1-month median
52	JMSTF1	Upstream boundary of JMSTF1 to river mile 67	1-month median
34	JMSTF1	River mile 67 to downstream boundary of JMSTF1	1-month median
--	JMSOH	Entire segment	--
59	JMSMH	Entire segment	1-day median
20	JMSPH	Entire segment	1-day median

(1) The following site specific site-specific numerical chlorophyll a criteria apply March 1 through May 31 and July 1 through September 30 as seasonal means to the tidal James River segments (excludes tributaries) segments JMSTF2, JMSTF1, JMSOH, JMSMH, and JMSPH and are implemented in accordance with subsection D of 9VAC25-260-185, the boundaries of which are described in EPA 903-R-05-004.

Designated Use	Chlorophyll a µ/l	Chesapeake Bay Program Segment	Temporal Application
Open water	10	JMSTF2	March 1 - May 31
	15	JMSTF1
	15	JMSOH
	12	JMSMH
	12	JMSPH
	15	JMSTF2	July 1 - September 30
	23	JMSTF1
	22	JMSOH
	10	JMSMH
	10	JMSPH

(2) For segments JMSOH, JMSMH, and JMSPH, the median of same-day samples collected one meter or less in a segment should be calculated to represent the chlorophyll a expression of a segment over that day, and the median of same-month chlorophyll a values should be calculated to represent the chlorophyll a expression of a segment over that month. The seasonal geometric mean shall be calculated from the monthly chlorophyll a values for a segment.

(3) For segment JMSTF2, chlorophyll a data collected in the "upper zone" (from the upstream boundary at the fall line to approximately river mile 95 (N37° 23' 15.27" / W77° 18' 45.05" to N37° 23' 19.31" / W77° 18' 54.03")) should be pooled, in the manner described in subdivision bb (2) of this section, separately from chlorophyll a data collected in the "lower zone" (from river mile 95 to the downstream boundary of JMSTF2). The seasonal geometric mean for each of these zones should be calculated from their respective monthly chlorophyll a values. To calculate the seasonal segment-wide geometric mean, an area-weighted average of the zonal geometric means should be calculated using the following equation:

Upper Zone Geometric Mean x 0.41 + Lower Zone Geometric Mean x 0.59

(4) For segment JMSTF1, chlorophyll a data collected in the "upper zone" (from the upstream boundary of JMSTF1 to approximately river mile 67 (N37° 17' 46.21" / W77° 7' 9.55" to N37° 18' 58.94" / W77° 6' 57.14")) should be pooled, in the manner described in subdivision bb (2) of this section, separately from chlorophyll a data collected in the "lower zone" (between river mile 67 to the downstream boundary of JMSTF1). The seasonal geometric mean for each of these zones should be calculated from their respective monthly chlorophyll a values. To calculate the seasonal segment-wide geometric mean, an area-weighted average of the zonal geometric means should be calculated using the following equation:

Upper Zone Geometric Mean x 0.49 + Lower Zone Geometric Mean x 0.51

cc. For Mountain Lake in Giles County, chlorophyll a shall not exceed 6 µg/L at a depth of six meters and orthophosphate-P shall not exceed 8 µg/L at a depth of one meter or less.

dd. For Lake Drummond, located within the boundaries of Chesapeake and Suffolk in the Great Dismal Swamp, chlorophyll a shall not exceed 35 µg/L and total phosphorus shall not exceed 40 µg/L at a depth of one meter or less.

ee. Maximum temperature for these seasonally stockable trout waters is 26°C and applies May 1 through October 31.

ff. Maximum temperature for these seasonally stockable trout waters is 28°C and applies May 1 through October 31.

gg. Little Calfpasture River from the Goshen Dam to 0.76 miles above its confluence with the Calfpasture River has a stream condition index (A Stream Condition Index for Virginia Non-Coastal Streams, September 2003, Tetra Tech, Inc.) of at least 20.5 to protect the subcategory of aquatic life that exists in this river section as a result of the hydrologic modification. From 0.76 miles to 0.02 miles above its confluence with the Calfpasture River, aquatic life conditions are expected to gradually recover and meet the general aquatic life uses at 0.02 miles above its confluence with the Calfpasture River.

hh. Maximum temperature for these seasonally stockable trout waters is 31°C and applies May 1 through October 31.