State releases watershed plan

West Virginia has released its final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) as part of its requirement under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay initiative.

The plan defines how West Virginia will achieve the pollution load reductions required to support the EPA’s Total Dailey Maximum Load (TDML) of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus. The sediment and chemicals come from sources such as agriculture, wastewater treatment facilities and storm water runoff.

Eight counties, Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Pendleton, Jefferson, Mineral and Morgan, are in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. West Virginia is committed to having 60% of all pollution control measures in place by 2017 and complete implementation by 2025.

The final Phase II WIP is available on the Internet. For more information, contact the DEP’s Potomac Basin Coordinator, Alana Hartman, at 304-822-7266.