Department of Environmental Engineering

Watershed Assessment & Stream Protection Program (WASP)

Since 1997, Chesterfield County has been conducting on a comprehensive program to begin establishing the health of the county's 1300 miles of streams. During the first phase of the program, the county obtained data to be used to establish baseline information on biological resources within the county's streams. The analysis of biological resources provides a direct measure of the overall ecological health of a stream. These data were used in the establishment of "best attainable" stream reference conditions that reflect unimpaired or minimally impaired conditions. With the establishment of the "best attainable" stream reference condition, the next phase of the program began. Phase II involved the development and initiation of a countywide biological monitoring and watershed assessment program. The goal of the assessment program is to "preserve, protect and restore the ecological integrity of the county's, watersheds, streams and other water resources". The program, entitled the Watershed Assessment and Stream Protection (WASP) Program, entails the following:

• Continued refinement of the established "best attainable" reference condition
• Bioassessment sampling at select streams throughout the county
• Determination of the level of impairment at the monitored streams based on a comparison of the stream bioassessment data to the established stream reference conditions
• Comprehensive assessments of sub-watersheds to identify and evaluate the sources of water quality degradation
• Establishment of watershed management strategies based on the detailed watershed assessments

It is believed that this comprehensive assessment approach will serve as a more accurate, reliable, and rapid tool for quantifying water quality degradation and identifying the most viable measures to reduce or eliminate the sources of water quality impairment.

The program will facilitate the identification and prioritization of those streams and other water resources that will benefit from preservation, protection and/or restoration. Once an assessment of the county's water resources has been completed, the county will implement a prioritized approach to address the most serious water quality problems, critical stream restoration needs and protection of the county's highest quality streams.

The WASP Program will result in the establishment of management zones, on a sub-watershed level, that reflect varying Watershed Management Strategies to address the conditions of the streams within those zones. There are four primary watersheds within the county. These watersheds can be further divided into 70 sub-watersheds. They comprise the 1,300 miles of streams, three reservoirs and a number of large lakes. It is expected that within each primary watershed, there will be a range of 10 to 20 biological, physical and chemical monitoring sites. Data from these sites will be used to fully assess the level of health of the water body within the watershed. Monitoring at the biological and physical sites will be conducted annually in the spring. Chemical monitoring at additional streams sites will initially be conducted on a monthly basis until sufficient data is collected to characterize stream water quality.