DEQ To Hold Public Meeting On Water Quality Study Nov. 19 Results of Little Calfpasture River To Be Discussed By Patte Wood Staff Reporter   Richmond, VA (October 15, 2009) - The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation will host a public meeting on November 19, 2009, in Rockbridge Baths on a water quality study for the Little Calfpasture River. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. at the Rockbridge Baths Volunteer Fire Department, at 5024 Maury River Rd. in Rockbridge Baths. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the results of the study with community members and answer questions. Virginia agencies have been working to identify sources of pollution in the Little Calfpasture River watershed. This pollution decreases the quality of the water and limits the diversity and abundance of organisms living on or near the bottom of the stream. The Little Calfpasture is considered to have impaired aquatic health from the Goshen Dam to its confluence with the Calfpasture River, which forms the Maury River at Goshen Pass. As a result of the study, DEQ developed total maximum daily load, or a TMDL, for the Little Calfpasture River. A TMDL is the total amount of a pollutant a water body can contain and still meet water quality standards. To restore water quality, pollutant levels have to be reduced to the TMDL amount. A public comment period on the TMDL and study will follow the meeting, and comments in writing are welcome through December 18, 2009. Written comments should include name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the comments and should be sent to Tara Sieber, study coordinator in the DEQ Valley Regional Office in Harrisonburg, by phone at (540)574-7870, or by e-mail at tara.sieber@deq.virginia.gov. Additional information is also available on the DEQ web site at www.deq.virginia.gov/tmdl.

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