rivanna river

failed sediment and erosion control

There is a story in today's Daily Progress as well as a news release on the Nature Conservancy website about a million dollar donation from the Nestle Waters Corporation to help figure how to facilitate "ecologically substainable water management" on the river that runs through Charlottesville and Albemarle.

My two cents. City of Charlottesville, County of Albemarle, enforce the soil and erosion control regulations already on the books. Make maintenance of effective erosion control measures part of the building inspections process.

When mud starts oozing into the Rivanna, issue a stop work order. Grab the developers by their pocketbooks.

?As the region?s population continues to grow, inappropriate residential development and excessive water withdrawals pose the most imminent threat in the Rivanna River watershed,? said Ridge Schuyler, director of the Conservancy?s Piedmont Program in Virginia. ?Sediment runoff is suffocating the river system and reducing the capacity for the region?s water supply, while water withdrawals have the potential to suck life out of critical rivers and streams. We believe that with good science-based information, The Nature Conservancy and its partners can help to protect the river as the region?s water demands increase.?