STATE WATER RESOURCES REPORT AS REQUIRED BY SECTION 62.1-44.38 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA AS AMENDED.

The draft Virginia Water Resources Plan, the Commonwealth’s first comprehensive effort to incorporate information from locally developed water supply plans, is available for public review and comment.  The Plan is a compilation of the information from local plans and includes an analysis of how future water demand may affect key water uses.  Among the main components of the plan are an extensive look at surface water and groundwater sources, and an assessment of the capacity of these sources to meet the projected demand to 2040.   The plan outlines water supply challenges in Virginia and identifies recommendations to address these challenges. Recommendations include:

• Development of rules for surface water withdrawals and impoundment releases that are currently excluded from Virginia Water Protection permitting requirements.
• Expansion of groundwater monitoring wells in localities outside the eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area to improve understanding of the groundwater resource and how pumping affects the aquifer.
• Increased emphasis on conservation efforts by localities to reduce demand.

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING COMMENTS

Persons may comment in writing to the DEQ on the draft Plan until May 8, 2015 by email or postal mail. Written comments should be submitted to the DEQ staff contact listed. The plan is available on the DEQ website at: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterSupplyWaterQuantity/WaterSupplyPlanning/StateWaterPlan.aspx