In an article published on September 2, 2010, The Virginia-Pilot’s Scott Harper wrote that Virginia was the only one out of six states and District of Columbia to miss the EPA’s Wednesday deadline for filing its plan for reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

The State used the excuse that the Governor and other senior leaders, whoever they are,

needed extra time to digest the plan and approve it. It appears to me to be another example of poor management related to Virginia’s stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia-Pilot obtained a copy of the draft version of the plan, and wrote that it contained a litany of controls. I feel this type of information should be available to the public.

In the article, The Virginia-Pilot listed a number of suggested controls, including banning phosphorus in lawn fertilizers and tougher rules for sewage plants and stormwater

systems.

Let us hope The Virginia-Pilot continues to publish articles concerning this critical situation. It seems as if this is the only way to get information.

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Janet and I went to East Beach on the Chesapeake Bay to enjoy the wonderful summer temperatures and the warm waters of the bay. As we set in our beach chairs with our feet in the water, we were reflecting on how wonderful it was not to be looking at oil rigs and the possibility of a disaster that is now occurring in the Gulf. We must replace greed with common sense and preserve the wonder of the Chesapeake Bay for future generations. The bay is available to anyone who want to enjoy it, lets clean it up and preserve it forever.

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We had about 7″of snow in our neighborhood and it made for a very pretty scene.

Our favorite past time the last two days is watching the cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpeckers and the many small visitors to the feeder.

I feel I have finally come up with an inexpensive way to thwart the squirrels from tipping over the feeder.

Try not to use harsh chemicals to melt the snow on impervious surfaces because as the snow melts it will wash on to your lawns, flower beds or down the the driveway to the sewer drains .

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What is a watershed?

Today is a perfect day in Virginia Beach to discuss watersheds. It’s raining quite hard at times and one can observe the rain water flowing off of lawns and driveways into the street and down to the storm drains.

Where does it go?

Eventually it will end up in one our rivers and over time into one of our bays or sounds. This is a non-point pollution source because this water is totally untreated.

What is a watershed?

It’s the land that the water flows over or under to get to our rivers and bays.

In a particular watershed all the land drains to a particular body of water. In Virginia Beach there are five major watersheds. That is a large number for area the size of Virginia Beach.

People who live in the area should know their watershed address. Do you know what your address is?

Try to find out before my next post. More to Come

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