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Loudoun Watershed Watch
Overseeing the Water Resources of Loudoun County, VA
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Water Quality Laws
There are two important water quality laws that help protect the water
resources of Loudoun County.
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The Clean Water Act was adopted at the national level in 1948 and
revised in 1972. The Act is the nation's principal law governing pollution
of the nation's surface waters. It requires the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to work with states to implement comprehensive programs for
water quality improvement by industry, municipalities, and other
polluters. One goal is to protect the propagation of fish, shellfish,
other aquatic life, and wildlife. Another goal is to provide safe water
for recreational use whenever possible. Water quality programs are based
upon federal-state partnerships. The federal government sets the goals and
standards for pollution abatement, and the states adopt the water quality
standards and carry out the day-to-day activities of implementation and
enforcement.
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The Virginia General Assembly adopted The Chesapeake Bay Preservation
Act in 1988 to protect the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its
tributaries. Local governments are responsible for implementing the law
with support from the Commonwealth. The act requires local governments to
include water quality protection measures in their comprehensive plans,
zoning ordinances, and subdivision ordinances. State agencies help local
communities implement the law by making resources available to implement
local water quality protection and improvement programs.
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Virginia's Tributary Strategies -- Tributary strategies are plans
developed on a major watershed level to reduce the flow of nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediments into local waters and ultimately in the
Chesapeake Bay. The goal is to improve water quality in order to support
healthy aquatic living resources and habitats. Chesapeake 2000 calls for
Bay jurisdictions such as Virginia to improve water quality and thus
remove the Bay and its tidal waters from the federal list of impaired
waters by 2010. These new plans are to be completed by April 2004.
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