1) What is the drainage area of Chatham Hall compared to Lake James? Is the drainage area into Lake James bigger than Chatham?

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1 The City of Virginia Beach received the following questions during the Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project. The City continues to take action to address water quality issues related to algal blooms in Lake James, including treatment and efforts to identify the root causes. Below are the City s responses to the Lake James community questions received during the Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project, Public Information Meeting on April 26, ) What is the drainage area of Chatham Hall compared to Lake James? Is the drainage area into Lake James bigger than Chatham? City Response: The land draining into Chatham Hall Lake is approximately 244 acres and the land draining into Lake James is approximately 224 acres. 2) Provide the Lake James HOA with renderings of the Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project that were displayed during the April 26, 2018 public information meeting for Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project. City Response: The requested Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project renderings that were displayed during the April 26, 2018 public information meeting for Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project will be located on the City of Virginia Beach s website for your information. 3) Please provide us with the feasibility report supporting Chatham Hall s selection for a water quality improvement project. City Response: The requested Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project Feasibility Report has been uploaded to the Stormwater Management website for your information. works/surface waterregulation/documents/chatham%20hall% /Chatham Hall Design Layout.pdf works/surface water regulation/documents/chatham%20hall% /Chatham Hall Retrofit Feasibility Study.pdf June 14,

2 4) Have there ever been algae occurrences in the Chatham Hall Lake? City Response: The City does not track algae occurrences in stormwater ponds. However, the residents in the Chatham Hall Lake community provided feedback to the City that they observed algal blooms in Chatham Hall Lake. 5) Provide us with how much chemical treatment from the April 12, 2018 chemical application was used by Solitude. City Response: The dosage applied to Lake James on April 12, 2018, was an application rate of 0.15ppm of SeClear algaecide. 6) Why can t my children or grandchildren play and swim in the lake now? City Response: This lake is a former borrow pit and helps manage and hold stormwater runoff to minimize flooding in the watershed. The City does not advise swimming in any ponds or lakes that serve as stormwater BMPs. When it rains, the rain water either soaks into the ground or it becomes runoff and flows over the ground, concrete, asphalt, and other hard surfaces and drains into the nearest storm drains. As the water travels across the surfaces, it can pick up pollutants like dirt, trash, oils, grease, fertilizers, soil, grass clippings, pet waste, leaves, all of which can get washed into the storm drains and into the lake. These features are also prone to bacterial contamination from geese, dog waste, and other sources. 7) How can we get HRRC classified as a landfill from a permitting standpoint instead of a mining permit and what will DEQ do to ensure HRRC stops contributing to the pollution? City Response: The City of Virginia Beach has been working with the local VDH and Department of Environmental Quality offices to address the water quality issues related to the algal blooms in the lake. The City of Virginia Beach provided the Lake James 2017 Monitoring Reports to DEQ and VDH and is working to evaluate the most effective improvements to the Lake James Watershed. 8) The Lake James community would like to have the Cedar Hill Canal dredged. When is the City planning to dredge the canal? City Response: The City performed maintenance of the Cedar Hill Canal in the area adjacent to Lake James in October 2016 to remove accumulated sediment in the canal between Centerville Turnpike and Indian River Road. The City also worked with its surveyor to provide a complete June 14,

3 survey of the canal. The survey was completed in August 2017 and was provided to the Lake James community. The 2017 survey was compared to the survey that was completed in 2010, and it was determined that there were no additional areas of sediment buildup that would require additional maintenance. The 2017 survey is also located on the Lake James Watershed webpage. 9) Would a vegetated weir work in the Cedar Hill Canal to help improve the nutrients from getting into Lake James? What happened to the wetland & weir project? Why did the City cancel this project? Was it because of lack of funding? City Response: The Lake James Weir & Wetland Creation project proposed installing a wetland creation area along with a new weir constructed at the same elevation of the existing weirs. The project would not reduce the flow of stormwater runoff into Lake James since the weir would not be at a higher elevation. The City evaluated the wetland design project in 2016 to determine if it was able to provide treatment of the water in the Cedar Hill Canal. There are established design standards for constructed wetlands that can estimate the potential pollutant reduction benefits to stormwater. Following a review of the project compared to those design standards, we determined that it was very undersized and met only ten percent of the required size. Since the required size would use all of the HOA property between the inflow and outflow canals for a constructed wetlands area, this project was stopped and a project evaluation of the watershed was performed looking primarily at City owned property to construct an alternate water quality improvement project that would meet the design standards and provide effective treatment. A copy of this report was provided to the Lake James HOA. 10) Is the City planning on any projects to minimize the pollution into Lake James, Cedar Hill Canal and ultimately the Elizabeth River? City Response: The City is implementing several water quality improvement projects within the Elizabeth River Watershed. The City is currently developing the design documents for the Kemps Lake and the Chatham Hall Lake Water Quality Improvement Projects. These projects will help improve the existing wet ponds by providing separate areas within the pond to settle out the pollutants, which are called forebays. The forebays are areas in the lake that are excavated around the stormwater outfalls and help sediment settle out before going into the lake. In addition, the improvements June 14,

4 will consist of installing aeration and wetland plants under portions of the lake s water surface to filter and treat the water quality before discharging to the Elizabeth River. The City is also installing a manufactured treatment device with the Indian River Road and Kempsville Road Intersection Improvement Project. This device will help remove pollutants from stormwater runoff by separating and capturing trash, debris, sediment, and phosphorus. The device will be located within the existing storm drain system off of Canterford Lane in the watershed that drains into Lake James and will treat urban areas that were not previously treated by stormwater BMPs. In addition, the City is constructing water quality measures with the Centerville Turnpike Phase II Project. These water quality measures will consist of constructing wetlands, wet ponds, and bioretention areas, which will help treat the stormwater runoff before discharging to the Cedar Hill Canal, and ultimately, to the Elizabeth River. 11) What can the City do to help the trash that is getting into the Lake? City Response: The City is focused on preventing trash and debris from entering the storm drain system and promotes litter prevention through public outreach and education. In addition, the City offers Adopt A programs that provide clean up supplies and materials periodically as part of this program to the community. For additional information about Adopt A programs, please use the following link: recreation/parks trails/caring forour parks/pages/adopt a programs.aspx Also, the City of Virginia Beach is currently evaluating the Lake James Watershed to identify water quality improvement projects and public outreach and education for the residential and commercial properties within the Lake James watershed. 12) Would Lake James be a good candidate for a Level II retrofit project similar to the Chatham Hall Lake Water Quality Improvement Project? City Response: Due the depth of the Lake the cost of a water quality improvement project similar to Chatham Hall Pond is expected to be very costly. The City is currently evaluating Lake James to determine if it would be a feasible and cost effective Level II retrofit project. Since Lake James is privately owned by the Lake James Home Owner s Association, temporary and permanent easements would be needed from the Lake James community to construct a potential water quality improvement project. A project similar to Chatham Hall Pond would June 14,

5 limit the residents use of Lake James for recreation and would impact both HOA and residential properties. Once the evaluation is completed, the City will post the evaluation on the City s Lake James Watershed website for you to review and to provide the City with your comments. 13) The City needs to assist in helping Lake James. The quality of the water is dangerous and it feels like the City is kicking the can down the road. Although this is not a City facility, it is being used for storm runoff. Why is the City kicking the can down the road and not helping the Lake James community? City Response: The City of Virginia Beach took, and continues to take, action to address water quality issues related to the algal blooms in the lake, including treatment and efforts to identify the root causes. The City has replaced the two Lake James weirs adjacent to the Cedar Hill Canal to reduce the amount of surface water flowing into the lake from the canal. The City has provided assistance by funding and treating the lake following the algal blooms since Hurricane Matthew destroyed some of the City Landfill systems that prevented additional nutrients from entering the Cedar Hill Canal. These City Landfill systems were restored in May The City has performed monitoring of the nearby Hampton Roads Recovery Center and the Cedar Hill Canal, and completed a comprehensive monitoring effort and analysis of the Lake James watershed in April of The recently completed the water quality monitoring efforts for the Lake James watershed helped identify the highest concentrations of nutrient loading sources within the Lake James watershed. The City also developed a Lake James webpage that is used as a central resource for the Lake James community to provide educational materials and resources to better understand algal blooms impacts and how the City is working with the community to address its concerns. The webpage is updated as testing and other information becomes available. The City is evaluating the Lake James watershed to determine the most effective use of the City s and the community s resources in the future to address algal blooms on Lake James. June 14,

6 14) Request City of Virginia Beach to develop a plan and implement this solution. Problem is not going away but getting worse. Lake James is in urgent need of being cleared up caused by offsite pollution. City needs to do something. Saying there is no money available and spending $2 million on another lake doesn t make sense. This lake feeds into Chesapeake Bay also. Why is $2M dollars being allocated for a project that is not being used on Lake James and its 10+ years of water quality issues? Why are stormwater resources not being allocated to the most serious flows to the Elizabeth River and Chesapeake Bay? The Cedar Hill Canal and Lake James drain a private landfill directly into the Elizabeth River and the City needs to spend funds to address the pollution from the Cedar Hill Canal. I am a Lake James resident and am concerned about the pollutants that flow from the Cedar Hill Canal into the Elizabeth River and Lake James. Is the city planning any projects to minimize the flow of pollutants through the canal? City Response: The City has a robust water quality improvement program to reduce pollution from our stormwater system into our local waterways. We have approximately $5M per year budgeted for water quality project improvements. We also have a Capital Improvement Project to specifically address the Elizabeth River Watershed. This project is budgeted at approximately $700,000 per year. Water quality improvement projects must be located to provide treatment to our stormwater system drainage, be cost effective, and meet the design standards set by DEQ. The City is committed to improving water quality for the community and the City. We are evaluating potential water quality improvement projects within the Lake James watershed to provide stormwater pollution reductions to the Lake. Once the evaluation is completed, the City will coordinate with the community on the identified effective water quality improvements. Please also refer to the above Question & City Response for #13. June 14,

7 15) Treating Lake James is not treating the cause of the toxic chemicals that are going into Lake James from the Cedar Hill Canal. Why does the City treat the lake but doesn t address the root cause of the issue? Why do you treat Lake James and not address the toxic materials that dump into Lake James? What is the City doing to fix Lake James and get rid of the pollution source? Why is there not a project to treat the toxic water in the Cedar Hill Canal? City Response: The City performed water quality monitoring of the Cedar Hill Canal and Lake James to identify the highest concentrations of nutrient loading sources to Lake James. The water quality monitoring work was completed in April of 2018 and indicated that the surface water in the canal has a higher ammonia concentration than the surface water in Lake James. The water quality monitoring report indicated that the water quality concentration for ammonia does not exceed the state s acute water quality standards, and the report did not identify the presence of other toxic materials. The City is currently evaluating water quality improvement projects within the Lake James watershed to reduce and manage the nutrients from coming into the lake through the City s stormwater system. Please also refer to the above Question & City Response for #13. 16) Can the City sweep the streets more frequently to help address the pollution in the Lake James neighborhood? City Response: It is not recommended at this time to sweep the streets more frequently in the Lake James neighborhood. The City is currently evaluating the most effective water quality improvement projects within the Lake James watershed to address the nutrients. Once the evaluation is completed, the City will coordinate with the community on the most effective improvements. 17) What is the City s plan to improve the canal that feeds Lake James and causing the root of the problem? City Response: The City is committed to improving water quality for the community. The City is currently evaluating water quality improvement projects within the Lake James watershed. June 14,

8 Once the evaluation is completed, the City will coordinate with the community on the most effective improvements. Please also refer to the above Question & City Response for #13. 18) Is the City Landfill contributing to the pollution? City Response: The stormwater runoff from the City Landfill flows to a ditch to the north of the City Landfill which drains to the storm lines under the interstate 64. The stormwater runoff from the City Landfill does not flow to the Cedar Hill Canal. 19) Why is Cedar Hill Canal dumping water into Lake James? City Response: When the Lake James Community was established, the former borrow pit was used in the design of the stormwater system to hold the stormwater runoff and to help minimize the risk of flooding properties for the Lake James community and the watershed. The design of the neighborhood in 1984 established the connection hydraulically to the Cedar Hill Canal. 20) How do the residents help to make sure a water quality improvement project gets done and funding is set aside to adequately address the problem? City Response: The City is currently evaluating water quality improvement projects for the Lake James community. Once the evaluation is completed, the City can coordinate with the community on the options. Following the identification of a project, the City will allocate funding and develop a schedule for the project implementation. 21) Is this pollution in Lake James going to cause my property value to go down? Am I not going to be able to sell my property on the lake? City Response: The levels in the Cedar Hill Canal and Lake James are below the acceptable limits for the state s acute water quality standards for ammonia. 22) How does Lake James or the Cedar Hill Canal get a grant like Chatham Hall? City Response: The Chatham Hall Water Quality Improvement Project was selected by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) Program for a $750,000 grant for the project. The SLAF program provides matching grants to local governments for cost effective water quality improvement projects that typically have a cost efficiency of below $50,000 per pound of total phosphorus removal per year. If a June 14,

9 cost effective project is identified for the Lake James Watershed, then the City can submit a grant application for that project where grant funding is available. We are currently evaluating Lake James to determine if modifying the existing lake to a DEQ Level II wet pond, similar to the Chatham Hall Lake Water Quality Improvement Project, would be a feasible and cost effective project. Upon completion of the conceptual evaluation, we will work with the Lake James community to determine if the project would be a feasible project to apply for grants. June 14,