Dragon Run Water Quality Sampling

Water quality samples being taken in feeder streams, in King and Queen County, that drain into the Dragon

Dragon Run Watershed
Land-Water Quality Preservation Project
Small Watershed-Grant Program

I. PROJECT SUMMARY

This project will undertake a comprehensive Dragon Run land-water quality research project to identify sources of current and future impairments to water quality.

II. PROJECT ABSTRACT

Project Description: The Middle Peninsula has been subjugated to rapid development and wild areas are fast disappearing. The Dragon Run watershed is one of the last undeveloped ecologically significant sites in the Middle Peninsula (Attachment A). The Dragon Run watershed is a unique ecosystem which has been ranked second in ecological significance among 232 areas investigated in a Smithsonian Institute study which covered 12,600 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay region.

With such a ecologically significant resource, the Dragon Run Steering Committee, a subcommittee on the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, The Chesapeake Bay National Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERR-VA- affiliate of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science), and the Friends of the Dragon Run and the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission’s Environmental Program have joined together to submit a request to fund a two part project:

Land-Water Quality Research Component: CBNERR-VA will identify sources of current and future impairments to water quality and develop recommendations for addressing these impairments along the system. This component assesses the interconnection between the land and water interface and how changes in use of land and water quality effects the quality of the ecosystem.

Educational Component: To utilize the Friends of the Dragon and the Dragon Run Steering Committee as volunteers to conduct site specific research and to disseminate the findings and recommendations to land owners along the system and local decision makers.

Final Products: A study team will develop and deliver a plan for the preservation and management of the system. The plan will describe present technical water quality findings and land use activities that influence the system. The study team will be constituted from the staffs and membership of the MPPDC, The Dragon Run Steering Committee, The Friends of Dragon Run and CBNERRVA. The MPPDC Senior Planner will serve as the Executive Secretary for the Study Team. His Principal Technical Advisor will be The CBNERRVA Research Coordinator. The study team will elect its Chair at its initial meeting.

These findings will be disseminated by several methods: The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission will review the recommendations and take appropriate action as the regional planning agency for the localities of the Dragon System. The Dragon Run Steering Committee will convey findings and PDC action to local decision makers and land owners and request local government to take action on the findings. Friends of the Dragon run will convey finding to association members. Additionally, MPPDC will highlight findings through http://www.mppdc.com and a quarterly newsletter.