James River Association
General Assembly Update & How You Can Help!
The 2017 General Assembly Session kicked off last week in Richmond. The James River Association is working hard to protect our river and watershed, but we need your help!
Below are our key priorities for this session. As members of our Action Network, we may be asking for your help on these issues in the coming weeks. And if you're inspired to come to the halls of the General Assembly yourself (and we hope you are!), please join us for Water Lobby Day, scheduled for February 9th. You can find out more and register here! (http://jrava.org/water-lobby-day-2017/)
Key Priorities
In order to reach the James River Association's goals for a fully healthy James River and fulfill Virginia's constitutional commitment to protect our waters, we urge your support of the following critical actions:
Support Water Quality and Land Conservation Funding
Virginia has made significant investments in water quality and land conservation over the last two decades resulting in major pollution reductions and improvements to local water quality. In order to keep Virginia on track with meeting our restoration goals, continued investment is necessary.
Support Proper Coal Ash Management
The James River watershed is home to coal ash ponds capable of holding five billion gallons of coal ash. Each pond in the watershed is adjacent to the river or one of its tributaries. Coal ash, which is a waste product of the electricity generation process, contains arsenic, lead and mercury among other toxics. Virginia's code does not require utilities to demonstrate that their coal ash ponds are not contaminating surface and groundwater prior to the issuance of a solid waste permit for their closure. We must ensure that these ponds are properly evaluated and are not closed in the midst of on-going contamination.
Protecting Our Valuable Oyster Reefs
Did you know that oysters have been around for 15 million years? Oysters in the James River are rebounding due to restoration efforts and harvest restrictions to ensure the protection of vital stock. In order to stay on this path, it is important to maintain current protections and ensure no backsliding occurs.
Stay tuned for more updates from the 2017 General Assembly session and Action Alerts when we need your help! Don't forget to join us for Water Lobby Day! (http://jrava.org/water-lobby-day-2017/)
James River Association (http://jrava.org/)
James River Association Mailing Address:
4833 Old Main Street
Richmond, VA 23231