From the Times Dispatch:

State officials hold meetings to discuss bacteria in James
These meetings are TODAY.

This post on the local Sierra Club’s blog is important.

A couple of quick thoughts:

One way that Oregon Hill residents can help keep bacteria out of the James River is by cleaning up after their pets properly. We can also use less lawn and garden fertilizer. Hopefully, growing our own food lessens agricultural runoff overall. Of course trees are also important in this. All Richmond neighborhoods should be taking measures.

As for the City’s proposed stormwater utility fee, there’s no doubt that Richmond needs to do more to lessen its stormwater runoff. And for environmental reasons, it should be supported. However, it still needs more scrutiny. The local Green Party has it clear that the City has been overcharging its citizens for water for years. In fact, though the water rates were slightly reformed this past year, the City’s minimum water rates are still among the highest in the country (while it sells water to the surrounding counties, who in turn, charge their citizens LESS than the City does!). So where is all this money going? We are talking tens of millions of dollars, maybe more, of taxpayer dollars for a PUBLIC utility. And if the City starts charging residents the stormwater utility fee, again, where is all THAT money going? Is it really going towards preventing and not just piping and controlling stormwater runoff?

Citizens need to start asking more, better questions of their local civic leaders.