1.) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Public Participation Opportunities
++ Community Engagement Meeting: Watershed Cleanup Study for Crooked Run, Stony Creek, and Pughs Run – February 4, 2025
++ Comments Accepted: Cleanup Study for Horsepen Creek, Little Roanoke Creek, and unnamed tributary to Spencer Creek (Charlotte County) – Public Comment Deadline: February 14, 2025
2.) Call for Submissions: Smart Cities Connect Spring Conference and Expo – Innovation Submission Deadline: February 7, 2025; Conference: April 14-16, 2025
3.) Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Training Webinars – Various Dates, Starting: February
11, 2025
4.) Call for Abstracts: 2025 York Watershed System Symposium – Submission Deadline: February 17, 2025; Symposium: May 14, 2025
5.) Request for Data and Information on PFAS – Comments Due: February 18, 2025
6.) Virginia Sea Grant Fellowships and Internships – Various Application Deadlines
7.) Virginia Forest Landowner News – Various Dates, Starting: February 22, 2025
8.) International Erosion Control Association (IECA) Conference -- February 25-28, 2025
9.) Virginia Water Conference – March 2-4, 2025
10.) Water Quality Data Accepted: Virginia’s 2026 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report – Data Submission Deadline: March 3, 2025
11.) National Water Quality Monitoring Council Conference – March 10-14, 2025 (Note: Scholarship Applications Due: February 1, 2025)
12.) Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (VRRM), Version 4.1 – Update
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See recent announcements and learn more about the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC) at
www.VirginiaWMC.org.
Feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the VWMC. If you have a water-related announcement of regional or statewide interest, send it to
vw...@vt.edu
and ask that it be distributed to the VWMC membership. If someone forwarded this message to you, you can join the VWMC for free by sending your name, water-monitoring affiliation (if applicable), and contact information (email address, mailing address, and
phone number) to vw...@vt.edu.
Thank you to the VWMC’s intern, Logan Flanagan, for developing today’s announcements.
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1.)
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Public Participation Opportunities
++ Community Engagement Meeting: Watershed Cleanup Study for Crooked Run, Stony Creek, and Pughs Run (Shenandoah County) – February 4, 2025
(3:30pm)
– Edinburg, VA – https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41240
++ Comments Accepted: Cleanup Study for Horsepen Creek, Little Roanoke Creek, and unnamed tributary to Spencer Creek (Charlotte County) – Public Comment Deadline: February 14, 2025 – Charlotte, VA –
https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41030.
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2.)
Call for Submissions: Smart Cities Connect Spring Conference and Expo –
Innovation Submission Deadline: February 7, 2025; Conference: April 14-16, 2025
–
San Antonio, TX – Accepting cutting-edge innovations addressing urban challenges. Learn more and register at
https://spring.smartcitiesconnect.org/.
Organized by Smart Cities Connect.
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3.)
Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Training Webinars –
Learn more about these webinars and others and register at https://www.rcap.org/training-events/.
++ Asset Inventories and Capital Planning for Small Wastewater Systems – February 11, 2025 (1pm)
++ Principles of Ratemaking for Water Systems -- February 13, 2025 (1pm)
++ Working with Tribal Utilities – February 18, 2025 (1pm)
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4.)
Call for Abstracts: 2025 York Watershed System Symposium –
Submission Deadline: February 17, 2025; Symposium: May 14, 2025 –
Gloucester, VA – Theme: “Protected Areas, People, and Science” – This symposium convenes practitioners and residents through the York River, Mobjack Bay, and Piankatank River basins. Student presentations are welcome. Learn more, register, and submit an abstract
at https://www.vims.edu/cbnerr/coastal_training/upcoming_workshops/2025-york-watershed-system-symposium.php.
Organized by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia.
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5.)
Request for Data and Information on PFAS
–
Comments Due: February 18, 2025 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking scientific data and information from the seafood industry, academia, state and federal agencies, as well as other interested entities, on PFAS concentrations in
seafood, the surrounding environment, and processing water, as well as mitigation strategies for reducing exposure to PFAS in seafood. Learn more on the FDA website at
https://www.fda.gov/food/hfp-constituent-updates/fda-issues-request-information-pfas-seafood.
Here is the link to the FDA’s PFAS website: https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas.
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6.)
Virginia Sea Grant Fellowships and Internships –
Learn more and apply to a fellowship at https://vaseagrant.org/fellowships/.
Learn more and apply to internships at https://vaseagrant.org/professional-development/internships/.
++ Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship – Application Deadline: February 19, 2025
(5pm); Start Date: February 1, 2026 – Washington, D.C. -- This fellowship is eligible to students who have an interest in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and want to work at the national policy level. Participants are matched with hosts
in the legislative and executive branches of government.
++ Virginia Sea Grant Summer Undergraduate Internships – Application Deadline: March 7, 2025
(5pm); Start Date: May 2025 – Funding is provided for two fellows to conduct research under the guidance of a Graduate Fellow mentor.
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7.)
Virginia Forest Landowner News
–
Learn more and register for these and other events at https://forestupdate.frec.vt.edu/eventscalendar.html.
Provided by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
++ 2025 Landowner Woods & Wildlife Conference – February 22, 2025 – Blacksburg or Culpeper, VA
++ Fifteen Minutes in the Forest -- Fourth Fridays (12:15) -- Stay Safe in the Woods (February 28, 2025); The Woods in Your Backyard (March 28, 2025); Bobcats in the Bush (April 25, 2025); Brush Piles (May 23, 2025) – See
archived videos at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VFLEP)
or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/VirginiaForestLandownerEducationProgram).
++ Woodland Owner Retreat – March 28-29, 2025 – Appomattox, VA
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8.)
International Erosion Control Association (IECA)
Conference
-- February 25-28, 2025
-- Richmond, VA -- Aims to provide in an immersive experience at the cutting edge of erosion and sediment control and stormwater management. Learn more and register at
https://ieca2025.eventscribe.net/.
Hosted by the IECA Mid-Atlantic Chapter.
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9.)
Virginia Water Conference –
March 2-4, 2025
– Richmond, Va. -- Learn more and register at www.vlwa.org.
Dam Safety Awards will be presented at the conference. Learn more and apply at
https://vlwa.org/committees-and-activities/dam-safety-committee/.
Organized by the Virginia Lakes and Watershed Association.
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10.)
Water Quality Data Accepted: Virginia’s 2026 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report
–
Data Submission Deadline: March 3, 2025 –
DEQ accepts water quality data to be reviewed and evaluated for assessment purposes on a continual basis. However, in order to be used for the 2026 Integrated Report, all data must be submitted by
March 3, 2025. Learn more and submit data at https://townhall.virginia.gov//l/ViewNotice.cfm?GNID=3028.
Contact Reid Downer at citize...@deq.virginia.gov
or 804-217-4777 for more information. Organized by the Virginia DEQ.
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11.)
National Water Quality Monitoring Council Conference
–
March 10-14, 2025 – Green Bay, WI – Theme: “Working Together for Clean Water” –
Offering a limited number of registration scholarships to selected members of the volunteer monitoring community and attendees contributing to JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) efforts.
Scholarship Applications Due: February 1, 2025 -- Scholarships will be awarded based on available resources and overall need.
Learn more about the conference and scholarships at https://nwqmcconference.org/.
Contact wqJ...@gmail.com
with questions about the scholarship.
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12.)
Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (VRRM), Version 4.1 – Update –
The Virginia DEQ identified and fixed two errors with the VRRM Version 4.1, New Development Spreadsheet. The cell reference for C22 was updated from E30 (Site Tab) to E21 (Site Tab) to accurately reflect the correct total phosphorus load reduction requirement.
The cell reference for C18 was updated from H27 (Site Tab) to H28 (Site Tab) to accurately reflect the correct treatment volume. No changes were made to the VRRM 4.1 Re-Development Spreadsheet. Learn more at
https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/stormwater/stormwater-construction/guidance-vrrm.
Contact April Rhodes at april....@deq.virginia.gov
or 571-866-6091 for more information. Published by the Virginia DEQ.
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The VWMC announcements are provided with support from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Thank you to our sponsor!
You too can sponsor the VWMC announcements. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support information updates and other VWMC activities. Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include
“VWMC Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (0444, Attn: Jane Walker) at 210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech; 310 West Campus Drive; Blacksburg, VA 24061.