NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The 2023 report card is out on the James River and there's good news on the state of the river's health.
The James River Association released their 2023 report Thursday highlighting good news for the watershed and the ecosystem that thrives here.
According to the James River Association the state of the James River is good. They gave the river a "B" grade, an increase from a "C+" a year ago.
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The report makes note of progress in protection and restoration efforts and praised underwater grass expansion and tidal water quality improvements.
But the association says there's still more work to do.
"If you remember, in 2018 and 2020, we saw record amounts of Rain, which brought in very high levels of pollution," said Bill Street, CEO and President of James River Association. "We didn't see it as high as it would have been without a lot of the work that had been done."
The report emphasizes additional funding and efforts are needed to ensure stormwater pollution controls and American shad—a type of fish— populations don't fall by the wayside.
American shad populations were at zero in 2021 and remain at zero today. Water clarity and sediment reduction efforts were cited as continued concerns.
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"We have to recognize that with climate change, there’s gonna be more precipitation, so it’s certainly something that we need to plan for in terms of the pollution controls, our sewer system, and make sure that we provide a habitat that’s going to make the whole James River system more resilient," said Street.
Restoration actions outlined in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan have a goal of reducing the amount of pollution entering the James River by 2025.
Moving forward, the association hopes that they can receive more funding to better protect from stormwater pollution.
