Senators urge special session after groundwater report

Their request follows the release of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Groundwater Supply East of Interstate 95 report. The study is required by the General Assembly through Senate Joint Resolution 25 that examined groundwater availability across Virginia’s Coastal Plain as demand continues to grow from population growth, industry and data center development.

“The report, the most comprehensive study ever conducted of our coastal aquifer, makes clear that Virginia’s groundwater is under serious and immediate strain,” the senators wrote.

Among its findings, the report says there is “virtually no capacity” in the Coastal Plain aquifer system to support major new groundwater withdrawals. It also concluded it is unlikely a data center using evaporative cooling, or another comparable large water user, could secure a reliable groundwater supply anywhere in the Coastal Plain under current conditions.

The report evaluated nine hypothetical groundwater withdrawals of 3 million gallons per day and found that none would meet Virginia’s current permitting standards.

The report says groundwater levels in the Potomac aquifer have resumed declining and points to land subsidence and saltwater intrusion as ongoing concerns in parts of the Coastal Plain.

“The warning signs are not limited to one region,” Stuart and Perry wrote.

The senators pointed to a groundwater study lawmakers funded this year in western Loudoun and northern Fauquier counties, where they said water supplies already show signs of strain. They also noted the Potomac River, the primary drinking water source for more than 2 million Virginians, was recently named the nation’s most endangered river, while the Rappahannock River ranks among the nation’s most endangered.

“The risks detailed in this report are too dire to ask Virginians to wait another year, and the timing of the report’s release makes immediate action necessary,” the senators wrote.

They said the report includes recommendations for both the legislative and executive branches that should be considered during a special session.

Those recommendations include strengthening the Department of Environmental Quality’s authority over groundwater withdrawal permits, requiring greater consideration of alternative water sources, improving groundwater monitoring and enforcement, and tying local development planning to groundwater availability.

“Protecting the water our citizens drink and ensuring the clean water our agriculture industries depend upon is not a partisan cause,” the senators wrote.

The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication getting comment from Spanberger.