Chris Fordney: Streams getting cleaner

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The bat flicked back-and-forth along the rushing surface of Opequon Creek one afternoon last week as our pair of kayaks approached.

The bat circled us, perhaps curious about these unfamiliar objects on the water, and it paid for its lapse in vigilance. A small hawk swept in from the trees to our left, seized the bat and carried it away.

Yes, things are quite wild along this stretch of the creek in West Virginia. Ducks, herons, ospreys, eagles and hawks are common sights.

But the Opequon, which originates southeast of Winchester and flows into the Potomac River north of Shepherdstown, W.Va., was murky with sediment and flecked in places with suspicious brown foam. The creek is sick, according to regulators who have had it on the statewide list of impaired waters for the past 15 years.

Winchester and Frederick County are sinking close to $90 million into upgrades to sewage treatment plants that discharge into the Opequon. But no matter how clean that water is, it still has to flow through the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, which has its own set of sewage treatment facilities around Martinsburg.

To the federal government, what's important is the water that flows into the Chesapeake Bay, which is why local governments throughout the Northern Shenandoah Valley are undertaking expensive upgrades of their sewage treatment plants -- primarily to remove nitrogen and phosphorous from discharges into the Shenandoah River -- with an end-of-the-year deadline.

Woodstock, which faced a five-month setback in the construction of its $32 million sewage treatment plant after it was flooded in heavy rains last summer, is back on track. "We look to be online full-tilt May 5," said Gary Richman, chief operator at the plant.

New Market has decided to plug into Broadway's plant in Timberville, while plants in Edinburg and Toms Brook fall under the minimum flow requirements to upgrade. Another plant that serves the Bayse and Bryce areas will meet its nutrient reductions by buying credits through the Virginia Nutrient Exchange Association for about $7,000 a year, according to Rodney W. McClain, director of public utilities for the sanitary districts that operate those plants.

Front Royal is weighing its options as it plans a $40 million sewage treatment plant, while Berryville is getting ready to put out bids for its upgrade. Strasburg is also in the planning stages for a $25.7 million upgrade, while Mt. Jackson's new, $8 million plant is up and running.

Most of these upgrades are being funded with government grants -- about $30 million for northern valley plants -- and loans, so sewer bills have yet to see what will be substantial hikes. In some cases, expansions were planned during the housing boom in anticipation of more growth, so the costs will have to be spread among fewer ratepayers than projected.

The upgrades have been in the works for years, and the Obama administration recently announced much tighter rules and deadlines for action on the bay. With sewage plants cleaned up, that pressure will likely fall on manure from farms and stormwater runoff from urban areas and set off more complaints among local elected officials about unfunded mandates.

"The feds mean business," said Jesse Moffett, executive director of the Frederick-Winchester Service Authority.

Contact Chris Fordney at cfordney@nvdaily.com