Hampton Roads Regional Water-Quality Monitoring Program

How much nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended solids are contributed by the highly urbanized areas of the Hampton Roads 

region in Virginia to Chesapeake Bay? The answer to this complex question has major implications for policy decisions, resource 

allocations, and efforts aimed at restoring clean waters to Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. To quantify the amount of nitrogen, 

phosphorus, and suspended solids delivered to the bay from this region, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has partnered with 

the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), in cooperation with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC), 

to conduct a water-quality monitoring program throughout the Hampton Roads region.

Why a Regional Water-Quality Program in Hampton 

Roads?

The Atlantic Coastal Plain, in which the Hampton Roads 

region of Virginia is located, is defined by low elevation and 

topographic relief, which when combined with urban development result in a unique ecological and hydrological environment. 

In recent years, quantification of, and regulations pertaining 

to, suspended solids and nutrient contributions to Chesapeake 

Bay have been based on monitoring conducted in areas largely 

outside the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. It is unknown, 

however, whether the results of these monitoring programs 

represent the predominantly urban Hampton Roads region of the 

Coastal Plain. 

A water-quality sonde and flow meter measure storm conditions at a conveyance 

outfall in Newport News, Va.

How Does Urban Stormwater Affect the Health of 

Chesapeake Bay?

The region’s flat topographic relief results in meandering rivers and streams that ultimately flow into tidal estuaries. 

Undisturbed, these environments can act as buffers between 

uplands and receiving waters, such as Chesapeake Bay. Theoretically, the slow moving waters do not have the energy required 

to transport large quantities of suspended solids, such as sediment, and could provide ample residence time for organisms to 

consume nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, that may be 

washed in by upland runoff.

Urbanization in the region has led to increased imperviousness (roads, sidewalks, parking lots, rooftops) and compacted 

soils that prevent rainwater from infiltrating into the ground. 

Because of urbanization, rainfall rapidly collects on the land 

surface and runs off into receiving waters, potentially creating 

the energy needed to mobilize greater amounts of particulate 

materials and reducing the residence time available for 

ecological removal of nutrients. During storms, the 

rapid accumulation of rainfall on impervious 

land surfaces, combined with the regions flat 

topography, produces the potential for flooding. 

To manage runoff from impervious areas, the 

region is underlain with an extensive network 

of storm sewers designed to collect and export 

stormwater runoff. Although these systems 

Monitoring station enclosure containing a data logger, telemetry equipment, and 

refrigerated sampler.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2016–3095

December 2016
provide an efficient means to transport stormwater, they 

also promote rapid transport of contaminants from the 

landscape to receiving waterbodies. Once in receiving 

waters, suspended solids can degrade the aquatic environment by reducing both habitat and light availability, 

which are essential to aquatic organisms. In addition, 

the overabundance of nutrients in receiving waters can 

promote excess algal growth that, upon degradation, 

depletes oxygen required by aquatic life.

How Does the Monitoring Program Work?

This long-term monitoring program consists of 

a network of 12 water-quality monitoring stations, 

2 per jurisdiction, across the cities of Newport News, 

Hampton, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Norfolk, and 

Virginia Beach. These stations monitor relatively small 

watersheds, ranging in area from 30 to 300 acres, with 

a predominant land use in one of three categories—

single family residential, high density residential, and 

EXPLANATION

Total suspended solids concentration,

in milligrams per liter

Turbidity, in formazin nephelometric 

units

Flow rate, in cubic feet per second

Total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations, in milligrams per liter (mg/L; red); turbidity, in 

formazin nephelometric units (FNU; black); and flow rate, in cubic feet per second (ft3/s; blue).

Chesapeake

Virginia Beach

Norfolk

Hampton

Newport 

News

Portsmouth

James River

Chesapeake

Bay

76°20' 76°

37°

36°

40'

Base from U.S. Census Bureau, 1:500,000-scale digital data, 2014

0 5 10 MILES

0 5 10 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

Land-use type1

Water

Developed, open space

Developed, low intensity

Developed, medium intensity

Developed, high intensity

Barren land (rock/sand/clay)

Forest

Shrub/grassland

Agriculture

Wetland

Monitoring station 1 Land use from Fry and others, 2011, Completion of the 2006 National Land 

Cover Database for the Conterminous United States, Photogrammetric 

Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 77, no. 9, p. 858–864.

WV

VA

NC

KY

TN

OH MD

Study area

Network map with monitoring stations and land-use types.

commercial/light industrial. At each 

station, a data logger, satellite transmitter, and refrigerated automated sampler 

are housed in a rugged enclosure located 

alongside or above the stormwater 

conveyance. These instruments collect 

data continuously, including flow rate, 

water temperature, specific conductance, 

and turbidity; data are automatically 

uploaded to the USGS online database 

(http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis). Additionally, water samples are collected by 

the automated sampler during stormflow 

events and retrieved for analysis of total 

suspended solids and nutrients by HRSD 

laboratory staff. Data from these stations are publicly available in near real 

time (new data posted hourly) via the 

Hampton Roads Regional Water Quality 

Program website (http://va.water.usgs.

gov/HRstormwater). 

The data collected by the waterquality monitoring program will be used 

to compute monthly and annual nutrient 

and total suspended solids loads. Ultimately, the program aims to better inform 

local stormwater management decisions by enhancing understanding of the 

transport characteristics and loading rates 

of nutrients and total suspended solids 

delivered to Chesapeake Bay from these 

urban landscapes.

—Aaron J. Porter and John D. Jastram

For more information: 

Director, U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Phone: 804-261-2600 Email: dc_va@usgs.gov

Web: http://va.water.usgs.gov/HRstormwater/

ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20163095