A Watershed Study of Virginia's Eastern Shore Papers included in Watershed 96 proceedings reflect the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent official positions of the Environmental Protection Agency. These small watersheds are the fundamental building blocks of the seaside ecosystems impacting adjacent barrier island lagoons on this coastline. Agriculture is the predominant land use in this region and is thought to be a source of contaminants. There are perceived conflicts between Eastern Shore communities that rely on fishing and those that farm the land.
Fishermen believe agricultural runoff has been largely responsible for degraded fisheries.
The shallow unconfined aquifers of Virginia's coastal plain display characteristics that are conducive to groundwater contamination and its subsequent transport into aquatic habitats, including shallow water table depths, highly permeable sandy substrates, and low elevation and topographic relief. Water quality issues, both surface and groundwater, in these seaside watersheds and coastal lagoons are of central importance to both agricultural management and environmental quality, nationally as well as on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Conceptual diagram illustrating the sources, buffers and pathways of water and potential pollutants in transit to a coastal barrier lagoon. The research described here is taking a holistic approach to detect and quantify land-derived contaminants in surface and groundwater, by combining the talents of experts from a number of different disciplines. The ultimate goal is to develop management practices that will ameliorate production and adverse effects from agricultural contaminants on coastal ecosystems.