This Site NOAA

Ocean and Coastal Management in Virginia

Virginia's Coastal Program

The Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program was approved by NOAA in 1986 and is comprised of a network of agencies with authority in the state’s coastal zone. The Department of Environmental Quality serves as the lead agency. Virginia’s coastal zone includes the state's 29 coastal counties and encompasses salt marshes, wetlands, beaches, transition and inter-tidal areas, and islands.

The Coastal Program's goals include protecting coastal resources, air and water quality, preventing the loss of coastal habitat and loss of life and property from coastal hazards, providing for sustainable wild fisheries and aquaculture, promoting renewable energy, and improving public access. The Coastal Program has recently focused on promoting living shorelines. Living shorelines can help reduce wave energy, maintain natural shoreline dynamics and sand movement, provide important shoreline habitat, maintain beach and intertidal areas that offer public access, and are less costly.

Virginia’s National Estuarine Research Reserve

The Chesapeake Bay - Virginia Estuarine Research Reserve is a 4,435-acre reserve that was designated for protection in 1991. The lead agency is the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The Reserve includes oyster reefs, sea grass beds, tidal wetlands, sandy shoals and mudflats.

The Reserve's Coastal Training Program provides up-to-date scientific information to individuals who are responsible for making coastal resource decisions and training opportunities include perennial stream identification, introduction to riparian buffers, and living shorelines. The Reserve also provides programs for students, teachers, and the general public that are designed to enhance awareness and understanding of the estuary and emphasize the interrelationships of coastal habitats and human activities. Research activities at the Reserve include studying the relationship between seagrass and water quality, best methods for transplanting eelgrass, and the habitat requirements of blue crab.

Links

Virginia Coastal Program — The website provides information on the program’s activities, including public access, hazards, and aquaculture.

Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Research Reserve — The website provides information on the reserve's research, education and stewardship activities.

Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology — This program brief describes investments in technology development and research projects for the state of Virginia.

Marine Protected Areas — Search for marine protected areas by state, region, or topic area.

Virginia Coastal Nonpoint Program Condition and Full Approval Documents — The Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Program encourages better coordination between state and coastal zone managers and water quality experts to reduce polluted runoff in the coastal zone. The state received full approval in 2001.

Virginia Coastal Program Evaluation (2007) — The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management conducts periodic performance reviews of federally approved state coastal management programs.

Virginia Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Evaluation (2007) — The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management conducts periodic performance reviews of estuarine research reserves.

Contact Information for Virginia’s Coastal Programs

Virginia Coastal Program
Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Environmental Enhancement
629 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 698-4323

Chesapeake Bay VA Reserve
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
P.O. Box 1346
Gloucester Point, VA 23062
(804) 684-7135

 

 

(top)