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City of Newport News
Back River and Warwick River Bacteria TMDL Action Plan
2024-2029 Permit Cycle
4.2 Summary of Comments Received
Recommendations and concerns received during the public comment period are summarized
below:
• Recommendation to address the impact of wildlife (such as deer and outdoor cats) on
bacteria levels in waterways, and to expand public education efforts to include messaging on
pet waste disposal, pollution flowing directly to the Bay from stormwater inlets, and best
practices for lawn care that can also reduce nutrient runoff. The commenter looked forward
to seeing the City’s upcoming public education campaigns. Note: The Newport News Animal
Welfare Division provides support in managing free-roaming cat populations by offering
human cat traps to residents at their request. In accordance with City code, feeding free-
roaming cats is prohibited without a valid Free-Roaming Cat Colony Permit. This policy is
intended to reduce cats’ dependency on human-provided food sources and support efforts
to relocate or manage these animals outside of sensitive urban environments.
• Recommendation to include a targeted action plan for managing the rapidly increasing deer
population in areas like Merry Point and along the Warwick River, where deer feces are seen
as a growing source of bacteria pollution due to the lack of natural predators and resident
feeding habits. The commenter emphasized that without intervention, deer-related pollution
will continue to worsen annually.
• Concerns about the omission of deer waste as a contributing source of bacteria pollution in
the TMDL Action Plan and recommendation to include measures to control the
overpopulation of deer, which the commenter stated is harming water quality both directly
through fecal contamination and indirectly by degrading forest understory, which increases
runoff potential. The commenter urged the City to acknowledge and address this issue as a
matter of environmental responsibility. Note: Regarding this and the prior listed concerns of
deer waste, unlike domestic pet waste (which often contains excess nutrients, additives, and
pathogens from processed diets), deer waste is typically composed of materials that naturally
already occur in the local ecosystem. Deer waste typically reintroduces organic matter that is
already part of the watershed’s nutrient cycle, and, as such, is not widely considered a
significant contributor to nutrient or bacterial pollution in urban stormwater as it has a lesser
impact on local water quality.
• A resident expressed strong concern and opposition to the reuse of treated wastewater
(which is irrelevant to this plan), referring to it as unsafe for human health. The comment
reflects a fear that such practices could result in long-term health issues and voiced strong
distrust in the concept, characterizing it as a “bad idea.” Note: The Action Plan has nothing
to do with forcing the use of treated wastewater; rather, it is focused solely on protecting
local surface waters from bacterial pollution.Jump to an indexed page (17 of 17)