The Virginia General Assembly included $3.5 million in the state's FY23-FY24 budget to fund studies focused on the Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) in Lake Anna and the Shenandoah River.  The funding is included in part B.1 of item 374 in the Budget Bill (House Bill 30).  The wording in Item 374 of the Budget Bill is as follows:  "$3,500,000 shall be provided to the Department of Environmental Quality, collaborating with the Department of Health, to conduct studies of Harmful Algal Blooms occurring in the Shenandoah River and Lake Anna."

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is working with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to execute the funding and complete the study in both Lake Anna and the Shenandoah River.  You can keep track of DEQ's efforts on their HAB page.

Phase 1 of the project, Data Collection and Monitoring, is now complete. DEQ, USGS, and the Interstate Commission for the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) are now conducting data analysis and modeling of the data collected during Phase 1 of the project. 

LACA and the Lake Anna Advisory Committee (LAAC) worked with the Virginia DEQ to expand stream flow monitoring in all three of the lake's major inflows, the North Anna River, Pamunkey Creek, and Terry's Run. Stream flow is monitored through the use of streamgages. We are thankful to DEQ for providing funding through the state's Water Quality Improvement Fund to maintain the two USGS streamgages on the North Anna and Pamunkey Creek, and to install a new streamgage on Terry's Run. All data generated by the streamgages are available to the public. Each station reports data every 15 minutes.  Links to the data feeds for each of the five continuous monitoring stations are provided below.

Tributary streamgage stations:

• North Anna River 
• Pamunkey Creek
• Terry's Run: Will be updated when the site is active (expected by April 30, 2025)