General
Information about the Big Sandy Watershed
Public Health Advisories and Aquatic Life Concerns
General Information about the Big Sandy Watershed (From September 2006 305(b) Report, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality)
This basin contains the Levisa and Tug Forks which flow northward into Kentucky forming the Big Sandy River, which eventually empty into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The Big Sandy Basin lies primarily in the Cumberland Plateau, which is characterized as rugged, with mountainous terrain and steep valleys. The Big Sandy is 86% forested, with about 5 percent in cropland and pasture. Urban areas make up only a small percentage of the total land area.
Public Health Advisories and Aquatic Life Concerns (From September 2006 305(b) Report, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality)
| Levisa River | PCBs | From Grundy to the Kentucky State Line | Eat no more than 1 eight ounce meal per month of any fish taken from that section of the Levisa. Contact your local health department for more information. |
| Levisa River | PCBs | the confluence of Slate Creek upstream to the confluence with Contrary Creek including the tributary Garden Creek up to the confluence of the Right Fork of Garden Creek. |
The advisory recommends eating no more than two meals a month of all fish species in the waterbody and pregnant women and children are advised not to eat any of these fish. |
| Guest River | PCBs | from Rt. 23 near Esserville downstream to the confluence with the Clinch River, including the tributary Bear Creek up to the confluence with Yellow Creek |
The advisory recommends eating no more than two meals a month of carp, river chub or stoneroller from the waterbody and pregnant women and children are advised not to eat any of these fish. |
| Stock Creek | PCBs | from Rt. 650 bridge above Natural Tunnel downstream to the confluence with Clinch River near Clinchport. |
The advisory recommends not eating more than two meals a month of brown trout, rainbow trout, or white sucker caught in the waterbody and pregnant women and children are advised not to eat any of these fish. |
| Wolf Creek | PCBs | from Rt. 670 near Abington downstream to Rt. 75 near Green Spring. |
The advisory recommends not eating more than two meals a month of carp or northern hogsucker caught in the waterbody and pregnant women and children are advised not to eat any of these fish. |
| Knox Creek | PCBs | from the Virginia/Kentucky state line upstream to its headwaters |
The advisory recommends not eating any smallmouth bass, rock bass, channel catfish, creek chub, golden redhorse sucker, northern hogsucker, or redhorse sucker and eating no more than two eight ounce meals per month of any other fish species taken from the advisory area. Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children should not eat any fish taken from these waters. |
If your group is active in this watershed and you would like your information posted (contact person, activities, sites you monitor, stories, etc), please e-mail Stacey Brown at stacey at vasos.org or call (804) 615-5036.
Use the link above to take you to the VA SOS Monitoring Results Page.
For older data sets
or different data format (such as an excel spreadsheet) please contact Stacey Brown at stacey at vasos.org or (804) 615-5036
If you collected data through 2002 and you can't find it here,
please contact Stacey Brown at stacey at vasos.org or (804) 615-5036.