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The overall grade of the 2025 State of the James has improved to a B with a score of 68% from its failing health decades ago. Although the pace of progress has slowed, a grade-A James River is possible if we keep up our collective efforts and continue to address key issues together. However, the 2023 American shad stock assessment by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that populations of American shad in the James are at an all-time low. Given the dire situation, JRA fought for funding to develop an emergency recovery plan that identified immediate actions that could be taken to improve the American shad fishery in the James River. This plan will be delivered to Virginia Legislators in the fall of 2023 with more actions to follow, but it will take a long-term and sustained effort to bring American shad in the James River back from the brink of collapse.
Advocacy News
General Assembly Update: Budget Discussions are Heating Up!
As we approach the midpoint of the General Assembly session, the House and Senate money committees are preparing their versions of the budget. Here at the James River Association we have three main funding priorities: stormwater, agriculture, and land conservation. In...
General Assembly Hot Topic: Coal Ash
Power generating utilities in the James River watershed have coal ash ponds containing 26.2 million tons of coal ash. These are unlined earthen ponds, and they are leaking arsenic, lead and chromium among other toxins. Monitoring data collected by James River...
