Moderator Tom Silvestri, president and publisher,

The Times-Dispatch: Let's do something really quick. What's your favorite fact about the James River -- your favorite aspect that people may or may not know?

Rachel Flynn, Richmond's director of community development: You own it. The commonwealth of Virginia owns the James River. And so that's why you deserve the best access to that river.

Preston Bryant, Virginia's secretary of natural resources: Ten to 15 percent of all the blue crabs that are harvested in Virginia come from the tidal part of the James River.

Bill Street, executive director, James River Association: It's one of the largest rivers completely contained within one state.

Leighton Powell, executive director, Scenic Virginia: It's a beautiful, beautiful area . . . it's just gorgeous. I think there's such an opportunity there for all of us.

George Ross, CEO, R3 Development LLC: It's possible to create an environment that not only helps generate the funds to pay for wonderful public access and parks and recreation, but also to give people public access and everything that people would like to have there.

Jud White, environmental policy manager, Dominion: Great rapids. Class 4 and 5 adjacent to an urban area. It's very unique.

Silvestri: What is your vision for the James?

Street: We actually did a report this past year on the health of the James. And it really does, I think, define where we are, as well as what our vision for the river is. We gave the river a score. Looked at four different categories. We looked at the fish and wildlife species that everyone recognizes and maybe cares the most about. Well, those fish and wildlife depend on good quality habitat. And so we looked at the habitat after that. The biggest factor affecting both the habitat and these fish and wildlife species is pollution. So we looked at pollution levels. And then we looked at the restoration protection actions that we need to have a healthy river.

In 2007, the health of the river scored a 52 percent. Which, on our grading scale, gave it a C. And a lot of people say, "Well boy, I wish I had that grading scale when I was in school." But when we're talking about bringing back a major ecosystem like the James River, at 52 percent we are a little more than halfway toward a fully healthy river. Now that's good news and also bad news. It's good news that we've made some very good progress. We can see that progress, where 20 or 30 years ago, people couldn't swim. You couldn't fish in the James because of kepone and other issues. And now people enjoy it on a regular basis.

But it also points to the fact that we're only halfway there. And we've got a long way to go and some very challenging issues. I think the blue crabs, as well as issues that we're seeing up and down the river, brook trout are only healthy in 9 percent of their native watersheds. We've got fish kills occurring on some of the most pristine rivers, such as the Cowpasture. We've got shad that are reduced in numbers, and we don't really know why.

White: My vision would be to ensure the sustainability of the resources. Everybody wants a piece of the river -- whether it's development, water withdrawal, whatever. And I think it's going to require a lot of innovative thinking, cooperation, and communications in the future. And I would like to just mention one thing to [Secretary Bryant] that I am extremely proud of: the program DEQ put together last year on water treating for nutrients in the river. That's out-of-the-box thinking. It was one of the first in the nation.

Bryant: My immediate goal is kind of a boring, technical one. And that is in terms of wastewater treatment plants. A decade ago the commonwealth set certain goals in conjunction with Pennsylvania and Maryland and D.C. to meet certain pollution reduction goals in terms of phosphorous and nitrogen going into the bay. We are on track right now to meet our 2010 goals for wastewater treatment plant upgrades. Two years ago, three years ago, we never would have thought we were going to get there.

Silvestri: I bet you have a broader vision.

Bryant: Access points. We want a sustainable river -- not just for the fisheries, but for those of us who like to enjoy them. I think between Richmond and Williamsburg, what have we got, two? I think we've got two real good accessible public access points between this very historic part of the river, Richmond to Williamsburg.

Ross: I see from the end of the present Canal Walk a promenade and a linear walkway, Capital Trail and Canal Walk, and park, all the way down to the city limits at Rocketts Landing. And I think that it is possible to have sustainable structures and commercial enterprises that produce taxable income and help pay for all the wonderful things that we all like to have and want to have.

Flynn: Our vision is Central Park, a flowing central park to really celebrate the river. And the downtown plans in the past, the river was always on the edge. Now it's in the center. And we really want to make it the focal point of Richmond, the surrounding area, and indeed, the state, given that this is everyone's capital. How can we turn the flood wall from an eyesore and something that blocks access and views into something attractive? If you look at Europe and you see these high walls, they're always beautiful, and they have attractive buildings behind and above them. How can we build stairways and landscaping along it so it's not just a liability but an asset?

How can we use native species and bring back the original species that were all along the river, which would better protect it, which would provide nourishment for the fish in there, and get back to nature? How can we build that continuous promenade and river walk that George [Ross] talks about. People really have this desire to be able to walk from one end all the way down to the other. We hear it time and time again on both sides of the river. And finally, how can we create entertainment venues and retail that can complement the recreational and other aspects of the river so that it's a one-stop shop, if you will? And we've just started, but we need to make those links even better.

Powell: Ditto to everything Rachel [Flynn] just said. And I really think Scenic Virginia's broader vision is this: A promenade where you can walk your dog, you can bike, you can rollerblade, you can push a stroller, you can fish.

Silvestri: Are you optimistic about your vision?

Powell: Absolutely.

Silvestri: You all heard your various visions. Do all your visions go together? Do you think when you listen to various components of it, where do they go to together and where do they not go together?

Street: I don't think they're mutually exclusive. But there are some real challenges. As Jud [White] mentioned, the increasingly competing interests that we have -- more and more people moving, who want to be near the river, utilize it. If we don't do that in the right way, the river's going to suffer. I think another point is one of the greatest challenges we face is just the inertia.

Flynn: We all want a clean river. I don't think anyone came here tonight for a dirty river.

White: We all have the same goal. We come from different viewpoints with the same goal.

Flynn: People want that access. They want the beauty of the river. They want to be a part of it. I think we're all speaking to that.

Ross: There are a lot of examples in this country where communities have gotten together -- both private and government -- and created wonderful opportunities on their riverfronts. I've had the opportunity to see some really incredible things. And I think we could all learn from them.

Street: If I could just bring up one example that really hit home to me: That's visiting Pittsburgh, which I think has really tried to showcase its rivers -- and has really made a lot of that and brought that city back from pretty desperate times.

Silvestri: What keeps you up at night when it comes to The James River? What concerns you? What bothers you about where we are?

Powell: What concerns me the most is that we're at such a critical point in our development. We can either choose to be progressive and move forward with some of these ideas, or we can continue to be a capital city that hides its light under a bushel. The author of Better Models for Development in Virginia, Edward McMahon, has frequently called Richmond "the best kept secret on the East Coast." What I worry about is that more people don't know how special we are. And I'm not looking to have millions and millions and millions of people come in and take over. But I do think we have a huge opportunity to increase our tax base by enhancing tourism. Tourists are the people you want most to come to your city. They come in, they spend their money, and they leave. They don't need roads. They don't need infrastructure. They don't need new schools.

Bryant: I think it's our inability to keep our heads above water, so to speak, in terms of balancing growth and development and our natural resources. In 1960, Virginia had four million people. Today we have about 7.7 million. And by the end of this decade, we'll be right at eight million people. So the last half century, we will have seen our population double. The rate of impervious surface -- the new driveways, the new rooftops, the new parking lots -- is far outstripping our ability to keep pace, to keep up. And so therefore, you're going to be seeing even more need to better manage stormwater and runoff. With all these people, you've got to have more cows. So you're going to have more agricultural runoff as we continue to push for alternative sources of energy and bio-fuels -- especially corn-based because corn requires a lot of fertilizer. Fertilizer creates water pollution. You can see how there's this web of interconnection that creates opportunities and challenges. Right now what keeps me up at night? The challenges, I think, are a few more than the opportunities.

Ross: I think that we're at a critical point here in deciding where this city wants to go in the future. One of the underlying pressures that is going to become more and more obvious is that the economy doesn't seem to be doing well right now. As the tax base diminishes, a lot of the things that we want to have here are going to be more and more difficult to achieve. The sooner we get on with it, the better.

White: Drought. Conflicting interests. We've experienced drought the past several years -- several major ones. One major one lasted more than 14 months. And that's when you really get down to talking about interests and beneficial users, and what do we want to protect, and et cetera. And that's when the discussions really get important. The future issues of drought and water use, they are something I think about.

Bryant: At the same time, while nobody likes a drought, you can get better water quality when you have a drought.

White: Absolutely.

Flynn: We're at a great moment where. If you look at the history of our river for the past two centuries, it's really been used for industry. It's an exciting time, because we care a lot more about the environment. We know a lot more about the environment. We have this small window where we can take that industrial land and really turn it to our advantage for a public access in conjunction with the private development. You saw it in the inner harbor in Baltimore. That was a former industrial site. You saw it in Charleston, as Leighton [Powell] mentioned. That was a former industrial site. You saw it in Battery Park in New York City, where the promenade is now, people used to be standing in the water. All that was shipping. And so we have that opportunity here. And we really need to seize it.

Street: I'd agree. We do have this window. To add a little dimension to what Sec. Bryant said -- and I've heard Gov. Kaine say this on a number of occasions -- that in the next 40 years, Virginia's on track to develop as much land as we did in the first 400 years of Virginia's history. And so if we don't seize the opportunity that we have now, it may slip through our fingers.

Flynn: We all want a clean river. I don't think anyone came here tonight for a dirty river.

White: We all have the same goal. We come from different viewpoints with the same goal.

Flynn: People want that access. They want the beauty of the river. They want to be a part of it. I think we're all speaking to that.

Ross: There are a lot of examples in this country where communities have gotten together -- both private and government -- and created wonderful opportunities on their riverfronts. I've had the opportunity to see some really incredible things. And I think we could all learn from them.

Street: If I could just bring up one example that really hit home to me: That's visiting Pittsburgh, which I think has really tried to showcase its rivers -- and has really made a lot of that and brought that city back from pretty desperate times.

Silvestri: What keeps you up at night when it comes to the James River? What concerns you? What bothers you about where we are?

Powell: What concerns me the most is that we're at such a critical point in our development. We can either choose to be progressive and move forward with some of these ideas, or we can continue to be a capital city that hides its light under a bushel. The author of Better Models for Development in Virginia, Edward McMahon, has frequently called Richmond "the best-kept secret on the East Coast." What I worry about is that more people don't know how special we are. And I'm not looking to have millions and millions and millions of people come in and take over. But I do think we have a huge opportunity to increase our tax base by enhancing tourism. Tourists are the people you want most to come to your city. They come in, they spend their money, and they leave. They don't need roads. They don't need infrastructure. They don't need new schools.

Bryant: I think it's our inability to keep our heads above water, so to speak, in terms of balancing growth and development and our natural resources. In 1960, Virginia had 4 million people. Today we have about 7.7 million. And by the end of this decade, we'll be right at 8 million people. So the last half-century, we will have seen our population double. The rate of impervious surface -- the new driveways, the new rooftops, the new parking lots -- is far outstripping our ability to keep pace, to keep up. And so therefore, you're going to be seeing even more need to better manage stormwater and runoff. With all these people, you've got to have more cows. So you're going to have more agricultural runoff as we continue to push for alternative sources of energy and bio-fuels -- especially corn-based because corn requires a lot of fertilizer. Fertilizer creates water pollution. You can see how there's this web of interconnection that creates opportunities and challenges. Right now what keeps me up at night? The challenges, I think, are a few more than the opportunities.

Ross: I think that we're at a critical point here in deciding where this city wants to go in the future. One of the underlying pressures that is going to become more and more obvious is that the economy doesn't seem to be doing well right now. As the tax base diminishes, a lot of the things that we want to have here are going to be more and more difficult to achieve. The sooner we get on with it, the better.

White: Drought. Conflicting interests. We've experienced drought the past several years -- several major ones. One major one lasted more than 14 months. And that's when you really get down to talking about interests and beneficial users, and what do we want to protect, and etc. And that's when the discussions really get important. The future issues of drought and water use, they are something I think about.

Bryant: At the same time, while nobody likes a drought, you can get better water quality when you have a drought.

White: Absolutely.

Flynn: We're at a great moment. If you look at the history of our river for the past two centuries, it's really been used for industry. It's an exciting time, because we care a lot more about the environment. We know a lot more about the environment. We have this small window where we can take that industrial land and really turn it to our advantage for a public access in conjunction with the private development. You saw it in the inner harbor in Baltimore. That was a former industrial site. You saw it in Charleston. That was a former industrial site. You saw it in Battery Park in New York City, where the promenade is now, people used to be standing in the water. All that was shipping. And so we have that opportunity here. And we really need to seize it.

Street: I'd agree. We do have this window. To add a little dimension to what Secretary Bryant said -- and I've heard Gov. Kaine say this on a number of occasions -- that in the next 40 years, Virginia's on track to develop as much land as we did in the first 400 years of Virginia's history. And so if we don't seize the opportunity that we have now, it may slip through our fingers.

Silvestri: What we want to do now is engage the audience.

Charles Ware, Richmond: I'm a whitewater voter. I started voting back in '78. And a few years after that, I became active in the conservation of the James River. Our river is now a state scenic and historic river. The designation was obtained to try to fight hydropower development, which was being promoted on several sites that were owned by Virginia Power at the time. Virginia Power cooperated with some of the conservation groups. Their concern was that hydropower companies, under federal law, could come in, buy or condemn the Virginia Power facilities -- such as the one on Belle Isle -- and force Virginia Power to buy back hydropower at a discounted rate. And of course take all of the water out of the river.

In the past 26 years, I've worked 24 of those years as a raft guide. I've taken many hundreds of people down the James River. Of course the company's now shut down because of some problems with the city. The city is sometimes a hard entity to do business with.

Katherine Godin, Richmond: The river is our greatest asset. I actually just wrote a letter to the city planning commission with 128 signatures, saying that it's our greatest asset -- and that we want to develop it, so that we can all enjoy it, that we can have dinner by the river, we can enjoy it. Not just hiking, but that we can all enjoy it. I think that if we do it right, that this could be the thing that brings people in from Short Pump. This could be the thing that makes people turn off of I-95 and come to Richmond. This could be the thing that generates the money that we need to de-concentrate all the poverty in our city.

Diane Worthington, Richmond: I rise in support of the Master Plan. I think it's a fabulous idea. Many of us in our neighborhood did participate in developing that plan. So it would be in our best interest to see that it goes forward. I also want to say that I have come from Alexandria where we have a park system and shops and restaurants, and people participating in a neighborhood. It has been a wonderful experience to come from there. People are on the streets . . . .It is a very friendly place. And I would love to see Richmond become that kind of place.

Rick Tatnall, Richmond: There are conflicting interests between the people who are sitting around this circle. And it mostly is involved with Mr. Ross' project, Echo Harbor. One of my other opportunities is to have a multi-year, 10-year relationship with Richmond upon Thames. I am leading tomorrow a delegation of 20 people from the Richmond regional community. It's going to be our first regional delegation to Richmond upon Thames. We have eight students who are from the various counties. And we're fortunate that Ralph White and Nathan Burrell and others who are representing the river . . . .

We're going to go to Richmond upon Thames to learn about how they have been able to generate income from [their viewshed], and that we can then turn that into income that can be generated here.

Tom O'Kelly, Richmond: I'm a lifetime resident of Richmond -- lived here all my life. What's [happening] on the South Side? In the here and now, we can challenge our universities and everybody to solve the smell that comes out of the treatment plant. I go on the river, and it stinks.

I'm talking about the James River, east of I-95. And then the city already owns all that land across from Echo Harbor -- and where the Annabelle Lee used to dock. Echo Park needs a lot of help, needs a lot of love. It's not looking very pretty. And we're already talking about building parks on the north side, when we have some on the south side that we're not tending to . . . . There's a place at the Chickahominy River called River's Rest. Everybody should go down there and have dinner. It's packed all that time. Richmond is just waiting for that stuff.

Claes Tholand, Richmond: As water flows down the river and past Richmond, there's a considerable degradation in the quality of water. The fact that the city has a combined sewer and rainwater system is something that should be addressed immediately and eliminated . . . .

The Great Lock, yes, it has been cared for. But as the great treasure that it is, I think that there has to be some way to bring it into service, make it more than the parking lot that it is right now.

Dale F. Jones, Richmond: I would ask anyone on the panel if they can tell me what the historic level of the flood was on the 14th Street Bridge. I have the answer. It's an elevation above sea level of about 40 feet. I haven't heard enough discussion about the floods on the James, especially through Richmond.

Wyn Price, Richmond: We love the James River but I'm worried it's going to be loved to death. Richmond's main priorities, because of economics, are police, education, and probably repairing potholes. The James River Park has a very limited staff -- maybe four people. More people come in, more trash, even if you recycle a lot. And it's hard to get to. Even with trucks, just getting to the river to pick up the trash is hard to get to.

Ralph R. White, Richmond: We have unused resources that haven't been discussed yet this evening: Why aren't we using the rooftops that have the best views of the river? Where are the floating barges and restaurants that use the river to generate funds? And where are the signs to lead people to these, and our existing facilities?

I haven't heard this evening anyone talk or say the word "self restraint." As we develop, what about the use of muted colors? Particularly I'm talking about west of the Mayo Bridge as we do the upstream parts of the river. Appropriate vistas, appropriate vegetation management.

Rob Welch, Richmond: I am a member of the Friends of Williamsburg Park and Friends of Urban Forestry. I love [touring with] my friends and relatives who visit Richmond. They have loved every neighborhood, every building, every park and space that I have shown them. But every single time, their very favorite place in Richmond by far has been . . . It's the view of the James River looking east from Libby Hill Park that we've heard so much about tonight.

Ann McRee, Richmond: I'm a member of the Sierra Club. And I've always been concerned about the environment. And I think that some of the things that you are doing for the river are just wonderful. And I love the way that they are preserving these old historic buildings. They're renovating them and turning them into apartments and places for people to live. And I think that we could have maybe stores and all in places that are already developed. But I am not for new development. We need to preserve the old historical places along the James. And we need to preserve natural areas, natural habitat for wildlife and all.

Bill Hasting, Chesterfield: One of the hard-sell issues in Chesterfield is always regional cooperation. And a vision that I have is that perhaps enhancement of the river could be a mechanism to get better regional cooperation -- certainly with Chesterfield and the city and perhaps Henrico and the city.

Michael A. Bellone, Richmond: I want to thank Richmond for its benign neglect, which has given us the James River Park. I do not want to see any construction on or along the riverside. That would add to the degradation of the flow of waters and streams and runoffs from buildings. I think we should take it and develop what we already have.

William Daughtrey, Richmond: For every inch of rain on 1,000 square feet, you get 600 gallons of rainwater runoff. If we can capture that rainwater for irrigation, homes, and other things, it would hugely reduce the amount of rainwater that runs into the river. I'll give you an example: The Chesapeake Bay Middle School developed a rainwater harvesting system to collect 4 million gallons of water a year to use for irrigation and internal flushing of toilets.

Ruby G. Turner, Richmond: When our elected officials visit cities to view their methods and progress of governance, on their return, do they share their impressions and intentions that include envisioning, planning, and goals for the James River?

Mike Sarahan, Richmond: The James River is navigable water up to the point of the intermediate terminal. That's always something to consider because there's the federal government's interest -- and that's not here today. It was certainly here in the building of the flood wall. So any time anybody mentions how bad the flood wall looks, I try to speak up a little bit. I worked on that for 10 years when I was with the city attorney's office, on that project. And that is federal by design. That is what we got from the [Army] Corps of Engineers. And if you're changing anything, or talking about changing anything, or connecting the least little thing into the flood wall, watch out.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Master Plan . . . .I oppose the fact that with the Downtown Master Plan, there was some conscious thought somewhere that it was not going to be defined in a way to include low-income neighborhoods.

Barbara Taggart, Richmond: Developers understandably want to make money. And city authorities like to sell valuable properties to collect taxes to augment the city coffers. But who considers the people's heritage? The situation reminds us of what Chief Powhatan said to Capt. John Smith when Powhatan didn't want to sell anymore corn to the early colonists because his wise men had already told him before 1607 that foreigners were going to come to take his land way from him. Powhatan told John Smith that he did not want to sell any of his corn. He said, "I can't eat your copper, but I can eat my corn." Powhatan wasn't willing to sell his people's livelihood for a handful of money.

Later, William Byrd gave to the town of Richmond all the land around Shockoe Creek as a commons for the people's use exclusively. Now we have there some nice place for some to enjoy. I feel that some people are now willing to sell more of our region's soul. Please don't let any more land along the river become for the fortunate few only. Preserve it for everybody.

Silvestri: I just want to ask members of the panel if they had any closing comments . . . .

Ross: I just want to say thank you.

Street: I'll just say thank you so much for all your comments. I think the support is overwhelming. And so the time is right and the time is now for bold vision.

Bryant: I think I learned perhaps more than I was able to impart -- so it was a good evening for me.

Flynn: Please stay involved. This is critical to the future of our river. Thank you.

Jud White: And I would just close and say I support what George [Ross] started off talking about -- public, private partnerships. I think that's going to be our key going forward.

Silvestri: Okay. On behalf of the

Richmond Times Dispatch and inRich.com, thank you very much for coming out.