A new study shows that Virginia has the second dirtiest waterways in the entire country.

Dr. Lundy Pentz, a biology professor at Mary Baldwin College, knows the area's water quality well, because he has been studying it for the last 26 years.

Pentz says, "We've got more and more runoff and pollution from vehicles, oil spills, more sewage in the streams."

He says the worsening water quality in the Valley, specifically Lewis and Christians creeks, present health problems to area residents.

Pentz adds, "Nobody really knows where most of this water moves. When sewage goes into the ground in one place, it can come out quite a distance away, and ultimately we are all drinking some of that ground water."

Don Kain is the Water and Assessment Program Manager with the Department of Environmental Quality in Harrisonburg. He paints a more optimistic picture of the state's waterways.

Kain says, "I would say I am surprised because I think we have good water quality in Virginia. We have some excellent water quality."

However, Kain says the Valley does have problem areas.

He adds, "We have a lot of development here. We have wastewater treatment plants and they discharge nutrients."

Kain also says the agriculture base of the area presents a problem with fertilizer runoff.

He explains, "A lot of improvements have been made in those areas. However, those are the predominant issues here in the Valley."

Kain says wet periods like Wednesday and Thursday do not help the situation.

He says, when there is the more stormwater runoff, there is more bacteria into the waterways.