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Check out this great interactive map and find out more about your local stream conditions! The County has recently completed a highly informative interactive map that allows you to fill in your address and find out answers to questions such … Continue reading
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On Tuesday, May 17th, the Board of Supervisors voted to suspend discussions on the stream protection ordinance known as Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance (CBPO). Jim Burton had previously signaled his intent to oppose the ordinance because he felt too many … Continue reading
LCSC Ad Leesburg Today 8 April 2011
If you have seen our Ad in Leesburg Today, you may wonder ‘Exactly what IS the connection between what my family does at home, the quality of the water in county streams and the water we drink?’ and ‘Why should I show support for the draft Chesapeake Bay Ordinance?’ As far as you know, the tap water is fine with no reported problems. But there is more to the quality of your water than meets the eye and taste buds.
First consider that every drop of water you get from the tap has been on a long journey that began when it fell to the ground. Once it hits the ground or an impermeable surface such as a roof top or driveway, rain water will go one of four places: back into the air (evaporation); into the ground; along the top of the ground downhill to the nearest waterway or pond; or into gutters, storm drains or culverts and then to a stormwater pond or waterway such as a stream or river.
Next consider that water is an excellent solvent. It will pick up and carry both loose soil (sediment) and many chemicals such as the nitrogen and phosphorus compounds used in lawn and crop fertilizers. When surface water flows into creeks and streams it often carries these and many other pollutants such as bacteria from pet waste and motor oil from parking lots and driveways.
‘So what has this to do with me?’ you ask. The majority of families who get water piped into their homes are receiving water withdrawn from local reservoirs or the Potomac River which is filtered and treated before being pumped into the distribution system to your home. And this water came from where? The water draining from roofs, driveways and land to the west of your house. Right now you may be thinking either ‘Yuck – I am drinking water from someone’s lawn!’ or ‘Wow – my water company is doing a great job cleaning up the water before it gets to me’ and you would be correct in both cases.
What can be done to keep sediment and chemicals out of the water flowing into the creeks and river and keep water in County streams and the Potomac River cleaner?
‘Streamside buffers’ are one answer. Vegetated strips of land bordering waterways composed of trees, shrubs and grasses, with their miles of tiny roots hold soil in place, keep the ground permeable to water, and best of all, filter out pollutants of all kinds. These buffers work 24/7, need little maintenance, and have been shown to work very effectively at cleaning up water BEFORE it reaches streams and BEFORE it is taken out by water treatment plants. Protecting streamside buffers is a major part of the draft Chesapeake Bay Planning Ordinance (CBPO) that is currently before the Board of Supervisors for review. In spite of its title, the CBPO is first and foremost about cleaning up the water in Loudoun County streams and that is why the Stream Coalition wants your support for its approval. It is also true that cleaner streams in Loudoun County will also help clean up the water in the Potomac River and thus the water in the Chesapeake Bay.
‘Stewardship’ means that we are willing to do what we can at home, work and school, and as a County to filter out these pollutants so we can tell our neighbors downstream, ‘the muck stops here in Loudoun.’ While we are concerned first and foremost with the health of county streams and the waters they carry, the productivity of the Bay is greatly diminished due to increased amounts of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus coming in large part from suburban lawns, agricultural operations, and unfiltered runoff. With lower levels of these pollutants the Bay has a better chance of generating the seafood, income and tax revenue that we used to depend upon in Virginia and other Bay states.
Will cleaner water in the streams keep water rates down for my family?
When you pay your water bill you pay for the delivery of treated water to your home and the cost of the treatment. Dirtier water requires more time, chemicals, equipment and related costs to bring it up to water quality standards for drinking water. Therefore the cleaner the water reaching the treatment plant the less costly it is to treat and the lower the water rates that you pay.
So in a nutshell: Rain falls. Rain flows to streams. Streamside buffers help clean up pollution picked up by rainwater. Cleaner water flows in streams to reservoirs and the Potomac River. Cleaner water means less time and money to provide drinking water and water rates remain lower. The Bay is cleaner, more productive and generates more tax revenue which benefits ALL citizens in Virginia.
We hope that this has helped you to understand how this issue affects you, your family, and in fact all of us here in Loudoun County. We all have a stake in ensuring clean water. We all drink the water and you can help keep it cleaner.
Please take a moment to read the posts on this website that explain:
Join Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and its partners on a habitat restoration project that will also help to clean our streams! Continue reading
Arsenic and rocket fuel in our water. Gender-altering hormones and medications in our rivers and streams. PCBs, dioxins and pesticides in breast milk. Lead in children’s toys and women’s lipstick. Hazardous ingredients in air fresheners, development disrupting chemicals in plastic baby bottles and dangerous fumes from vinyl shower curtains. Our world is awash in chemicals and pollutants that pose health risks to our families, our communities and our environment.
A healthy environment should not be a luxury, yet our homes and communities are increasingly contaminated by chemicals and fumes from countless everyday objects. Rapidly accumulating scientific evidence suggests many of these chemicals and fumes are not innocuous, and some are absolutely hazardous. This is more than an environmental issue-this is also a health and justice issue.
Many common chemicals and pollutants have already been linked to rising rates of asthma, cancer and heart conditions. And, as technology advances, new products are developed almost daily. It is our responsibility-and in our best interest-to ensure these new products are safe for our families, our communities and our environment. We work with local and national groups to pursue environmental justice by holding polluters accountable and engaging elected officials. Together, we present a strong, unified voice for environmental justice in communities and neighborhoods across the United States.
Collectively, our actions will help guarantee a healthier future for our families and our communities. To reach this goal of a healthier tomorrow, we must:
The following article was submitted by Joe Coleman, President of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
For over a year now, Loudoun County has been working on an ordinance to protect our streams by preserving vegetated streamside buffers. Vegetated streamside buffers, or riparian buffers as they are also known, are strips of grass, shrubs, and ideally trees and shrubs along the banks of rivers and streams. They serve as a buffer between our uses of the land and the water itself, and are the last line of defense for water quality. To understand how a buffer works imagine drinking a cup of coffee made without a filter or Continue reading
Every two years the State publishes a report listing Virginia streams and other water bodies which do not meet national water quality standards. A stream does not meet standards when it fails to be suitable for the six uses designated for surface waters:
Blue stone sacrifice area with green pasture and stream in distance
While Loudoun County is deciding whether riparian buffers make sense for our citizens, others in the Commonwealth have been able to put into practice what is being preached by ordinances designed to utilize Mother Nature to filter runoff before it enters our streams.
One such example can be found in Prince William County. The Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District together with Oakwood Farm have developed a cooperative model “Chesapeake Bay-Friendly Horse Farm”. Continue reading
Here’s a video from the US Geological Survey about the nearby Patapsco River watershed in Maryland, and how the communities around the stream work together to understand stream biology, how residential development impacts a stream, and the actions we can all take to preserve and restore our streams.
The Benefits of Streamside Vegetation
1. Woody vegetation and tall grasses along streambanks shade the water, helping to maintain cooler water temperatures many aquatic organisms require to survive.
2. Native plants provide food and cover for wildlife. Nesting, breeding, and roosting sites are common in riparian areas.
3. The roots of trees and shrubs not only stabilize stream banks, thus preventing erosion and stream bank failure; they also take up excess nutrients entering the stream from the surrounding lands. This root material also slows the velocity of a flooding stream thereby decreasing damage and allowing greater groundwater infiltration.
4. Fallen leaves and other plant debris provide food and shelter for many organisms.
Taken from The Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s Restoration Program,September 2003.
Fact: The key word to remember is “perennial.” Any water body, stream, ditch, or lake which has perennial or year-round flow through it, is to have 100 feet of protected area on either side called the Resource Protection Area (RPA). CBPO, Section 1222.05 (b). Most people know if their property has a stream or ditch with year-round flow in it. Continue reading
