Tag: streams
You’re invited: Join a mussel rescue party
Volunteers save mussels at Accotink Creek. [FACC] By Tony Vellucci The Friends of Accotink Creek (FACC) invite you to join their party this summer – a mussel rescue party! At one time, fresh water mussels are believed to have inhabited a number of streams in Fairfax County. Today, however, the only place Accotink watershed stream … Continued
Supervisors to weigh cost of saving Lake Accotink
The dam at Lake Accotink. Is Lake Accotink such a huge asset that it should be saved regardless of the cost? If nothing is done and the lake fills up with sediment, how will that affect property values? If the lake is dredged, how will the community deal with thousands of trucks carting dirt through … Continued
New tool lets homeowners avoid park encroachment
Parkland in Mason District as shown on the new park encroachment mapping tool. The large shape in the middle is Mason District Park. If your backyard abuts on a Fairfax County park, you’re not supposed to be treating parkland as part of your own private domain. Park encroachment is a problem, as homeowners put up … Continued
Section of Holmes Run Stream Valley Trail to close for emergency sewer repair project
Holmes Run Stream Valley. [City of Alexandria] A short section of Holmes Run Stream Valley Trail will be closed, starting the week of Oct. 23, for an emergency project to repair a sanitary sewer line, the Fairfax County Park Authority reports. Depending on the level of repairs required, an approximately 1,500-foot section of trail could … Continued
Trails in Mason District Park to close for stream project
Turkeycock Run Some trails in Mason District Park will be closed for the next few months while stream restoration will be carried out on Turkeycock Run. A pedestrian bridge near the park entrance at Sleepy Hollow Road will be replaced. Surveying work could start as early as this week, said Yudhie Brownson, a construction manager with the … Continued
Water quality experts meet in Wakefield Park to study impact on Chesapeake Bay watershed
Vickie Blazer of the USGS and her assistants dissect a fish to demonstrate the history of fish health problems in the Chesapeake Bay watershed [Fairfax County] About 50 people from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency, congressional staff, and the Fairfax County Stormwater Planning Division gathered at Wakefield Park in Annandale on … Continued
New environmental group focuses on ridding streams of plastic water bottles
Trash in Accotink Creek. [TAWF] A new organization, the Northern Virginia Trash Action Work Force, invites the public to a peaceful demonstration to highlight the environmental damage caused by disposable plastic water bottles. The event, the group’s first civic action, will be May 8, 7-10 a.m., in front of the headquarters of the International Bottled … Continued
Residents discuss options on future of Lake Accotink
About 100 people attend a meeting at Kings Glen Elementary School in Springfield on the future of Lake Accotink. Members of the public heard about five options for dealing with the silt build-up in Lake Accotink, including the possibility of severely limiting the size of the lake or even transforming it into wetlands. Dozens of … Continued
New ped bridge installed in Broyhill Crest
A new pedestrian bridge was installed over a creek in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood on May 14 – just 52 days after the old decaying bridge was removed and Mason Supervisor told the community there was no money for a replacement bridge, and just 24 days after Gross reported the Park Authority found the money. … Continued
Park Authority finds money to replace pedestrian bridge
The trail between Murray Lane and Lockwood Lane where a new pedestrian bridge will be installed. Fairfax County has found the money to replace the old, unsafe pedestrian bridge it removed in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood after all, Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross informed residents. On March 23, the county removed the bridge, which crosses … Continued
Volunteers clean up Lake Accotink Park
Mountains of trash collected by volunteers at Lake Accotink. [Michael A. Richards] The Spring Cleanup at Lake Accotink Park on April 2 netted an estimated 975 pounds of trash, reports park supervisor Julie Tahan. The cleanup was one of many scheduled for Saturday at parks and streams throughout Fairfax County, including Annandale Community Park, Long … Continued
Residents just wanted pedestrian bridge fixed or replaced and now it’s gone
This is where the bridge used to be. Broyhill Crest residents have been complaining for years about a dilapidated pedestrian bridge over a small creek and urged county officials to fix or replace it. Instead, the county removed the bridge on March 23 and there are no funds for a new one. People attempting to … Continued
Scene around A-Town: Frogs!
I’ve walked along the Holmes Run Stream Valley trail several times a month for years and never saw anything like this: On Sunday, Feb. 28, a large puddle next to the trail was filled with hundreds of very loud frogs. This was on the part of the trail in Annandale near Round Tree Park. The … Continued
Fairfax County to revise master plan for Lake Accotink
The Fairfax County Park Authority is beginning the process of revising the master plan for Lake Accotink Park. A public meeting on the plan revision will be held March 14, 7 p.m., at Cardinal Forest Elementary School. Fairfax Board Chair Sharon Bulova; supervisors John Cook (Braddock), Jeff McKay (Lee), and Pat Herrity (Springfield); and members … Continued
Stream restoration project in Pinecrest Golf Course to start this month
Pinecrest Golf Course. The Fairfax County Park Authority expects to begin work in mid-February on renovating a portion of Turkeycock Run within the Pinecrest Golf Course, at 6600 Little River Turnpike in the Alexandria portion of Mason District. The project is being done to stabilize Turkeycock Run to reduce erosion and sedimentation within the watershed. … Continued