Covering Annandale, Bailey's Crossroads, Lincolnia, and Seven Corners in Fairfax County, Virginia

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

Stream restoration projects under way in Wakefield Park

Accotink Creek in Wakefield Park The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services is carrying out two stream restoration projects at Wakefield Park in Annandale.  Work along 3,700 feet in the Accotink Creek watershed area will include the installation of various in-stream structures, a pedestrian bridge crossing, and pipe culverts, as well as … Continued

Scene around A-Town: a big snapper

Snapping turtles bite. [Photo by Kristel Wilson] This large snapping turtle was sighted by Kristel Wilson by the footbridge on the Holmes Run trail near Valleycrest Drive in Annandale. She estimates it was about a foot and a-half long and at one point started chasing her with its mouth wide open. If you see it, … Continued

Volunteers form friends group for Long Branch Stream Valley

Volunteers collect trash along the Long Branch trail Oct. 18. [LBSV photos] Volunteers from several Annandale and Fairfax neighborhoods created a new group, the Friends of Long Branch Stream Valley, to maintain the trail and address erosion, water quality management, invasive species removal, and related environmental issues. The 2.75-mile Long Branch trail follows the stream … Continued

Effective, safe mosquito control requires more brains than brawn

Yard signs from mosquito control companies. [photo by Friends of Accotink Creek] By Elizabeth Kirchner A yard sign advertisement shows a muscular cartoon warrior wielding a backpack sprayer blasting a towering spear-stingered mosquito: Insecticide “fogging” to control mosquitoes in summertime backyards seems powerful and effective, but specialists—even representatives of insect-control industries, Fairfax County, and the … Continued

Fairfax County restores Wakefield Run

The newly restored Wakefield Run. The Wakefield Run restoration project is just about complete, except for some additional replanting that will be done by the contractor and volunteers. The stream is supposed to direct high water out onto the floodplain, and it has done so during a couple of rainstorms that occurred since it was … Continued

Annandale waterways overflowing after rainstorm

Thanks to Annandale Blog reader James Tuttle for sending these photos of flooding along Holmes Run on the Annandale/Falls Church border, during a break in the heavy rains that inundated the area April 30.  The water level was “higher than anyone in our family has ever seen it,” Tuttle says.

Small environmental group focusing on stream conservation makes a big splash

Wakefield Run before the restoration project started. Friends of Accotink Creek (FAC) has been named 2013 “Cooperator of the Year” by the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD). FAC is an all-volunteer organization committed to protecting and restoring water quality in a major waterway that flows through the Annandale area and drains into … Continued