An environmental panel has released a broad report on the state of Fairfax County’s environment, lauding conservation progress but drawing a grim picture of stream health.
The more-than-250-page report released this month by the Environmental Quality Advisory Council, a group appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, details an array of environmental programs and problems.
Despite the overall positive take on conservation efforts by Fairfax County officials, the report had a downbeat assessment of the county’s stream network, pointing to the detrimental effects of stormwater runoff and erosion that continue to plague local waterways.
“Only a few streams, such as Walney Creek in E.C. Lawrence Park, remain undisturbed and excellent examples of healthy streams in Fairfax County,” the report stated in a chapter on water resources.
Stella Koch, chairman of the council and that chapter’s author, said the problem stems from the cumulative impact of development and stormwater-management decisions that date back as far as 50 years. As the county grew outward and more areas were paved over, the county saw an increase in impervious surfaces, such as asphalt, that speed runoff into streams and strip the land of its natural ability to filter out pollutants.
“We’ve met the enemy, and it is imperviousness,” Koch told The Examiner on Wednesday.
Fairfax County’s recent environmental record has been mixed, said Roger Diedrich, chairman of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. He praised a program to take inventory of streams, efforts to cluster development around Metro stations and the school system’s attention to energy conservation.
But the county needs to invest more in alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle, Diedrich said. He also called the stormwater management system “woefully badly maintained.”
“Having done the [stream] inventory will help them, but they need to do more in implementing improvements,” he said.
