Fairfax County officials said the Occoquan River Watershed is cleaner and better able to provide water to the region because of their efforts to manage growth and pollution along its tributaries and streams.
“There is no comparison” to how the watershed was 25 years ago, Fairfax County Environmental Director Kambiz Agazi said. “The data really speaks to the success we have had over the last couple of decades.”
According to a June task force report, Fairfax County officials said the system to monitor changes in the Occoquan River Watershed has hit its stride 25 years after the board voted to restrict development and require strict pollution controls in the region.
“If you were to take a look at watershed planning, there is a quite extensive framework in place,” Agazi said.
A recent update of the once heavily polluted watershed reported that a complex network of local agencies is working smoothly to decrease pollution, keep erosion at bay and preserve small swaths of protected land.
The June review found the county has met all but one of the 29 recommendations involving 10 separate agencies or departments.
“There’s been a lot of work done on the Occoquan Watershed, and I think they’re making tremendous progress,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross, D-Mason.
“We have put a lot of county resources and taxpayer dollars to these watershed studies and to our stormwaters and our upgrades to the wastewater treatment plants,” said Gross, chairwoman of the Environmental Committee.
The area has been at the center of the county’s environmental priorities since a vote to down zone in 1982 to prevent large development. A task force proposed 29 recommendations for maintaining the watershed in 2003.
Covering every angle of the task force report has proved daunting, officials said.
The one unmet recommendation — establishing a committee to evaluate special zoning permits for the district — has not been launched because of staffing limitations, Agazi said.
