Oversight Plan to Protect Occoquan Watershed Dies

OPINION 

MIDCO (Mid County Civic Association Of Prince William) is a citizens group whose goal is to assist residents in assessing and affecting issues that impact our community.  One of its projects is to develop recommendations for the Occoquan Reservoir Overlay Area called for in the new Environment Chapter of Prince William County’s Comprehensive Plan.  

This project was requested by Kim Hosen, a Prince William County Planning Commissioner.  The purpose of this project is to protect the Occoquan Watershed, and the water that flows into the Occoquan Reservoir.

If you live in Northern Virginia, and are holding a cup of coffee or tea as you read this column, there’s a good chance you drinking water that drained off my back yard into the Occoquan River and eventually into your cup. If you like the idea of clean, unpolluted and readily available drinking water, you probably are interested in the Occoquan Watershed and efforts to protect it.

MIDCO’s report was presented to the Planning Commission at an Occoquan Reservoir Overlay District work session on November 16, 2011.  Prince William County’s Department of Planning listened to the report, and its Board of Supervisor’s must approve before proceeding with the project.

It’s not going to happen.  

In a world of competing priorities, it was the judgment of the Board of County Supervisors not to approve further work on this project.  This may be revisited in the future.  Community feedback may certainly shuffle priorities, but for now it is dead.

For full disclosure, Prince William County’s Director of Planning Chris Price at a recent MIDCO meeting did share that several competing standards such as the Chesapeake Bay Act, and other Federal and State mandates and guidance, are already in place to protect Prince William County’s watersheds. The Occoquan Watershed Overlay District would have added protections specific to this environmentally sensitive area within Prince William County.

The Occoquan Watershed Overlay District may be dead for now, however, people don’t have to wait for the government to start improving water quality and the environment. 

Property owners may take advantage of several programs available to educate homeowners today on how to manage non-native invasive species of plants, reduce the use of chemicals and pesticides on their property, promote natural succession, conserve water via water barrels and sound water management principles, etc.

Wildlife is an indicator of a healthy environment. A healthy environment is good for water quality. Some examples of “self help” include:

– The Prince William County Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Environment and Natural Resources program offers a full range of free classes and educational materials to educate homeowners and businesses on property management best practices. Master Gardener Volunteers are available to consult with homeowners directly on a variety of issues upon request.

– The Northern Virginia Audubon Society Audubon at Home program. This volunteer group is available to consult with homeowners directly on land management best practices. It also has a Wildlife Sanctuary program to certify properties who take specific steps to make their property more environmentally friendly.

– Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) training and Habitat at Home program. VGIF provides training and education for landowners so they may manage and improve their property using best practices to attract wildlife.

If any of this has “hit home” as you take a sip of something made with water that probably ran off my driveway, there is one easy, voluntary step you may take to both improve the quality of your yard while reducing chemicals that run into the water supply.  

Ask a Prince William County Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteer to test your soil.

Call Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Horticulture Help Line at 703-792-7747 or perhaps send an email to [email protected] and ask about their BEST lawns program.  A Master Gardener Volunteer will arrange to visit your home, take a soil sample, and answer lawn care questions.  

Most people simply go to their local hardware store and buy some version of a “four step” program that is based on applying chemicals that their lawn may or may not need throughout the year, or apply pesticides that kill everything in sight including the beneficial insects.  

In the world of lawn amendments, one size does not fit all.  There is a very high probability that homeowners are over-fertilizing and perhaps missing important lawn amendments (such as lime) because they simply don’t know what the composition is of their soil.  The “extras” run off the watershed, or down into the groundwater, and perhaps into that Kool-Aid your child is drinking.