Rapid development that has torn through the eastern part of Fairfax County in the past few decades has inflicted a beating on Cameron Run. The stream, which runs from Falls Church all the way to Alexandria and into the Potomac is surrounded on all sides by pavement and cement, which flushes rainwater into the stream and erodes its banks.
"It's in pretty bad shape," said Bob Jordan, who lives about a mile outside the watershed. "All of the streams in the eastern part of the county are in pretty bad shape."
Now Fairfax County officials are trying to give Cameron Run and other streams like it a facelift. The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services is putting together a plan to clean up Cameron Run with the help of a citizens' committee — on which Jordan serves — and several consultants. The Cameron Run planning process is part of a larger county effort to produce cleanup plans for all 30 of the county's watersheds. The idea is that it will be easier to secure funds from the Board of Supervisors once ecologists know what needs to be done.
"We'll develop a plan and we'll have projects that should be implemented," said Gayle England, an ecologist with the public works department. Projects range from the relatively simple — Earth Day litter pickups for example — to the more costly, such as retrofitting streambanks to prevent erosion.
"The utility of a plan like this is it tells you where you get the most bang for your buck," said Mark Southerland, an ecologist with Versar, a Maryland-based contractor hired by the county to help with the plan.
A big part of that plan, England said, is centered on public involvement. On June 17, the county will host a meeting at the Mason District Government Center for citizens to offer suggestions about what should be done with the stream.
WHEN WATERSHEDS are paved over, stormwater that used to seep through the ground, rushes off the pavement and straight into the stream. The water flows into the stream much faster and at a much higher temperature than it would if it had been filtered through the ground. As a result, stream banks erode and basements flood.
"One way to counteract that is to basically put concrete down but what that does is it transfers the problem downstream," said Southerland. "Falls Church is heavily developed and has a lot of concrete which gets it out of their area but puts it right down [further on]," he said.
England said many of the stream's problems originated when the area was first developed.
"There are some areas that were built in the older days with little to no stormwater controls," said England.
The June 17 meeting is the first of several public meetings that will help shape the plan. The county will finalize its recommendations for Cameron Run in about a year and then go about trying to implement them.
"We're inviting all the public that works, plays and lives in Cameron Run to come in and tell us what they think the issues are and what they would like to see happen to Cameron Run," she said.