Government, Utilities Unite Against Pollution

N.Va. Clean Water Partners Seek Cleaner Potomac, Chesapeake

A newly named group of local governments and utilities called the Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners has launched an effort to educate the public about how to prevent water pollution.

Anything that flows from neighborhood lawns, sidewalks and streets -- including fertilizer and dog waste -- can make its way into storm drains and waterways, according to the group.

The group includes the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church; and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg and Vienna. Other members of the partnership are Fairfax Water, Loudoun Water, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Coastal Zone Management Program.

For four years, the group has tried to convince Virginians that the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay are threatened by common materials carried to them every time it rains. Now the governments and utilities are operating as Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners.

"We were a no-name collaborative effort, an unframed group working together," said Laura Grape, the senior environmental planner for the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. "This provides a unified voice. It really identifies the region and participants and our goal: a partnership for clean water."

Each spring, when Virginians begin tending to their yards and spending more time outdoors, the group launches a campaign to remind residents that they can reduce the amount of polluted storm water reaching waterways.

"We are consistently surprised about the general awareness of the watershed concept by people in the region," Grape said.

What locals might not know is that polluted storm water is the No. 1 cause of unhealthy water in streams and rivers throughout Northern Virginia, according to the organization.

In conjunction with the regional commission, the partnership has created a 60-second radio spot featuring a tough-talking storm drain to get its message out. This year's theme: "Only Rain Down the Storm Drain."

The partnership's Web site, http://www.onlyrain.org, offers information on how people can change their behavior.

For the uninitiated, here's how storm drains work: During rainstorms, a series of pipes moves water from roadways and parking lots to a nearby waterway, reducing the chance of flooding. That water does not go to a treatment plant. It goes straight into streams, rivers and ponds.

People can reduce the amount of pollution reaching waterways by doing simple things. They include putting pet waste in the trash or down the toilet and taking used motor oil to gas stations and auto repair shops, which often are willing to recycle it.