Government, Utilities Unite Against Pollution
N.Va. Clean Water Partners Seek Cleaner Potomac, Chesapeake

By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008

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.

The group gives out monthly tips on its Web site. April's focus was lawn care.

Overusing fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides on lawns and gardens causes algae growth in streams and the Chesapeake, according to the site. Some chemicals can kill aquatic life, it says.

Although spring weather invites yard work, fertilizing in the fall promotes healthier and deeper root growth for grass. Instead of fertilizing lawns, the group's site recommends leaving grass clippings to provide nutrients. It also suggests composting yard waste to create nutrient-rich soil for gardens.

Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners plans surveys to help quantify the effectiveness of the campaign. It also wants to figure out how aware Virginians are of storm water pollution and the behaviors that cause it.

Last year's survey found that after hearing the radio spot, 12 percent of respondents would be more careful with fertilizer, 9 percent would pick up after their pet more often and 9 percent said they would recycle their motor oil.

When asked what they think is the No. 1 pollutant in the Potomac and Chesapeake, more than a quarter of the respondents said trash being dumped into the river.

"The availability of clean water for drinking, washing and recreation is one of the most important services local governments provide," Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said in a statement. "Yet, polluted rivers have no boundaries."