Arlington Fairfax Chapter

of the

Izaak Walton League of America

Watershed Conservation Activities


About Us Our Watershed Projects Volunteer Project Results Past Events Adopt-A-Highway

We All Need Clean Water

Female Mallard and her ducklings in the water Little Green Heron perched beside a floating plastic cup Small turtle swimming by a discarded plastic water bottle.

Just about every piece of trash that turns up in waterway does so because of the deliberate action of an individual who discards the item for the sake of convenience or to save the cost of disposal. Plastics are the litter that we most often encounter and although modern polymers are chemically inert, they are not necessarily harmless to the environment. All too often wildlife mistake floating plastic fragments for food.

Every watershed cleanup of trash creates an opportunity to find illegally dumped bottles, cans and drums that contain toxic or environmentally harmful substances so that they can be disposed of properly before they leak or break open. This unfortunately occurs all too frequently. Some examples of this are listed on this page .

Most Recent Events

Cub Run - May 30th. John Sunda transporting the collected trash in his canoe

Sunday June 7th, 56 volunteers participated in the shoreline cleanup of trash at Mason Neck State Park as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's "Clean the Bay Day".

Saturday June 6th, Nestlé Waters North America donated 7 cases of 0.5 litre bottles of Deer Park ® Brand Water to the Chapter to distribute to our volunteers at the our Watershed Cleanup Events.

Saturday May 30th , 5 Volunteers removed 171 pounds of flood borne debris from the banks of Cub Run at our first scheduled Adopt A Stream Cleanup there.

Sunday May 3rd , 19 volunteers filled 22 bags with trash from the flood plain of Bull Run as part of the Stewardship Virginia initiative.

Photo Album

An unusual item found during a cleanup

Volunteer Opportunities

For directions or more details on the following events please call Colin Riley at 703-200-3994 or send an email to fairfaxwatershed at yahoo.com.

Adopt a Stream - Bull Run

The Chapter has adopted the section of Bull Run, one mile upstream and one mile downstream of the Route 28 Access Point. A major tributary of the Occoquan Reservoir, Bull Run is subject to a substantial amount of recreational use. In 2008, the Chapter removed more than a ton of trash from the stream including 43 tires.

The next scheduled Adopt A Stream Clean up of Bull Run will be on Saturday August 1, 2009 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.

Adopt a Stream - Cub Run

In May of 2008, the Chapter adopted a 0.71 mile section of the Cub Run extending from the Compton Road crossing of Cub Run upstream to the confluence of Rocky Run.

The next scheduled Adopt A Stream Clean up of Cub Run will be on Sunday July 5, 2009 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.

Shoreline Cleanup of Mason Neck State Park

Located on Belmont Bay near the confluence of the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers, Mason Neck State Park is home to a diverse array of wildlife including the American Bald Eagle. Unfortunately trash from area roads in the Occoquan watershed is constantly being washed ashore.
The Arlington Fairfax Chapter conducts about four shoreline cleanups a year in order to help maintain the quality of the habitat as well as the recreational value of the park.

As part of the Annual "Virginia Waterways Cleanup" , our next scheduled event at Mason Neck State Park will be on Saturday October 3, 2009 from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm.

Other forms of Nonpoint Pollution

Over the past few decades, the water quality of many rivers and bays has been improved by the elimination or control of point source discharges of sewage and industrial effluents. Unfortunately these gains have been offset at least in part by the increase in housing densities in many watershed areas and the resulting increase in the effects of so called non point source pollution.

Of particular concern in the Chesapeake Bay is nutrient pollution caused by increased flows of nitrates and phosphates contained in freshwater flowing into the Bay and its impact on Fisheries.

Links to Area Watershed Groups

Main Website of the Arlington Fairfax Chapter, Inc., Izaak Walton League of America

Arlington Fairfax Chapter, Inc.   P.O. Box 366   Centreville, VA 20122-0366


1. NVRPA - Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority