APPENDIX C PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT MINUTES C-1 Advisory Committee Meetings C-2 Public Meetings C-1 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK C-2 C-1 Advisory Committee Meetings C-3 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK C-4 Cameron Run Advisory Committee Meeting John Marshall Library, Alexandria, Virginia November 20, 2003 Advisory Committee Members in Attendance: Diane Davidson, Lake Barcroft Association Don Demetrius, Fairfax County Stormwater Division Susan Ellicott, Huntington Community Association Phyllis Evans, Huntington Community Association Robert Glass, Braddock District Supervisor’s Office Bill Hicks, Northern Virginia Regional Commission Bob Jordan, Fairfax Trails and Streams/Potomac River Greenways Coalition George Madill, Bren Mar Civic Association Mack Rhoades, President, Huntington Community Association Harry Shepler, Huntington Community Association Kevin Shunk, City of Alexandria Michael Wing, Supervisor Connolly/Providence District Project Team Staff in Attendance: Dipmani Kumar, Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) Amanda Peyton, Horne Engineering Services, Inc. Fred Rose, Fairfax County DPWES Nancy Roth, Versar, Inc. Jennifer Shore, Versar, Inc. Mark Southerland, Versar, Inc. The Cameron Run Watershed Plan: The Cameron Run watershed has experienced environmental degradation, mostly due to urbanization. A planning process initiated by Fairfax County is underway to improve the quality of the creek and its watershed. The Cameron Run Advisory Committee advises the Cameron Run Watershed Plan project team. Versar, Inc., prepares watershed plan drafts and engineering studies. Versar, Inc., and Horne Engineering Services, Inc. serve as facilitators for the public meetings. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/watersheds “The opinions represented herein do not necessarily represent those of Fairfax County or its agents.” Cameron Run Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 1 November 20, 2003 Meeting Purpose: Attendees of the meeting were individuals invited by project team staff to serve on the Cameron Run Advisory Committee. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the Cameron Run Watershed and discuss the overall watershed planning process. The overall goal of the Advisory Committee is to help Fairfax County develop a watershed management plan for Cameron Run that incorporates community interests in the evaluation and implementation of solutions for protecting and restoring the streams and other natural resources of the watershed. This process is also being implemented in other watersheds in Fairfax County, providing a consistent basis for watershed decision-making Key Decisions and Outcomes: . Advisory Committee Meetings will be held: Once per month At different locations within the watershed On an alternating Tuesday-Thursday schedule All meetings will be at 7:00 PM. The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held on December 16, 2003 at 7:00 PM. A meeting location and agenda will be sent prior to the meeting. The next meeting will include a brief primer on watershed concepts and how streams become degraded. Action Items: . Project staff will prepare a brief primer on watershed concepts and how streams become degraded for presentation at the next meeting. Project staff will search for information on projects identified by committee members as concerns in the watershed and will present findings to the Advisory Committee. Committee members will identify other individuals or groups that should be invited to participate in the Advisory Committee. Committee members will prepare general thoughts about issues to be addressed by the Cameron Run Watershed Management Plan, for discussion at the next meeting. Meeting Discussion: Mr. Rose of DPWES welcomed attendees to this initial meeting of the Cameron Run Advisory Committee. It was emphasized that this committee will assist the County in the development of the Cameron Run Watershed Management Plan. Through this committee, Fairfax County and the Cameron Run Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 2 November 20, 2003 community will form a partnership that will result in a plan that is not only good for the environment, but good for the community as well. Mr. Kumar of DPWES gave attendees an overview and status of the county watershed planning process. Fairfax County has 30 designated watersheds, or natural drainage areas. The stream networks within these watersheds were assessed during a recently completed (October, 2003) countywide study. The assessment considered habitat and geomorphic conditions and inventoried problems such as deficient stream buffers and accelerated in-stream erosion as indicators of problems facing watersheds within Fairfax County. Of the 30 watersheds within Fairfax County, six have initiated the planning process: Cub Run, Bull Run, Popes Head Creek, Difficult Run, Cameron Run, and Little Hunting Creek. Ms. Shore of Versar, Inc. initiated an introduction session between committee and project staff members. Ms. Roth, also of Versar, presented an overview of the Cameron Run watershed and an introduction to the watershed planning process. The presentation covered the following topics: . Background information about Fairfax County watersheds . Steps for creating a Watershed Management Plan . A “Visual Tour” of the Cameron Run watershed . Public involvement in watershed planning process A watershed is an area of land that drains either directly, or through tributary streams into a particular river or water body. Fairfax County has designated 10 watersheds, representing 60% of the area in the county, as Phase I watersheds where planning has begun or will be initiated soon, including Cameron Run. Cameron Run, one of the largest watersheds in the county, measures a total of 44 square miles (33 square miles in Fairfax County) and includes several tributary systems (Holmes Run, Tripps Run, Lake Barcroft, Backlick Run, Indian Run, Turkeycock Run, and Pike Branch). A watershed plan is a tool that uses available watershed data to assess and manage the watershed. These plans provide goals and objectives for achieving management actions and recommending actions to prevent further watershed problems. In addition, these plans provide a benchmark against which the County can measure the progress of watershed solutions in the future. Fairfax County is undertaking development of Watershed Management Plans because 70% of the streams within the County are either in fair or poor condition as characterized by biological indicators (as assessed in the County’s Stream Protection Strategy baseline survey). Development of a plan will help Fairfax County meet Federal and State water quality standards, and help Virginia meet commitments in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. Plans currently used by the County are outdated and do not take advantage of available stormwater management technology. Finally, a management plan will ensure that a comprehensive approach is taken to address regulations, commitments, and community needs. Cameron Run Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 3 November 20, 2003 Cameron Run has a long history of urbanization with many impervious areas that create a large stormwater problem for the watershed area. Within the watershed area, two streams are located on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of impaired waters. Under Section 303(d) of the 1972 Clean Water Act, states, territories, and authorized tribes are required to develop lists of impaired waters that do not meet established water quality standards even after point sources of pollution (e.g., water treatment plants) have installed the minimum required levels of pollution control technology. The law requires that these jurisdictions establish priority rankings for waters on the 303(d) list and develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for these waters. A TMDL specifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive and still meet water quality standards, and allocates pollutant loadings among point and nonpoint (e.g., fertilizer runoff from yards) pollutant sources (Environmental Protection Agency 2003). The Cameron Run watershed comprises primarily residential land uses with few patches of forest. Urbanization has resulted in substantial physical impacts to the watershed including, but not limited to, erosion, flooding, and stream channel alteration. The County’s 2001 Stream Protection Strategy report listed Cameron Run as a Watershed Restoration Level II watershed. A Restoration Level II watershed is a watershed that is characterized by high development density, significantly degraded in-stream habitat conditions, and substantially degraded biological communities (DPWES 2001). A watershed management plan for Cameron Run will be designed to prevent further degradation to the watershed, improve water quality to meet Chesapeake Bay Program standards, as well as standards set by Federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Ms. Roth next explained why Fairfax County is interested in engaging the community during the development of the Cameron Run Watershed Management Plan. Community feedback will aid the County in pinpointing local problems (e.g., flooding or erosion) and then helping to facilitate solutions for those problems. Through the plan development process, the community as a whole will become more educated about the watershed and will be able to make more informed decisions. These decisions will ensure that the final management plan is effective in meeting water quality standards mentioned above,