FAIRFAX WATER OUTREACH PROGRAM GRANT-Friends of Accotink Creek-2016

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1 Brief description and history: Founded in 2005, the Friends of Accotink Creek (FACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring, promoting, and protecting the Accotink Creek watershed. Our motto is "Find just one other person who cares" and we partner with volunteers, communities, schools, businesses, NGOs, and government entities on watershed-related projects including educational activities, stream monitoring and restoration, invasive plant removal, stormwater runoff, native habitat, stream cleanups and community outreach in the Accotink watershed and beyond. Active Projects/Programs: Community Outreach: We speak at local workshops and through social media ( accotink.org, meetup.com/accotink and facebook.com/accotinkcreek) to raise watershed awareness and inspire others to protect and champion critical and intertwined ecosystems: water, plants, animals, and people. Community Projects: We support school programs, volunteer workdays, and scout projects within the watershed. Invasive Removal: We lead weekly invasive removal projects within the watershed to remove noxious invasive plants and restore habitat. Native Plant Rescues and Habitat Restoration: We lead native plant rescues and plantings to protect and enhance native habitat. Partnerships: We work with the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA), the Fairfax County Restoration Project (FCRP), the Friends of Long Branch Sream Valley (FLBSV), the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD) and many others on watershed initiatives. Stormwater Issues: We promote actions to reduce stormwater runoff, and monitor and report stormwater issues affecting the watershed. Stream Cleanups: We partner with the Alice Ferguson Foundation and Clean Virginia Waterways on large cleanups in spring and fall. Stream Monitoring: We lead regular stream monitoring events, and facilitate citizen science monitoring biological and chemical water quality. Recent Awards: Fairfax County Park Authority s Elly Doyle Park Service Award "...for their extraordinary contributions to our environment and public park system (2015). Environmental Quality Advisory Council s Fairfax County Environmental Excellence Award for their work to "benefit the environment and support county environmental initiatives (2015). Alice Ferguson Foundation s Potomac Champion Award "...in recognition of our long-time participation in the yearly Potomac Watershed Cleanup" (2014). Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District s Cooperator of the Year for working "...in partnership with the district to protect and conserve natural resources in Fairfax County (2013). Page 1! of 7!

2 The Friends of Accotink Creek have worked closely with Jeanette Stewart and her organization Lands and Waters (LW) over the years, providing volunteer labor, educators, and expertise to support Lands and Waters initiatives. We are enormously appreciative of Jeanette Stewart s knowledge, experience and dedication, her work to inspire, educate, and engage students and communities in the Accotink Watershed and beyond, and her remarkable achievements in conserving and restoring native habitat, and creating innovative storm-water management projects. Our missions are very closely aligned! FACC has been a strong partner on previous Follow the Water programs at Daniels Run Elementary and Fairfax High School which were funded by Fairfax Water, and we are grateful of the opportunity to continue this partnership with the Little Run Elementary project. This year we offered to take the lead, bringing Jeanette in as a contractor to lead the educational component. This allows Jeanette more time to work with the students and her conservation efforts, while providing FACC the opportunity to take a more active role in continuing and strengthening the Follow the Water initiative. Project Information: FACC will partner with Lands and Waters to develop and implement a new watershed engagement program at Little Run Elementary School (4511 Olley Ln, Fairfax, VA 22032), leading 6 Follow the Water educational sessions with both 6th-grade classes at LRE, reaching students. 7 Watershed outreach activities including workdays, workshops, and watershed walks with partners, with the core goal of developing and promoting a watershed engagement model that reaches a broad network of watershed educators and community partners. Little Run Elementary is adjacent to Long Branch, a tributary of Accotink Creek. The main theme will be How can we help our watershed?, with a strong emphasis on water quality, human impacts, healthy habitat and watersheds, and conservation. The core goal will be to strengthen community engagement on watershed issues, using the Follow the Water program at LRE as an experiential learning tool for students, educators, community groups and organizations. Traditionally, Lands and Waters Follow the Water program has targeted schools and students directly, recruiting volunteers and community partners to support the educational activities. In addition, this project will reach a broader community, by leading educational workshops and activities. These will provide the provide participants the experience and resources to take active roles in supporting and initiating similar programs in their schools and communities. Page 2! of 7!

3 Both FACC and Lands and Waters have extensive experience leading outreach and engagement programs and activities, and we receive many more requests to bring our programs to new schools and communities than we can handle. This grant will take the innovative step of promoting community leadership and engagement in local watersheds by using the Little Run Elementary project as a hands-on educational activity not just for students, but also for educators, neighbors, community and Friends groups by including them in our process of creating and implementing a Follow the Water program. Educational Component: Follow the Water Program with 2 Little Run Elementary 6th grade classes: Stream Monitoring (2 sessions per class): Students learn about water quality and watershed health by participating in stream monitoring activities - chemical testing and macroinvertebrate ID. Stream Monitoring Data Analysis (1 session per class): Students will use the information they collected during the stream monitoring activities to calculate the health of Long Branch. Human Impact - A Changing Watershed (1 session per class): Students will use historic aerial images from the last 60 years to learn about how their school campus land has been affected by human impact, and how this affects the watershed. Schoolyard campus tour (1 session per class): Students will develop a watershed map of their school, identifying pervious and impervious areas, stormwater runoff issues, learn about LID practices, and identify a conservation project area to address a stormwater runoff issue. Conservation Project (1 session per class): Students will plant native plants in the area they identified to reduce stormwater and runoff and sediment pollution while creating schoolyard native habitat. Page 3! of 7!

4 Outreach Component: Watershed Outreach Activities: Schoolyard Conservation Workshops (3 sessions): Participants will learn how to identify, implement, and support schoolyard conservation projects, learning about stormwater issues, native habitat creation and maintenance, and the educational and environmental value of these projects. Each session will include a campus tour and a significant hands-on learning component - a workday supporting the student conservation project, or other watershed-beneficial activities such as stream cleanups and invasive plant removal. The goal will be to promote community engagement in the form of hands-on activities that support student conservation activities. Watershed Awareness Workshops (2 sessions): FACC will work with partners including the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS), Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD), Friends of Long Branch Stream Valley (FLBSV), and the Fairfax Conservation Restoration Project (FCRP) to lead Watershed Walks along Long Branch, covering topics including habitat, native and invasive plants, human impact, nature exploration, and community leadership. The goal will be to foster community engagement on and awareness of watershed issues, while promoting collaboration and leadership among our partners. Watershed Educator Activities (2 sessions): FACC will work with partners including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fairfax Water, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), and NVSWCD to plan and implement workshop activities that promote and support the educational resources and opportunities available to communities and educators. The goal will be to empower participants to take a more active role in creating and supporting watershed-related activities in their schools and communities, while promoting the role that FACC and our partners play in watershed outreach, education and engagement. Project Schedule and Timeframe: October-December 2016: Follow the Water - 6 educational sessions with first 6th grade class. 1 conservation workshop. 1 Watershed walk. 1 Watershed educator workshop. April-June 2017: Follow the Water - 6 educational sessions with second 6th grade class. 2 conservation workshops. 1 Watershed walk. 1 Watershed educator workshop. Page 4! of 7!

5 Additional Project Information: How Fairfax Water grant funds or services will be used on project: Fairfax Water grant funds will be primarily used to cover the Friends of Accotink Creek s time on the project planning and leading educational and outreach activities in connection with the grant. Jeanette Stewart (Lands and Waters) will lead the Follow the Water program, and Kris Unger (Friends of Accotink Creek) will lead the watershed outreach program. Some funds will be used to buy native plants for the conservation project. The match will be provided in the form of donated time by contractors and volunteers. We anticipate significant additional matching donations in the form of resources and volunteers provided by partners during the project. Key Players: Kris Unger is the Primary Conservator of the Friends of Accotink Creek, a founding board member of the Fairfax County Restoration Project, and has been active with the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club's Inspiring Connections Outdoors program since 2002 as a volunteer, trip leader, and (former) Chair. He works with Lands and Waters on schoolbased environmental education and restoration projects, and is dedicated to building community awareness of, and engagement in, local environmental issues and naturebased solutions. He is particularly fascinated with vernal pool ecosystems. Jeanette Stewart, founder and president of Lands and Waters. Accomplishments include project director for the first installation of a retrofitted green roof in the metro area, project director for the first constructed wetland in a Fairfax County schoolyard, and the publication of several books used in school programs to integrate Standards of Learning (SOLs) with hands-on activities. Her passion is creating engaging educational programs linked with conservation/restoration projects created by students on school grounds and public parks. Many of her programs and projects focus on water quality issues and the implementation of Low Impact Development techniques that address the reduction of stormwater runoff while increasing wildlife habitat and native biodiversity. George Kralovec is currently the resident engineer at Little Run Elementary School, serving as a volunteer retired aeronautical and astronautical engineer with the American Association of Science (AAAS) STEM Senior Scientist and Engineer program. George is in his fourth year in the AAAS program to assist science teachers in Fairfax County schools after retiring from a 46-year career in Marine aviation and the aerospace industry. A recipient of professional certificates in Modeling and Simulation and Sustainability, George has conducted extensive research into ecosystems with a focus on urban watersheds. As a participant in a 2013 collaborative month long workshop sponsored by the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), George completed extensive research, analysis and a report on the Environmental Protection Agency s Page 5! of 7!

6 controversial Accotink Creek TMDL. As a property owner along Long Branch Creek in Fairfax County since 1978 and a continuous resident of the county since 1986, George is particularly excited to have found at Little Run Elementary a school principal and teacher who are as enthused as he is in helping students and the community understand the value and importance of citizens working to maintain healthy urban watersheds in our great county. Justification: Both components of this program directly support and relate to Fairfax Water s goal of promoting watershed awareness and engagement. The Follow the Water educational program has proven highly effective at engaging and inspiring students and schools to learn about their local watershed and water quality issues, and the conservation project serves the dual purpose of providing hands-on education while also having a tangible impact on the local watershed. The outreach component of this grant will reach a broader audience of citizens and groups at various stages of awareness and engagement on local watershed issues, initiating and/or enhancing their understanding of and participation in water and watershed-related issues and activities. Sustainability: Both Friends of Accotink Creek and Lands and Waters are very familiar with the challenges of maintaining and sustaining conservation and education programs, and the Follow the Water program has been designed with sustainability in mind. Fairfax High School and Daniels Run Elementary are good examples of successful Follow the Water initiatives: teachers at both schools are active leaders in continuing and building on watershed-based programming initiated by Lands and Waters. Little Run Elementary was selected for this project because we found a strong active leader core at the school. Misty Clatterbuck, the Gifted Education/Science Resource teacher, was already working with George Kralovec to design and implement science-based environmental program. During visits to the school (including volunteering on stream monitoring activities with students), we found that the school was very receptive to partnering with us to enhance their environmental education programming. We also found strong interest in participating from our tributary organization, the Friends of Long Branch Stream Valley (the stream adjacent to the school). From experience, a core team that shows willingness and initiative is essential to building viable and sustainable programs, which is always our long-term goal. The outreach component will bring in a strong core of partners and participants to continue and expand on watershed-related environmental programming and activities at Little Run Elementary and the adjacent Long Branch watershed. FACC has excellent working relationships with the partners referenced in this grant, and we fully appreciate the importance of collaborative initiatives like this project for strengthening existing Page 6! of 7!

7 relationships and building new ones. The hands-on component of projects like this one, recruiting partners and volunteers to support educational and outreach activities, nurtures productive long-term relationships by encouraging participants to learn by doing and to contribute their time, skills, and resources in meaningful ways. As a primarily volunteer-based organization, FACC always works to inspire and encourage watershed champions who are willing to take an active role in work to promote, protect, and restore their local watershed. We recognize that the dedication and initiative of these groups and individuals is fundamental to building sustained engagement on watershed issues - community is key! Sustainability requires finding a balance between providing enough structure to ensure that tasks and commitments are accomplished well, and supporting an open and inclusive environment that encourages meaningful participation, providing volunteers the experience to continue and build on our work. Quantifiable Results: Approximately 55 students (two 6th grade classes) will participate in the 6 planned sessions of educational programming, and the stream monitoring results will be reported to the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, Friends of Accotink, and Northern Regional Office of VA Department of Environmental Quality. The conservation project will cover an estimate 500 square feet, planting 50 native trees reduce erosion and stormwater runoff. The 7 watershed outreach activities are expected to reach participants each, participants in total, and will be promoted on FACC s social media, including our newsletter, Facebook, and Meet-up page. Project partners will be encouraged to share events and information with their respective networks, as well as recruit for participants. Volunteer activities have proven particularly effective in getting strong turnout from FCPS students requiring volunteer hours. Outreach activities will include sign-up sheets, to track participation. While metrics are essential to evaluating projects like this, FACC prioritizes quality over quantity. This Follow the Water program is designed to provide in-depth learning experiences for Little Run Elementary s 6th-grade students, rather than reaching more classes with more cursory activities. Similarly, the outreach activities will be designed to provide quality experiences for participants, rather than reaching as many people as possible. Some activities like stream clean-ups are better-suited to accommodate lots of people, and others (like restoration plantings) require good oversight and direction, and a smaller volunteer team to ensure that things are done well. FACC will work with our partners to plan and implement activities that are appropriate to the project while providing meaningful engagement for all participants. Page 7! of 7!