Charles E. Penn, Sr., the new manager of media/community relations at Dominion Virginia Power, was at Wakefield Run Stream Wednesday, July 24, taking pictures alongside Park Authority officials and Dominion colleagues at a kickoff of a restoration project to improve the tributary that feeds into Accotink Creek and the Chesapeake Bay.
"We think it’s an excellent example of a public-private partnership; one that will result in improving the water quality in Accotink Creek, helping to keep the tributary that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay clean and beautiful," wrote Penn, the manager who recently took Le-Ha Anderson's place after Anderson was promoted, in a recent email to the Connection. The groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at 10 a.m. marked the beginning of work on the Wakefield Run stream restoration project, which will restore a degraded, eroding and unstable stream to a stable condition using natural channel design methods.
The Fairfax County Park Authority approached the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District to design and install the project. Using $5,000 the Park Authority had received from the Express Lanes Project, as well as an additional to $300,000 provided by the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, the project was extended further along the creek to where a Cross County Trail bridge crosses the stream. Dominion Virginia Power has also joined this partnership and is providing $35,000 in support of the restoration project, which will now extend all the way to Accotink Creek, and underwriting the cost of the multi-use stream crossing within its easement. The crossing has also been deteriorating and was severely damaged by Tropical Storm Lee. The newly stabilized crossing will benefit hikers, runners, mountain bikers and provide needed access to service vehicles. An additional $5,000 was provided by Transurban-Fluor to support the project’s implementation. The innovative design will include meanders and gentle slopes, stabilizing and planting the banks, replacing a large rip-rapped culvert outfall with a shorter, more effective outfall, and reconstruction of the stream crossing. Other entities which make up the partnership and have contributed resources include the Braddock District Supervisor’s Office, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Friends of Accotink Creek, the Fairfax County Park Foundation, Fairfax Trails and Streams, Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) and Earth Sangha.
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