It's Almost Pogonia Season!
Small whorled pogonia
(Isotria medeoloides)
Summer is on its way and Wetland Studies and Solutions is gearing up for another season of small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides) surveys. If your Virginia or North Carolina project sites host mature hardwood forest with an open understory, you can minimize impacts to your project schedule by having Wetland Studies and Solutions perform a small whorled pogonia habitat evaluation or survey early in the development process.
SAVe Yourself A Headache
Water stargrass (Heteranthera dubia)
The recommended survey windows are approaching for submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). If you are working on a project that impacts tidal waters – such as boat piers, docks, marinas, or channel dredging – you are likely required to document the presence or absence of SAV on your project site to determine whether compensatory mitigation is required. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office recommends two windows for conducting field surveys: May 15 through June 15, and July 15 through September 15. These two windows allow surveyors to locate different species that may only be present during these timeframes.
Managing Road Salt to Improve Water Quality
Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the Accotink Creek Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for chloride in May 2018, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has continued to develop and define their Salt Management Strategy (SaMS) to reduce water quality issues caused by the road salt (chloride) that helps keep our roads drivable during winter months. This largely non-regulatory strategy serves both as a broad framework for implementing the Accotink Creek TMDL and a means for educating stakeholders across Northern Virginia about best management practices in salt application. Read our August 2018 Field Notes article to learn more about the chloride and sediment TMDLs for Accotink Creek.
Road salt is impacting Accotink Creek’s water quality
Save the Date: MAC-IECA Roadshow at WSSI’s Gainesville Office
Environmental Regulatory Updates and LIDOn May 23, Wetland Studies and Solutions will host the 2019 MAC-IECA Roadshow at our Gainesville, Virginia headquarters. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association (MAC-IECA) is sponsoring this event to promote continuity across the industry in understanding and implementing stormwater management Best Management Practices (BMPs) to meet permit requirements.
Join us to learn about the 2019 VPDES Permit
9th Annual Reston Kids' Trout Fishing Day Recap
One of the successful anglers
On March 23, 160 kids and their families visited Snakeden Branch in Reston for the 9th Annual Reston Kids’ Trout Fishing Day. They caught around 100 fish this year, ranging from 10 to 17 inches long! This event offered a unique opportunity for kids to experience the outdoors and learn about our local natural resources as they fished a section of the stream that Wetland Studies and Solutions restored in 2009 as part of the Northern Virginia Stream Restoration Bank.