Strathmore Development in Nokesville

The Planning Department has recommended approval of Strathmore, a request to rezone ±55.5 acres from A-1, Agricultural, to PMR, Planned Mixed Residential. The planned mixed development will be for up to 168 residential dwelling units, consisting of single-family detached and townhomes, and with associated development waivers and modifications. The project area is located on the north side of Vint Hill Road, on the west side of Pioneer Drive, and northwest of the intersection of Pioneer Drive and Vint Hill Road. The immediately adjoining properties to the north, east and west of the subject property are zoned A-1, Agricultural, and also designated RN-2, Residential Neighborhood.

I was asked by a neighbor of the development if their well might be impacted. This one development is unlikely to have specific impact; however, a significant portion of the area between Broad Run and kettle Run along Vint Hill Road is planned for residential development and will impact this watershed.

In general adding roads and buildings that prevent the infiltration of precipitation into the ground will reduce the replenishing (recharge) of the aquifer.  It is planned for the developments to be connected to the public water supply, but groundwater is an essential portion of the hydrology. This potentially impacts the stability and quality of the water supply to the Occoquan. The combination of reduce recharge and water filtration by eliminating forested areas and replacing them with compacted soils, pavement, buildings and over time the aquifer will be reduced.

Groundwater is used for water supply and serves to support steam flow between rain storms. Groundwater comes from rainwater and snow melting and  percolating into the ground. Typically, the deeper the well (thousands versus hundreds of feet) the further away is the water origination and the older the water. The groundwater age is a function of local geology, the amount of precipitation and the rate that water is pumped out of the aquifer. Geology also determines the ease with which water and contaminants can travel through an aquifer and the amount of water the land can hold. The thickness of the overburden and the soils of the overburden impact the rate of recharge.  The land surface through which groundwater is recharged must remain open and uncontaminated to maintain the quality and quantity of groundwater.

Groundwater availability varies by location within Prince William County (Nelms and Richardson, 1990). Precipitation and soil type determines how much the shallower groundwater that is tapped for private wells and hydraulically connected to the streams and rivers is recharged annually. The volume of water that can be stored is controlled by the reservoir characteristics of the subsurface rocks. The amount of groundwater removed from an aquifer needs to be sustainable and should ideally match the recharge rate which is reduced as open and forested land is replaced by development and the impervious surfaces it brings. Reducing the recharge rate by diverting surface flow and adding pavement and roads will result in changes in the local or regional hydraulic balance- a reduction in discharge to surface water at some other location, an increase in recharge from surface water, or a loss of storage in the aquifer by falling water table or some combination of these effects.

That area in Nokesville between Broad Run and Kettle Run is a mixture of diabase and shale and are interspersed lenses of Hydrogeologic group B and group C.  Hydrogeologic group B underlies a large portion of western of Prince William County and consists of sedimentary rocks of the Culpeper Basin. The predominant rock types are conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones, shales, and argillaceous limestones.

frrom DEQ

The rocks dip to the west and northwest at 0 to 70° with the slope progressively steepening toward the western border fault. Closely spaced fractures and bedding-plane partings with a high frequency of intersections overlain by a thin cover of overburden are characteristic features (Nelms and Richardson, 1990). Rocks within hydrogeologic group B tend to have moderate to excellent water-bearing potential because of the close spacing and high frequency of intersections of fractures and partings. Ground-water storage tends to be predominantly in the fractures and partings of the rock because of the extremely thin cover of overburden. The highest reported yields in the county are from wells finished in the rocks of hydrogeologic group B.

A significant portion of the area around the Strathmore project area is Hydrogeologic group C . The rocks of group C are Early Jurassic in age and include: the Mount Zion Church, Hickory Grove, and Sander Basalts; an unnamed diabase; and thermally metamorphosed rocks. Rocks within hydrogeologic group C tend to have generally poor water-bearing potential because of the wide spacing between fractures, mineralization of fractures, and random fracture orientations. Better yields have been obtained from wells finished in areas where the diabase is intersected by cross-strike lineaments (Nelms and Richardson, 1990, p. 25) and in areas underlain by basalt which also exist in Nokesville.

Based on hydraulic elevations it appears that the natural flow of groundwater would be east southeast as is common in Prince William County. However, there is considerable variation and surprises in the flow as documented by monitoring at several cleanup sites in the county. This one development is unlikely to impact the groundwater generally in the area, but it is part of a massive change in land use in the county in the last 20 years and the next. We need to monitor the condition of our water resources before we impair the water supply to any Prince William resident either through impaired groundwater or reduced flow of Broad Run and Kettle Run. Important tributaries to the Occoquan River, the Reservoir and ultimately the water supply for nearly a million residents of our region.

As the Department of Public Works pointed out in 2021 there are only two monitoring well in Prince William County that track groundwater levels. One well in the Culpeper Basin near the Loudoun County Line and one well in Forest Park in the Potomac Aquifer within the Coastal Plain. The data is publicly available for both wells, but they are not part of any state or local program of monitoring.

Those wells are not adequate to know if the groundwater supply is sustainable. Analysis by Loudoun County of the only groundwater well in the Piedmont region is that since 2004 the water level at that well has been falling a foot a decade.  The stream monitoring program run by PWSWCD has noted the significant change in the visible indicators of stream health in Broad Run and Kettle run over the same period. In 2010 the lower Broad Run watershed was only 8% covered in impervious surfaces. We are planning significant changes to the land use in the Lower Broad Run watershed. We need to understand the impact this will have on the water supply not only for the remaining well users but also for the entire region.

from BroadRunReport-Sept2012 Complete - scanned.pdf

 

Ginger Cats

 My brother lives in Jerusalem. To amuse me he regularly snaps pictures of cats and texts them. In case you do not know, Jerusalem and all of Israel have a huge stray cat problem. According to the Times of Israel “there are an estimated 2 million feral cats in the streets of Israel, with 240,000 of them in Jerusalem alone.” I noticed that the pictures my brother was sending me were all of black and white cats. I asked him if there were only black and white cats in Jerusalem and he sent me a picture of a cat and asked me what color it was. (My brother is colorblind and had only been sending me what he could see.)

I texted back that it was a ginger (like his daughter’s hair) and told him that it was probably a male because it was ginger. I had heard that all gingers are male and all calicos and tortoiseshell cats are female. I decided to check that with google to make sure it was not an old wives’ tale and discovered that a recently published research study on just that topic which showed that cat color has lead scientist to a new understanding  of how physical traits in animals emerge. This is an example of how genes acquire new functions that allow for adaptation. All this from cat color.

The article below is largely excerpted from the research article and the press release from Stanford University where the lead researcher is a professor. Both are cited below:

Toh, Hidehiro et al. A deletion at the X-linked ARHGAP36 gene locus is associated with the orange coloration of tortoiseshell and calico cats; Current Biology, Volume 0, Issue 0

A deletion at the X-linked ARHGAP36 gene locus is associated with the orange coloration of tortoiseshell and calico cats: Current Biology

Scientists track down mutation that makes orange cats orange | Stanford Report

It turns out that orange/ ginger cat color is an X-linked trait as is red-green colorblindness. Traits that are determined by alleles carried on the X chromosome are referred to as X-linked.  Females will have two X-linked alleles (because females are XX), whereas males will only have one X-linked allele (because males are XY). Most X-linked traits in humans are recessive.

A  ginger cat in the old city

However, this is not true with cat orange/ ginger coloration. There is an alternative expression of the orange allele in females that creates a mosaic coloration pattern in female cats which we know as tortoiseshell or calico cats.

More than 60 years ago, it was suggested by Mary Lyon that one of the two X chromosomes in a female embryo is randomly selected and inactivated in each cell during early development. She suggested that the alternative black-brownish and orange patches of tortoiseshell cats are consistent with the random inactivation of some unidentified X-linked  orange/ ginger gene in heterozygous females. In this study, the scientists searched for that gene and genetic variation associated with the orange coloration by comparing the genomic sequences of cats with orange coat color, including tortoiseshell and calico cats, and control non-orange cats.

Despite the pictures that my brother sends, domestic cats display a wide variation in colors, and coat coloration patterns that result from interactions between multiple genetic loci, making them excellent models for studying gene function and regulation. For decades scientists knew from the preponderance of male orange cats that the mutation was somewhere on the X chromosome.

In cats like most mammals, females have XX while males have XY sex chromosomes. Any male cat with sex-linked orange will be entirely orange/ ginger, but a female cat needs to inherit sex-linked orange on both X chromosomes to be entirely orange/ ginger – a less likely occurrence. Which is why ginger or orange cats are usually male.

the late sweet Madeline

Female cats with one copy of sex-linked orange appear partially orange – with a mottled pattern known as tortoiseshell, or with patches of orange, black, and white known as calico. That’s due to a genetic phenomenon in females, called random X inactivation, in which one X chromosome is inactivated in each cell. The result is a mosaic of pigment cells, some that express sex-linked orange and others that do not.

The early genetic studies on the orange/ ginger phenotype of domestic cats helped to discover X-linked inheritance in mammals by Mary Lyon. Rare occurrence of the mosaic phenotype in males can be explained by sex chromosome aneuploidy (XXY), chimerism, mosaicism, or somatic mutations according to work by Moran et al.

“In a number of species that have yellow or orange pigment, those mutations almost exclusively occur in one of two genes, and neither of those genes are sex-linked,” said Christopher Kaelin, PhD, a senior scientist in genetics and lead author of the current study.  “This is something that arose in the domestic cat, probably early on in the domestication process. We know that because there are paintings that date to the 12th century where you see clear images of calico cats.”

First, the scientists looked for variants on the X chromosome shared by male orange cats and found 51 candidates. They eliminated 48 of these, as they were also found in some non-orange cats. Of the three remaining variants, one stood out as likely having a role in gene regulation: It was a small deletion that increased the activity of a nearby gene known as Arhgap36.

Until this discovery Arhgap36 gene was not known to have any connection to pigmentation. The Arhgap36 gene, which is highly conserved in mammalian species, was being studied by researchers in cancer and developmental biology. Arhgap36 is normally expressed in neuro-endocrine tissues, where overexpression can lead to tumors. It was not known to do anything in pigment cells until now.

Kaelin and colleagues discovered, in orange/ ginger cats. “Arghap36 is not expressed in mouse pigment cells, in human pigment cells, or in cat pigment cells from non-orange cats,” Dr. Kaelin said. “The mutation in orange cats seems to turn on Arghap36 expression in a cell type, the pigment cell, where it’s not normally expressed.”

This rogue expression in pigment cells inhibits an intermediate step of a well-known molecular pathway that controls coat color – the same one that operates in other orange-shaded mammals. In those species, typical orange mutations disrupt an earlier step in that pathway; in cats, sex-linked orange disrupts a later step.

The scientists also looked to see if the orange mutation impacted anything else in cats. The researchers also measured Arhgap36 expression in several non-skin tissues – the kidney, heart, brain, and adrenal gland – and found no differences between orange and non-orange cats.

“I don’t think we can exclude the possibility that there is altered expression of the gene in some tissue we haven’t tested that might affect behavior,” Dr. Kaelin conceded. But orange cats’ reputation as friendly agents of chaos (Macvity in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats is a ginger)  is something that scientists have not yet been able to test for.

 

DC Water mobilizes to Prevent Major Sewer Line Collapse into Rock Creek

This year DC Water’s Contractors began an 18 month project to perform field investigations, surveys, and routine inspections of the sanitary sewer and manholes in Rock Creek Park. They found that a sector of the Rock Creek Main Interceptor that collects sewage from trunk lines in various neighborhoods and directs it towards DC Water's Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant had a significant crack and was in danger of collapse. 

The Rock Creek Main Interceptor has a six foot diameter and generally follows Beach Drive north to south carrying as much as 100 million gallons of wastewater a day and could cause significant environmental harm to Rock Creek if a failure occurred.

DC Water’s Contractors using a closed-circuit camera system, video showed a 200-foot long fracture in the brick-lined tunnel ceiling. The compromised section of pipe is located in an embankment, near 26th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. The sewer line carries combined stormwater and wastewater from Maryland and DC to the Potomac and Main Pumping stations. 

“We cannot run the risk of a failure that could cause a major discharge of sewage into Rock Creek and harm this natural resource,” said DC Water CEO and General Manager David Gadis. “We were fortunate to find this before it was too late, due in large part to our proactive approach that includes routine inspections of our aging infrastructure.”

Parts of DC Water’s sanitary sewer system were first built more than 200 years ago, and this section dates back to the late 1800’s. For decades DC Water neglected maintaining their water and sewer pipes infrastructure. In the 21st century DC water has made a massive investment in improving and replacing their infrastructure and become far more proactive. In 2021 they estimated that their Comprehensive Infrastructure Repair, Rehabilitation and Replacement Program would cost $319 million. The system wide inspections are part of this program.

For safety, DC Water has fenced off the area to restrict access until work can begin. Construction is not expected to impact traffic on Rock Creek Parkway and the bridge on Pennsylvania Avenue which crosses over the affected area.

An engineering analysis is underway to evaluate the cause of the fracture, and whether there are any other structural issues that must be addressed to stabilize the pipe. This will provide a better understanding of the underlying issues, and the scope of work necessary for repairs. A number of options are being considered and will likely include extensive construction. This may include building a diversion from the Rock Creek Main Interceptor to another sewer line, isolating or pumping out sewer discharges, or reinforcing the tunnel with steel rebar and high pressure concrete. 

The timeline for construction and repairs will be determined once planning and design work is completed. 

WSSC approves their 2026 Budget

Last week, Montgomery and Prince George’s County Councils approved WSSC Water’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 $1.8 billion operating and capital budget at their annual bi-county meeting. The FY 2026 Proposed Budget is supported by a 9.8% average water and sewer volumetric and fixed fees rate increase. It costs money to have clean water and sewage treatment. It is paid for by the rate payers. 

The FY 2026 budget for all operating and capital funds totals $1.8 billion or $21.7 million (1.2%) more than the FY 2025 Budget. The Proposed Operating Budget of $1.1 billion represents an increase of $116.2 million (11.4%) over FY 2025 Approved Operating Budget of $1.0 billion. WSSC cut the capital expenditures budget from 2025 levels to balance the budget.

The 2026 Capital Budget was $696.8 million -a decrease of $94.5 million (-11.9%) from the FY 2025 Capital Budget of $791.3 million. More than $440 million to upgrade aging pipes, pumps and plants was included:

• $79.5 million to replace 27 miles of water pipe in the Water Reconstruction Program.
• $51.6 million to replace 25 miles of sewer pipe in the Sewer Reconstruction Program.
• $54.6 million to replace 6 miles of large diameter water pipe in the Large Diameter Water Pipe & Large Valve Rehabilitation Program.
• $41.9 million to replace 10 miles of trunk sewer line in the Trunk Sewer Reconstruction Program.

Other Capital spending highlights include:

• $33.6 million to replace customer-owned lead water service lines, helping homeowners go lead-free
• Nearly $9 million in financial assistance to help income-constrained customers – a 14 % increase over last year
• $4.7 million to continue expansion of WSSC Water’s advanced laboratory and purchase equipment to conduct PFAS (forever chemicals) monitoring to meet the EPA MCL mandate
• Nearly $3 million to increase fire flow tests to ensure that fire hydrants can provide water at an acceptable pressure and flow rate for firefighting operations

The non-discretionary items such as debt service, PAYGO financing of capital projects, payments to the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant for regional sewage expenses along with rising chemical, biosolids hauling and energy costs represent 55% of the FY 2026 Operating Budget. The non-discretionary items make up 56% of the increase in FY 2026 Operating Budget. PAYGO" program, or Pay-As-You-Go, is a funding strategy used by the WSSC to set aside money for their capital improvements program (CIP) since they can not keep financing  system capital improvements from debt when those improvements do not result in new revenue streams.

As of July 01, 2025, WSSC Water had about 80,000 accounts that are past due, totaling about $50 million, the same as the previous year, despite efforts to reduce that. Though the 9.8% increase comes after an 8.5% increase last year, WSSC must maintain their system and pay their workers a reasonable wage. Not only inflation, but years of neglect and of expanding the system through debt rather than fees have brought us to this situation.

WSSC Water provides water and sewer services to nearly 2.0 million residents of Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. Established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1918 as a regional (Bi-County) agency they were not enabled to impose a system expansion charge, though long term equipment is properly financed by long term debt, they should also have the resources to maintain and replace the equipment.

The General Assembly finally gave WSSC the explicit authority to impose a system expansion charge, but by that time WSSC had already inherited a legacy of debt-financed expansion costs and an operating culture that did not have preventive maintenance and viewed inappropriate cutting of system maintenance and upgrades as cost savings, rather than what they were. No investment in the infrastructure took place unless it broke or was a mandated upgrade by the regulators. The majority of the investment in the systems was spent at the central wastewater treatment plants and water treatment plants.

That had to eventually end and did about a decade ago, forced by the bond market to maintain their borrowing ability. To maintain the highest credit rating for municipal bonds, WSSC Water utilizes the standard bond rating financial metrics to keep debt from sinking their bond rating:

Water and Sewer Debt Service as a Percentage of Water and Sewer Expenditures - This ratio must be kept at less than 40.0% expenditures (excluding Bond Debt Service).

Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) – This ratio should be maintained greater than 1.5 times.

Leverage Ratio – This ratio (total debt outstanding less cash and cash equivalents) must be less than 8.0 times  adjusted funds available for debt service.

EPA Delays PFAS Drinking Water Standard

On April 10th 2024 the U.S. EPA finalized the national primary drinking water standards for six types of PFAS. PFAS are called “forever chemicals” as they do not easily breakdown, and so build up in the environment and in tissues, apparently both human and animal. Human exposure to PFAS has been linked to health issues, such as kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage, developmental toxicity, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and immune dysfunction. The chemicals regulated by EPA were:

• For PFOA and PFOS the U.S. EPA is setting enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) at 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, individually.  In addition, for PFOA and PFOS, EPA is setting a non-enforceable health-based goal of zero. This is called a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG).  This reflects the official position that the latest science shows that there is no level of exposure to these two PFAS without risk of health impacts.
• For PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (commonly know as GenX Chemicals), EPA is setting MCLGs of 10 parts per trillion
• PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX Chemicals: EPA is also proposing a regulation to limit any mixture containing one or more of PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and/or GenX Chemicals. For these PFAS, water systems would use a hazard index calculation, defined in the proposed rule, to determine if the combined levels of these PFAS pose a potential risk.

Originally, the EPA gave public water systems five years (by 2029) to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed these MCLs.

Yesterday, the EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced the agency will keep the current National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) at 4 part per trillion as the standards for drinking water, but will delay implementation deadline to 2031. Regulation on the other four PFAS chemicals (PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX Chemicals) will be developed by next spring. The agency remains committed to addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water while following the law and ensuring that regulatory compliance is achievable for drinking water systems. 

PFAS dissolves in water and combined with their chemical properties means that traditional drinking water treatment technologies used at water treatment plants are not designed to remove them, it is believed though, that carbon filtration does remove some. Activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange resins, and high-pressure membranes have been found to remove PFAS from drinking water, especially PFOA and PFOS, which have been the most studied of these chemicals and the PFAS substances with the lowest promulgated drinking water limit. Testing these technologies at the new regulatory limits is underway, but even if effective it could cost millions up to a billion dollars to remove PFAS from the Occoquan Reservoir, then the problem is how to dispose of the PFAS removed from the water. This would bring a whole new liability to the water utility.

“The work to protect Americans from PFAS in drinking water started under the first Trump Administration and will continue under my leadership,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin. “We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water. At the same time, we will work to provide common-sense flexibility in the form of additional time for compliance. This will support water systems across the country, including small systems in rural communities, as they work to address these contaminants. EPA will also continue to use its regulatory and enforcement tools to hold polluters accountable.” 

As part of this action, EPA is announcing its intent to extend compliance deadlines for PFOA and PFOS, establish a federal exemption framework, and initiate enhanced outreach to water systems, especially in rural and small communities, through EPA’s new PFAS outreach Initiative (PFAS OUT). This action would help address the most significant compliance challenges EPA has heard from public water systems, members of Congress, and other stakeholders, while supporting actions to protect the American people from certain PFAS in drinking water.  

Paired with effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for PFAS and other tools to ensure that polluters are held responsible, EPA’s actions are designed to reduce the burden on drinking water systems and the cost of water bills, all while continuing to protect public health and ensure that the agency is following the law in establishing impactful regulations such as these. 

EPA is also announcing its intent to rescind the regulations and reconsider the regulatory determinations for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX, and the Hazard Index mixture of these three plus PFBS to ensure that the determinations and any resulting drinking water regulation follow the legal process laid out in the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

HB 2050 is Law

Occoquan Reservoir PFAS Reduction Program; and introduced by: David L. Bulova (Chief Patron) passed the general assembly during last winter's session. It was signed into law by the Governor.

This law creates the Occoquan Reservoir PFAS Reduction Program to reduce excessive levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public drinking water that comes from the Occoquan Reservoir. The bill requires certain facilities to monitor for PFAS and to report all results to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). For any facility that measures exceedances in its discharge of the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFAS in drinking water, the DEQ shall amend their Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits to require that the facility’s  discharge water does not exceed that MCL. The law requires the modified permit to provide a compliance schedule to meet the EPA’s drinking water MCL compliance schedule.

In April 2024, the EPA announced the final national primary drinking water standards for six poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Public water systems have five years (by 2029) to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). For PFOA and PFOS the U.S. EPA is setting enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) at 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, individually.   PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (GenX Chemicals), EPA is setting MCLGs of 10 parts per trillion.

Based on the most recent quarterly sampling the Occoquan (Griffith Water Treatment Plant) does not currently comply with the EPA 2029 planned MCL for PFOA. Compliance for PFOS is only marginally below the regulatory limit. Additional treatment processes will be required to comply with regulations and Fairfax Water has stated that they will ensure their water meets these standards by the regulatory date.

Fairfax Water hopes to use this law to identify and remove enough of the sources of PFAS in the water that arrives at the Occoquan Reservoir to meet the EPA MCL without requiring Fairfax Water and their rate payers to foot the bill for compliance which at this point is estimated to be about $400,000,000 in capital investment and $24,000,000 per year in operating costs. This law will force all the current permitted dischargers to see if they are contributing to the PFAS problem. If PFAS is identified in their waste streams and stormwater discharges then they can be required to remove it at their expense.

The water in the Occoquan Reservoir comes from the Occoquan Watershed. Our water supplies are connected to each other and the land. Two thirds of the Occoquan Watershed that supplies the Occoquan Reservoir is in Prince William County. The former Rural Crescent allowed rainwater to flow gently over vegetation, feed the aquifers that provide water to the private wells and the Evergreen water system, but also feeds the tributaries to Bull Run and the Occoquan River assuring the base flow to the rivers and streams that feed the Reservoir.

The Upper Occoquan Service Authority, UOSA, the wastewater treatment plant also delivers up to 40 million/day of recycled water that originated in the Potomac River to the Occoquan Reservoir. Supplementing the supply. Keeping PFAS out of the source water is a real challenge when PFAS is in our diet and wastewater is reused in our drinking water supplies. To stay within the regulatory limit, Fairfax Water will have to identify the PFAS content in the various sources of water and can either mix them to minimize exposure or remove them.

On the occasion of the Governor signing the bill into law, Fairfax Water press release said;  “This new law takes an essential and proactive approach to safeguarding our region’s drinking water by requiring polluters to monitor and remove harmful PFAS chemicals from one of Northern Virginia’s most critical drinking water sources. It represents meaningful progress toward maintaining the safety and quality of our drinking water supply.” What it does is help identify the sources of PFAS in our water supply and if possible make those responsible bear the cost and  responsibility of removing the PFAS from the water.

Sampling data for the Potomac River water supply indicate that the Corbalis Water Treatment Plant will comply with the PFAS regulations without additional treatment. So, Fairfax Water has been focusing on ways for the Occoquan Reservoir to meet the MCL and is also moving ahead with designing a water treatment train to remove PFAS from the water drawn from the Occoquan Reservoir.

In January of this year, Fairfax Water filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County against several manufacturers of aqueous film-forming foam chemicals. The lawsuit seeks to hold companies responsible for PFAS contamination in the Occoquan Reservoir and recover costs associated with water treatment and environmental remediation. (There have been several spills of aqueous film-forming foam chemicals at Manassas airport alone.) 

PW Water Academy Registration is Open

 

HL Mooney Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant is licensed to operate at around 24 million gallons a day. Over the years it has been expanded as Prince William Counties’ population grows. In addition, to the HL Mooney plant, Prince William owns a share of the capacity of the UOSA plant in Fairfax. Prince William’s share of UOSA is 19.8 million gallons a day. HL Mooney serves the easter population of Prince William County. The UOSA plant serves the western portion.

Water Academy is a program hosted by Prince William Water. The program is a three session annual event that provides a behind-the-scenes look at water reclamation (wastewater treatment)  through tours of the H.L. Mooney facility, hands-on activities and conversations with PW Water professionals.

This past winter PW Water’s Water Academy received the 2025 National Environmental Achievement Award (NEAA) from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). This award recognizes individuals and NACWA member agencies that have demonstrated exceptional contributions to environmental protection and the clean water community.

The Water Academy is designed for adults and high school seniors who live or work in Prince William County. A few years back I took my STEM club seniors and we really learned a lot and enjoyed the experience. The program offers a unique educational experience to see how wastewater is treated. The program is free (and they give you a neat graduation gift). There are three-sessions- one is at the H.L Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility and the other two are is at the Raymond Spittle office Building at 4 County Complex Ct at the county complex in Woodbridge.

Past participants have included local elected officials, homeowners’ association representatives, business owners, engineers, retirees and teachers who have earned continuing education credits through the program.

“Prince William Water is truly honored to receive the NACWA 2025 National Environmental Achievement Award for our Water Academy,” said General Manage/CEO Calvin D. Farr, Jr., P.E. “This award highlights our efforts to educate the community about our mission, engage our stakeholders in protecting water resources and inspire Water Academy participants to serve as environmental ambassadors.”

Sign up at this link.

Water Academy 2025 Application Survey

Attending the Water Academy is FREE, and will be held on June 18, June 25, and July 2 from 4:30-7:30pm. The class is limited to 28 people.  For the full syllabus, go to www.princewilliamwater.org/water_academy.

Drought Continues to Expand in Virginia

 

Drought Advisory Update from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality 05/02/2025.

After days of teasing, last night it finally rained and hopefully start up again today. However, we are still in moderate drought. On Friday, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), in coordination with the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force, expanded the drought watch advisory to include 44 counties in Virginia.

The drought watch advisory includes the following areas:

• Eastern Shore: Accomack and Northampton counties
• Northern Coastal Plain: Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King George, King William, King and Queen, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland counties
• Northern Piedmont: Culpeper, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties
• Northern Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William counties
• Roanoke River: Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Patrick, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Pittsylvania, and Roanoke counties.
• Shenandoah: Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties

Soil moisture and groundwater deficits continue to worsen in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley despite localized rainfall like last night. 

Precipitation continues below normal

Groundwater levels and stream flows likewise have seen a decline in portions of the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, and Roanoke River Basin. The dry conditions have impacted agricultural activities in the Northern Shenandoah Valley (rye crops) and within the Roanoke River Basin (spring planting of no-till corn and soybeans). The forecast for the next two weeks suggests below normal rainfall and greater than average temperatures over much of the Commonwealth. Storage at major water supply reservoirs remains within normal ranges.

groundwater has fallen below the historical range

DEQ is working with local governments, public water works, and water users in the affected areas to ensure that conservation and drought response plans and ordinances are followed. All Virginians are encouraged to protect water supplies by minimizing water use, monitoring drought conditions, and detecting and repairing leaks. According to the Washing Metropolitan Area Council of Governments  the Potomac River Basin and our regional supply of drinking water has been under a drought watch since 2024.

According to the latest condition report from the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB):

Rain: Since November, the Potomac River basin has received only 12 inches of rain, which is 6 inches below average. Some relief is in the forecast, with 2-4 inches of rain expected over the next week.

Drought: The basin is DRY with 57% of the area in Moderate Drought and 30% in Severe Drought.

Flow: The river’s flow at the USGS gage at Point of Rocks is around 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs). The lowest recorded flow at this time of year is 3,000 cfs in 1896. While its of concern, it can get much worse. 

After two very dry summers and an exceptionally cold winter, I lost two trees that had been struggling had to come down and I lost my roses and plantings on the side of the garage. Until this drought passes I will not replant the bed. I am still watering the 6 caliper maple and the smaller redbud I planted 3 years ago to ensure their survival. I will not add foundation plantings that will need to be watered.