Friends of Little Rocky Run

Latest news from the Little Rocky Run watershed

4/5/2008 - the annual Alice Ferguson Potomac Watershed Cleanup was held on Saturday.  22 volunteers showed up and set an all-time FLRR record for the most bags of trash removed in a single day - 97!  Details here.  At left, Emily McLenigan and Rebecca Blake are shown hard at work removing trash left by illegal dumpers.

FLRR logo by Joanna Sturz

Little Rocky Run is a stream in the southwest section of Fairfax County, Virginia.  It has some 22 miles of stream beds, counting both perennial and intermittent tributaries. Its headwaters originate in three areas.  One begins near I-66 and Stringfellow Road*, another near the junction of Fairfax County Parkway and U. S. 29 and the third near the intersection of Braddock Road and Blythewood Drive.  The headwater streams join together just north of U. S. 29 where they form a wetland.  From there the stream flows under 29, Braddock Road, and Compton Road and eventually empties into Bull Run Creek.  This water flows into the Occoquan Reservoir, which drains hundreds of square miles of surrounding land and is a main part of Fairfax County's drinking water. Because Little Rocky Run is part of Fairfax County's drinking water, its health is of vital concern to all of the residents of this county.  Unfortunately, the health of this stream is in peril.  High density development has resulted in a markedly decreased ability of the surrounding land to absorb rainwater. The land drained by a stream or river is called a watershed.  If 10% of a watershed becomes impervious to absorbing water, bad things start to happen.  The Little Rocky Run watershed is edging up to a 35% impervious rating. This is worrisome to say the least. Which is why Friends of Little Run was created.  Click on any of the links at right for more information and details as to what you can do to help. ______ *this section has been obliterated by development.  In time we will post a side-by-side photo comparison of the original tributary and what it is now.

7/1/2008 - current tally of bags of trash removed is 2,049.  Want to help?  We do stuff just about every weekend.  Email us.

5/27/2008 - Kevin Goldammer completed a tough Eagle Scout project by planting 100 trees in a stormwater pond.  Details here.

5/27/2008 - Special thanks to Mike Shipley for organizing a cleanup of a problem stormwater pond in the Union Mills Community.

3/17/2008 - FLRR gives its heartfelt thanks to our own Anne Brodeur for securing a $1,000 grant from the Navy Federal Credit Union.  This is the fifth grant we have received from these good people and all of it has gone for watershed restoration projects.

1/28/2008 - Justin Epstein completed a difficult Eagle Scout on 12/15/07, painting over 20 years of graffiti under the New Braddock Road bridge.  Details here.

8/20/2007 - Andrew Worley completed an excellent Eagle Scout project that cleaned most of Willow Ponds Park.  Details here.

Links: Map of Watershed and Mission Statement Calendar of Events - meetings, clean-ups, etc Want a Project?  Click here. All-time Volunteer Projects Where to Report a Pollution Incident Little Rocky Run Volunteer Hall of Fame Tales About Our Watershed Virtual Tour of Little Rocky Run Official Little Rocky Run Trash Log Emergency Phone #s & Internet Links Contact us: nfoster@ix.netcom.com

Ever wonder where most of the trash in Little Rocky Run comes from?  Look at the picture to the right.  Too much of the trash in LRR starts with carelessness that results in garbage going into storm drains and then into the creek.  Please do your part to make Little Rocky Run clean by properly disposing of your trash, especially on windy days.  If you really want to help out, check out our "Want a Project?" section.

All materials on this site are copyright © 2003 Friends of Little Rocky Run unless otherwise noted. They may be used for educational purposes only and may not be distributed without prior approval from Friends of Little Rocky Run. All requests should be submitted via email to nfoster@ix.netcom.com.