Friends of Little Rocky Run - Virtual Tour of Watershed, Page 48, the Wetlands to I-66

This stretch of Little Rocky Run, one of the critical headwater streams, is a disgrace to Fairfax County.  It is clogged with trash, some of it a public health hazard, and some of it possibly explosive.  There are tire dumps, discarded construction equipment, an old gas pump, an abandoned bus, large propane gas tanks, junk refrigerators, and mounds of styrofoam, bottles, and you name it. In essence, this section of the  stream has been converted into a stormwater drainage ditch before it simply disappears into a maze of pipes and storm drains.  The stream is surrounded by the desolation of land clearing for some 1,000 new houses and townhomes.  It is an utterly depressing part of the Little Rocky Run watershed. The 1/27/2003 report, Fulfilling the Promise: the Occoquan Watershed in the New Millenium, warns about the future of Little Rocky Run.  The enitre Virtual Tour, but especially this section, graphically illustrate their warning.  (Read the Washington Post article on this report).

This section starts out innocently enough.  The concrete object in the lower right of the photo is part of a guard rail of the small bridge where U. S. 29 crosses Little Rocky Run. The channel that flows down from I-66 is the small feeder stream coming in from the left.  This is the stream section featured in this part of the Virtual Tour.  The larger stream, with a beaver dam just a few feet upstream, goes all the way to Ox Road and Willow Springs and is featured in subsequent sections. The white buildings visible in the distance are the Nak-Won Korean Baptist Church complex. The two photos below show the feeder heading upstream toward Bradley Road.

The stream flows under Bradley Road (1210).  It drains a large area, and you have to wonder if this single pipe will be able to handle the water flow.  Huge new areas of impervious surface are being constructed not far upstream.

Take me to Page 49 of the Virtual Tour Section!

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Photos on this page shot on 2/1/03.