CLEAN IT, LABEL IT, OWN IT!

It's our watershed. On the April 18th, we're cleaning it up. And then on April 25/26 we'll label it so everyone knows that we live in the Little Falls Watershed!
Please join us at one or both of these events.

Saturday, April 18: Creek Clean-ups and Garlic Mustard Challenge!
9:00 am to noon, rain or shine!
We will be cleaning the Little Falls Branch creek and Stream Valley Park all the way from the Dalecarlia Reservoir to the Bethesda Public Pool. The effort has also been expanded to remove the invasive weed 'garlic mustard' in the parkland, so experienced weed warriors and new volunteers welcome!

Sign-in stations include:

• Little Falls Park in Westmoreland - 3 stream side stations (Little Falls Parkway and Massachusetts; Elliott Road Park trail entrance; Albemarle Street entrance)

• Glen Cove/Green Acres - 2 stream side stations (gravel turnout on Little Falls Parkway between River and Mass Ave; and Little Falls Drive at Wakefield Road by footbridge to Westbrook Elementary School playground.)

• Town of Somerset - station at the Somerset Pool, Falstone Avenue and Warwick Place.

• Bethesda Public Pool - station at the Bethesda Pool located at Little Falls Parkway and Hillandale Avenue.
  

Volunteers stationed at all trail entrances to the park will hand out work gloves and trash bags. Bring boots and long pants and sleeves recommended.

Children under 15 must be supervised by an adult. Middle and High School students who check in will earn SSL credits from the Montgomery County Parks Department.
This cleanup is supported through volunteers and funding by the Westmoreland Hills Garden Club, the Westbrook Elementary AquaEagles and EcoDefenders, the Town of Somerset, the Westmoreland Citizens Association, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commisssion, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Bethesda Green, and the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.

Contact cleanup@lfwa.org for more information.

April 25/25: Label the Watershed!
April 25 - Bethesda Library, 1:00 - 3:00
April 26 - Bethesda Pool Parking Lot, 11:00 - 5:00
For the first time ever in Watershed history we will attempt to label all the storm drains using only volunteer labor! We have raffle tickets and t-shirts and great prizes. We have labels and instructions. All we need are volunteers to make this happen! Volunteers will be sent out in teams of three to five people and will label 5 to 10 storm drains. We hope to have people preregister, but if you just show up at either location, we will have lots for you to do! Contact Sarah at stormwater@lfwa.org to register your team or volunteer to help with running the event.

We are lucky to have many sponsors and partners in this event -
Thank you to Cheaseapeake Bay Trust for partial funding, partners Bethesda Green, Friends of the Bethesda Library and the DC and Montgomery County governments.

Our sponsors include American Plant, macUpgrades, DAI, Giant Food, Planet Cotton, Advanced Energy Dynamics, and Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC. Raffle donors include Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, and Bethesda Magazine. Thank you to Honest Tea for in-kind donations.

Events for April

April is a busy month for the Little Falls Watershed Alliance;

Saturday, April 4: Stop Trash in Its Tracks!
9:00 am to noon,
Meet at the Lord and Taylor parking lot at Jenifer and Western Ave, NW DC.
We will spread out over the Friendship Heights and Tenleytown areas. Gloves and bags provided. Questions - contact Richard trash@lfwa.org for more information or to volunteer to help organize!

Saturday, April 18: Creek Clean-ups and Garlic Mustard Challenge!
9:00 am to noon, rain or shine!
We will be cleaning the Little Falls Branch creek and Stream Valley Park all the way from the Dalecarlia Reservoir to the Bethesda Public Pool. The effort has also been expanded to remove the invasive weed 'garlic mustard' in the parkland, so experienced weed warriors and new volunteers welcome!

Sign-in stations include:

• Little Falls Park in Westmoreland - 3 stream side stations (Little Falls Parkway and Massachusetts; Elliott Road Park trail entrance; Albemarle Street entrance)

• Glen Cove/Green Acres - 2 stream side stations (gravel turnout on Little Falls Parkway between River and Mass Ave; and Little Falls Drive at Wakefield Road by footbridge to Westbrook Elementary School playground.)

• Town of Somerset - station at the Somerset Pool, Falstone Avenue and Warwick Place.

• Bethesda Public Pool - station at the Bethesda Pool located at Little Falls Parkway and Hillandale Avenue.
  

Volunteers stationed at all trail entrances to the park will hand out work gloves and trash bags. Bring boots and long pants and sleeves recommended.

Children under 15 must be supervised by an adult. Middle and High School students who check in will earn SSL credits from the Montgomery County Parks Department.
This cleanup is supported through volunteers and funding by the Westmoreland Hills Garden Club, the Westbrook Elementary AquaEagles and EcoDefenders, the Town of Somerset, the Westmoreland Citizens Association, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commisssion, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Bethesda Green, and the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.

Contact cleanup@lfwa.org for more information.

April 25/25: Label the Watershed!
April 25 - Bethesda Library, 1:00 - 3:00
April 26 - Bethesda Pool Parking Lot, 11:00 - 5:00
For the first time ever in Watershed history we will attempt to label all the storm drains using only volunteer labor! We have raffle tickets and t-shirts and great prizes. We have labels and instructions. All we need are volunteers to make this happen! Volunteers will be sent out in teams of three to five people and will label 5 to 10 storm drains. We hope to have people preregister, but if you just show up at either location, we will have lots for you to do! Contact Sarah at stormwater@lfwa.org to register your team or volunteer to help with running the event.

Why We Need Watershed Groups

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting with community leaders from the Bethesda Chevy Chase area at a green forum sponsored by two wonderful organizations, Bethesda Green and the BCC Regional Services Center. It was an energizing event with different civic and community leaders sharing what their organizations were doing to "green" the county. We had the Cabin John/Glen Echo Scrape metal challenge, the Bethesda Green recycling bin project, the Town of Chevy Chase "Walk for your Community" event, an Energy Audit Coop initiative and even a Solar Energy Coop - a lot of great ideas and programs that are going on right in our neighborhoods.

But what was noticeably missing (in my mind) were groups really excited about the watershed and solving the problems of stormwater run-off and invasive weeds. Only one civic leader mentioned stormwater management and that was my own town, Somerset (where I have some influence!) And there was a couple who were concerned about stormwater run-off, but only in that run-off from the house next door to theirs was causing flooding. I approached them about the problems of stormwater run-off in general, but they were mostly interested in getting the water off their property and into the street where it won't flood their basement. Which is important, water in your basement is not fun, but sending the water to the street only transfers the problem to someone else.

While I was walking my dogs this morning, it occurred to me that the "someone else" is us. Groups like ours are so necessary as our sole purpose is to advocate for the watershed. Sometimes I think that people take the watershed for granted. The Little Falls Branch looks so lovely tumbling over rocks. Ducks live there and the water is mostly trash-free and clean. They see streams and trees and think that everything is OK as long as it looks pretty. In the years that I have been leading groups to monitor Little Falls Branch, watching the macro-invertebrates die off, talking about the problems of stormwater run-off, I can't tell you how many people have given me a little pat and said "don't worry Sarah, the creek will take care of itself". As we know, the creek can't take care of itself in the face of all the new development and urbanization. So, I'm proud to be a member of this stewardship group.

On April 25/26 (Earth Day weekend) you can help us raise awareness of the watershed by joining us for our "Label the Watershed" event. We are looking for teams of volunteers from all over the area to go out and label the storm drains with "Don't Dump, Flow to Little Falls Watershed" stickers and to distribute educational material to neighbors. This is an easy activity suitable for all ages. Scouts, Brownies, church groups, senior centers, school clubs, book groups - anyone can label storm drains. It should be a fun time. For each storm drain labeled, volunteers will get a raffle ticket and we have great prizes. We hope to have free t-shirts and other give-aways too. But more important, you will get the satisfaction of knowing that you are advocating for the watershed.

Please contact me, stormwater@lfwa.org, if you want to volunteer to help with organization. We especially need people to help with publicity and writing press releases! If you have a group that would like to send a team out, we would like to register them in advance (if possible) so we know how many labels we need. Email me with numbers. And finally, if you would like to sponsor the event, we're looking for donations!

Sarah Morse
stormwater@lfwa.org,
Blog Master

Birds in the Watershed

Every once in a while, you open your email to a real treat. Such was the case last week, when I received an message from John Stinson listing the birds that he noted in the watershed for the Christmas Bird Count. Although the Audubon event is in its 109th year, it's the first time in years that the Little Falls Watershed has been censused. He and his two colleagues followed the path of the Little Falls Branch until they hit the C&O Canal and turned towards Chain Bridge. They found 34 species and were pleased to see Pine Siskins and Kingfishers.

The following is a complete list. If you want the numbers, please email me (Sarah Morse) and I'll forward John's chart.

Bird Count: Little Falls - Bethesda to Chain Bridge Road, December 20 (5 hours, 3 miles)
Eastern Towhee, Great Blue Heron, Northern Flicker, Red-shouldered Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Winter Wren, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, Belted Kingfisher, American Crow, Fish Crow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gull sp., Song Sparrow, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Crow, sp., Mallard, House Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Canada Goose, Northern Cardinal and European Starling.

I'm especially happy to see crows on the list. I know they are a common bird, but the West Nile Virus wiped out the foursome that hung out in my backyard, so I'm glad to see they're back in the watershed.

John is planning on participating in the Backyard Bird Count February 13-16. So hopefully, we'll have another report on who lives in the Watershed. If anyone else is participating, please send me your list and I'll post it.

Sarah Morse

2008 Volunteer Awards - Monday Night

Monday night is a special night for the Little Falls Watershed Alliance. In addition to hosting a community meeting with Councilman Roger Berliner, which we hope will be a lively and informative evening, we are pleased to be honoring two extraordinary volunteers - Elfa Halloway and Andrew Schaengold - for their efforts on behalf of the watershed.

Elfa Halloway has been a stalward member of our invasive weed removal efforts. As you may know, every other Saturday, a group of hardy souls goes out into the Little Falls Stream Valley park to manually remove invasive plants. Elfa rarely misses a session and we are pleased to be able to honor her efforts.

Andrew Schaengold is a premier member of our trash abatement program. We are recognizing this teenager for his fine service this past summer in performing litter patrol on Western Avenue between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue.

One of the pleasures of forming the Alliance is that we get to work with such fine people. We hope to see everyone out at St. Dunstan's church to honor them.

Sarah Morse

Happy New Year from LFWA

It's hard to believe it's 2009 already. Just 10 months ago, the Little Falls Watershed Alliance was just a good idea waiting to happen. It's been hard work, but now we're incorporated, we have a board, we have twice monthly invasive weed pulls, we've hosted speakers and streams walks and most exciting, we just heard from the IRS and our application for tax exempt status under 501(c)(3) application has been approved! (Use the donate button on the right to make a contribution!)

We plan to be very busy in 2009 too:
On January 26, we are hosting a community meeting with Councilman Roger Berliner. He will talk about the Montgomery County Climate Protection Plan and other Council activities as they relate to environmental and development issues watershed.

The twice monthly weed pulls will continue (bundle up). They are on the second and fourth Saturdays at 8:00 am. Contact Lynnwood for details. If you are interested in organizing a weed pull in your area, please ask Lynnwood for help. We have a community set of clippers and are more than willing to come out and help you get started.

Save the date - April 25. For the spring we are planning a "label the watershed" day, where we will attempt to label every storm drain in the watershed - DC and Montgomery parts. Obviously this will take a lot of volunteers, so if you are interested in forming a labeling team, please contact me at stormwater@lfwa.org. We'll have more information as we get closer to the event.

Neighborhood Outreach: We are also looking for contacts in the many neighborhoods in the watershed who can help spread the word. We know that many people out there would like to do something, but just don't know what one person can do. So, we thought we could meet with every neighborhood association to give a short presentation on the watershed and answer questions people might have about how they can help save the streams. Please contact me stormwater@lfwa.org.if you can help identify civic groups who would be willing to host us.

So, as you can see, we have a lot planned and there are many volunteer opportunities. We hope to see everyone at at least one event!

Sarah Morse
Blogmaster

Volunteer Opportunities

The Little Falls Watershed Alliance is an all volunteer endeavor - everyone including the lawyer who filed our 501 c(3) application, the webmaster, the graphic designer, the invasive weed event leader and the speakers at our events. All of us volunteer for this important effort because the watershed needs us.

But we can't do it alone. We need your help. With many hands, we can get a lot done.

Please contact us about volunteering -

If you only have a few hours to spare, we can use people to help with
invasive weed control - plants@lfwa.org
storm drain stenciling (in the spring) - stormwater@lfwa.org
trash abatement - trash@lfwa.org

If you walk in the park regularly, we are looking for STEWARDS to adopt a section of the Little Falls trail and act as the eyes and ears of the park. The stewards would report problems to proper authorities and help coordinate clean-up and invasive removal events. info@lfwa.org

If you would like to get involved with the organization of LFWA, we are looking for
a Fund raising chair info@lfwa.org
a Membership coordinator info@lfwa.org
and help with the website info@lfwa.org

Together, we can make a difference in the watershed.

River Smart Homes

Last month, some of us attended a watershed stewardship workshop sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government. I was looking over my notes and thought I should share this information from the District Riversmart program. You can find out about their incentive program on-line at Riversmart Homes but even without the incentives, they have some really good tips for getting storm water into the ground. Don’t forget, Montgomery County also has an incentive program on-line at their rainscapes page.

So from the Riversmart web page, here are five things you can do on your property that can make a big difference!

Plant Large Shade Trees - Anyone who has taken shelter under a tree during a rainstorm knows that trees trap rainwater. The City is interested in planting large shade trees because they help reduce stormwater while helping to reduce air pollution and the urban heat island effect. Homeowners like them because they can reduce heating and cooling bills and they increase property values. Currently the DDOE and Casey Trees have teamed up to provide a $50 rebate for homeowners who plant large canopy trees.

Install Above Ground Cisterns - Above ground cisterns are also commonly called rain barrels. Cisterns are used to capture water from your rooftop and store it to be released at a time when it is not raining. Cisterns help reduce stormwater pollution by trapping stormwater rather than having it flow off your property. Homeowners like them because they can use the water to water their gardens or wash their car and save money on their water bills.

Replace Impervious Surfaces with Pervious Ones - Sidewalks, driveways, and patios are a major source of stormwater pollution. By replacing traditional asphalt and concrete with permeable or porous pavers you help allow water to infiltrate naturally into the soil, but most homeowners install them because they feel the paving stones are more attractive than traditional concrete.

Construct Rain Gardens - A rain garden is a low point in your yard where you deliberately direct stormwater. The soils in the garden are amended to allow water to rapidly infiltrate and special plants are installed that can tolerate getting their "feet" wet. The City likes these gardens because they infiltrate and treat stormwater naturally, but you'll love them because they allow you to plant interesting and beautiful plants that cannot tolerate drier conditions.

Bayscape Your Yard - Bayscaping is a fancy term for planting gardens beds with plants that are native to the Chesapeake Bay region. The City is promoting native landscaping because native plants have deeper roots and more complex above ground structures than grass and therefore they capture more rainwater than turf. You'll love your Bayscaping because it invites songbirds and butterflies by providing food (nectar and seed) and habitat for our animal friends!

Death by Stormwater Run-off

Water is killing our waterways! This was the message I took from Diane Cameron's informative talk and discussion last week. And it's not what's in the water, but the volume and velocity of water running down the impervious surfaces of our roofs and roads into the storm drains that's the problem. The creeks just can't handle this tsunami.

Here in the Little Falls watershed, where every day we have more and more impervious surfaces being created with bigger houses replacing smaller, new roads and sidewalks being built to meet the growing demand for infrastructure and infill development creating new roofs and parking lots, stormwater run-off is probably the major contributor to the decline of the waterways.

The good news, Diane reported, is that governments are catching on to the idea that managing the water before it hits the streams is an important part of the solution to saving our creeks, rivers and bay.

Diane pointed to several key things that residents could do to improve the situation on their property - all having to do with redirecting the stormwater away from the impervious surfaces - be they driveways, sidewalks or streets - and into the ground.

The cheapest and easiest solution was to use flexible drain pipes (those 4" black hoses) to carry the water away from your house and into your yard. Diane pointed out that a shade tree during the growing season can actually absorb most of the water. Actually planting a little grove of trees to take this water was the best solution - especially if the trees are canopy trees like oaks or poplars.

Another solution was for residents to build rain gardens. The county has a rebate program which grants up to $1,200. (I think the county's goal is 30 percent of homeowners to have rain gardens) The idea of the garden is to divert the water from your roof directly to this special garden that will allow the water to soak into the ground. Below we have listed some landscapers who could help you get started.

Using porous pavers instead of asphalt and concrete is another way to cut down the run-off. The county also has a rebate program for this available for new construction or for retro-fitting.

Municipalities can also build rain gardens and divert stormwater away from the drains. Curb-cut gardens are becoming increasing popular. Check out the Green Street Program in Portland to see what one city is doing. Make sure you down load the Green Streets tour map . It has fabulous pictures of all the projects. We could do this in the Little Falls watershed. Contact, Sarah at stormwater@lfwa.org if you would like to coordinate an effort to convince the county to give us curb-cut parks.

A big thank you to Diane from us at LFWA. She has promised to get me her talk in PDF form. As soon as I get it, I'll post it.

Sarah Morse
Blog master!

Rain garden designers:

Yolanda Del Buono (Yoli)
gwobonanj@yahoo.com
phone: (240) 506-6914
Rain Garden Design and Installation
Student at the GWU in Landscape Design Master’s program.

Carol Foster Hall
carol.f.hall@verizon.net
Rain Garden Design; advice on plant selections.

Kit Gage
kgage@verizon.net
Site Evaluation; Rain Garden Design; help with identifyng contractors/ volunteers; and with arranging for DEP-provided soil and plants.

Fran McClure
flmcclure@earthlink.net
Rain Garden Design; connections with other landscaping experts and contracting firms.

Holly Olson
hjo1629@hotmail.com
Site Evaluation; Rain Garden Design; Arranging for soil and plants.
Student in the GWU landscape design Master’s program.

Jenny Reed
jenny010@earthlink.net
Rain Garden design through her firm, naturalresourcesdesign.com.
Jenny and her partner, Lauren Wheeler, work with homeowners, the City of Takoma Park, and
the District Department of the Environment designing and implementing LID practices such as
pervious paving, raingardens, bio- swales and cisterns.

There is a part of the Montgomery County web site at: www.rainscapes.org that provides further information on the Rainscapes Rebates program. Pamela Rowe leads this program; her contact information is also listed below.


Pamela Rowe
pamela.rowe@montgomerycountymd.gov
Rainscapes Coordinator
Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection
Information on Rainscapes Rebate Applications, help with obtaining soil and plants.


Municipal Programs for Inspiration!

Green Streets Programs Across the Nation:*

Portland, Oregon:
www.portlandonline.com/BES/index.cfm?c=44407

New York, New York:
www.streetsblog.org/2008/02/14/greenstreets-of-new-york-new-and-improved/
and
www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets.html

Seattle, Washington:
www.seattle.gov/UTIL/About_SPU/Drainage_&_Sewer_System/Natural_Drainage_Systems/Street_Edge_Alternatives/index.asp

Federal Green Highways Partnership: www.greenhighways.org/

Riders on the Storm: How to Catch the Rain in Public and Private Yards

Our creeks are dying and the water coming out of the sky is killing them. Every time it rains, water runs off the roofs, down the streets and into the storm drains. The volume and velocity of this water entering the creeks creates little tsunamis that wipe out life and cause erosion.

On Wednesday at 7:30, we are pleased to present a talk by Diane Cameron, Audubon Naturalist Society, about low-impact solutions like rain barrels, rain gardens and pervious pavers that residents and municipalities can initiate to keep the water out of the storm drains. Her talk will include a discussion of funding sources for stormwater control that are available to both residents and municipalities, as well as the current stormwater legislation in Montgomery County.

For those of you who don't know, Diane Cameron is one of the best environmental policy people in the country. With a Master’s in Environmental Engineering in 1987 from the University of Maryland, Diane has focused on Clean Water Act implementation, regulation, and public education. She is presently the head of the Montgomery County Stormwater Partners and Director of Conservation at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase.

The talk will be at the Somerset Town Hall, 4510 Cumberland Ave, Chevy Chase, MD. Refreshments will be served! If you have any questions, email us at info@lfwa.org