The Reston Association - News & Events

Contact:
Nicki Foremsky, Reston Association Watershed Supervisor,
(703) 435-6560

On July 28th, Lake Audubon will be treated with an herbicide to control an invasive exotic plant called Hydrilla, which has been present in the lake for the past 14 years and has become a detriment due to excessive growth during the 2007 season. The treatment will necessitate the closing of the lake from July 28-29.

Hydrilla is a submerged aquatic weed that grows rapidly—from 1-3 inches per day—and its dense stands of vegetation cause difficultly for boating and fishing. In addition, Hydrilla crowds out and replaces beneficial native aquatic vegetation, an important component of a healthy and balanced lake ecosystem.

In an attempt to control the Lake biologically, Reston Association (RA) has occasionally stocked the lake with grass-eating carp. However, despite the proactive effort along with past herbicide treatements, Hydrilla has spread significantly across the lake.

The entire lake will not be treated because it is beneficial to have some vegetation (about 20%) present in the deeper portions of the Lake. The treatment will be conducted by Aquatic Environment Consultants (AEC), a firm licensed through the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as a certified herbicide applicator. AEC has been monitoring Reston’s Lakes for the past ten years. A follow-up survey will be conducted later in the summer. Results of the survey will be used to determine future management recommendations.

Local real estate professionals: please mark your calendar for the next “Lunch with RA” on Tuesday, July 29 from 11:30 am-1 pm at the Reston Association, 1930 Isaac Newton Square, Reston. Along with lunch, giveaways and networking, area real estate professionals will hear the latest news on the changes to the Virginia Property Owners Association Act (POAA) relating to the disclosure documents, presented by RA’s General Counsel, Ken Chadwick. There will be ample time for questions and discussion. Please RSVP to Michelle Parlier at (703) 435-6575 or via email, michellep@reston.org.

Reston Association will thank its volunteers with a poolside cookout on Wednesday, August 13th from 4-7 pm at the Glade Pool, 11550 Glade Drive, Reston. Come to the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Cookout and let RA staff serve you! Enjoy carnival style food, music, games, great door prizes and more. RSVP by August 1st to Ha Brock, (703) 435-7986 or via email to habrock@reston.org. Rain date: August 14th.

A new case of child abuse or neglect enters the Fairfax County Domestic & Juvenile Relations Court system once every 30 hours. These children need caring advocates to help ensure that they grow up in safe and permanent homes.

That’s where Fairfax Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) comes in. An independent nonprofit organization, Fairfax CASA recruits and trains volunteers to investigate a child’s situation and to advocate for the best interests of the child in court. All CASA volunteers undergo extensive training; no prior experience in child welfare or the law is required.

If you seek a volunteer role with a real purpose that can create real change, please attend Fairfax CASA’s upcoming information session at the St. John Neumann Catholic Church on Saturday, July 12, from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm.

For reservations or information, contact Elisa Kosarin, Recruitment and Training Manager at (703) 273-3526, ext. 22, ekosarin@casafairfax.org, or visit www.casafairfax.org.

Local Organizations Partner to Provide Streamed Videos of Reston

Reston Association, the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the Reston Town Center Association, and the Reston Community Center have recently agreed to participate in a three-year promotional campaign conducted by CGI Communications, Inc. (www.cgicommunications.com) in partnership with the U.S Conference of Mayors and the Virginia Municipal League.

A division of CGI, e-LocalLink, will produce a series of online videos to showcase the many resources and distinctive features Reston has to offer to its residents, visitors, and business community. The videos will be accessible for viewing via the respective websites of all of the participating community organizations. Through the video streaming technology, an internet user with any type of media player has the ability to easily access the videos without worrying about download time or computer speed, and can email them directly to an individual or to a group of email addresses. Some of the topics highlighted in the videos will include arts & entertainment; parks and recreation; things to do; shopping and a welcome message.

Community groups and area businesses will be offered the opportunity to participate in sponsorship for the program with 30 to 60 second videos produced highlighting their own organization. These videos will also be featured on the web sites of all of the participating organizations.

A CGI videographer will be in Reston during the first week of August, at various locations, to film all of the features shown in the video segments.

For additional information about the filming or online video program, please contact Karen Monaghan, RA’s Director of Communications at (703) 435-6514 or Milton Matthews, RA’s CEO, at (703) 435-6515.

The communications function of RA is critical to the overall success of the organization and fostering RA’s mission of “leading the model community where all can live, work and play”. The long-range Communications Plan which was presented to the Board in April 2008, includes some new and different ways of reaching out to the membership and other stakeholders, and provides a strategic road map for the Association’s communications activities, both internal and external, over a three year period.

The foundation for the plan was the research gathered in early 2007 through a series of focus groups and interviews with over 30 different groups representing a cross-section of RA stakeholders and audiences. The results of the research determined the recommendations in plans that address some of the Board’s strategic goals along with the needs and desires expressed by the community.

Please contact Karen Monaghan, RA’s Director of Communications, if you have any questions about the plan or would like more information via email to karen@reston.org or by calling (703) 435-6514.

A very aggressive exotic weed introduced from northern Europe during the mid-1800’s is now invading Reston’s lake shorelines. Although attractive while blooming, established plants send up several stalks, each containing 300,000 seeds. If left unchecked, purple loosestrife can take over acres of shoreline, out-competing native plants for growing space.

Reston Association first noticed purple loosestrife on Lake Newport and discovered it on Lake Anne during the National Lake Survey on July 12, 2007. RA would like to remove all of the purple loosestrife that we find along the lakes. We are lucky that there are only small infestations of the plant which makes it amenable to being pulled by hand, preferably before seeds set. We encourage landowners to grant us permission to remove the plant from private property along the lakes.

For a detailed fact sheet on purple loosestrife, visit: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/lysa1.htm
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/loosestrife.shtml

Please call Nicki Foremsky, Watershed Manager at 703-435-6560 for more information.

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Larry Butler, Reston Association Director of Parks and Recreation, (703) 435-6501, lbutler@reston.org
Nicki Foremsky, Reston Association Watershed Manager, (703) 435-6560, nicki@reston.org

Lake Anne Selected for U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Survey of Water Quality

Larry Willis, Regional Monitoring Specialist for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, draws a sample from Lake Anne.

After two years of determining criteria for the sampling of the nation’s lakes, the EPA selected over 900 sites across the country to include in a comprehensive Survey of the Nations Lakes. On Thursday, July 12th, representatives from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ),conducted various samplings of Lake Anne, one of the fifteen lakes in Virginia randomly selected for the survey.

The purpose of the survey is to generate valid statistical data and environmentally relevant reports on the condition of the Nation’s water resources. With the EPA, DEQ and partners such as the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), other bodies of water will also be studied, including coastal waters, wadeable streams, rivers and wetlands.

“We were excited to find that one of Reston’s lakes was selected for the national survey. The analysis will be available within a year and will provide data and findings that we haven’t had in the past given the specific parameters and criteria that were developed for this nation-wide lake study,” said RA’s Parks and Recreation Director, Larry Butler. Butler is also past president of NALMS, one of the partners in the survey being conducted.

Reston Association (RA) monitors its four lakes for water quality six times per year, measuring parameters such as dissolved oxygen, clarity, total phosphorous, phytoplankton (algae) and zooplankton to determine the aquatic health of the lake. “What’s different about this national survey is that they are using consistent procedures across the country at all of the 900 plus sites, to make sure that the results can be compared accurately,” said RA’s Watershed Manager, Nicki Foremsky. “This will be an extremely useful lake management tool.”

The EPA’s schedule includes sampling in 2007, lab analysis and data entry in 2008 and a final report prepared in 2009. For more information on the National Survey of Water Quality, visit www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/lakessurvey/ or send an e-mail to lakessurvey@epa.gov

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Lake Anne has been experiencing problems with algae blooms for many years. This year, starting May 4, 2007, RA is continuing with an algae treatment program consisting of a series of copper sulfate (algaecide) treatments at low concentrations to control algae blooms. Copper sulfate is commonly used in drinking reservoirs to control blue green algae and does not pose a threat to public health. There are no risk-restrictions associated with the use of copper sulfate for this purpose, so lake use will not be impacted. Aquatic Environment Consultants (AEC), a licensed and certificated herbicide applicator, which has been monitoring Reston’s lakes for the past 9 years, are conducting the treatments.

Please help maintain the quality of our lakes. Help reduce nutrient loading into our lakes and streams, which contributes to the algae blooms. Some quick tips include: fertilize in the fall, use less fertilizers or products that do not contain phosphorus, do not feed waterfowl, and establish vegetated shoreline buffers that filter out nutrients from runoff. Please contact Nicki Foremsky at (703) 435-6560 if you have questions or would like more information.

In 2004, Reston Association, with the assistance of PROS Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in parks and recreation master planning, commenced a process to update the 1993 Reston Recreation Master Plan. The process included an intensive review of facilities, programs, operations, maintenance and other services provided by the RA Parks and Recreation Department.

Key to the process was community involvement, lead by a citizens steering committee and incorporating focus groups, stakeholder interviews, community forums, online surveys and finally a community-wide survey sent to 3,000 randomly selected addresses. The consultants presented their findings and recommendations at the May 26, 2005 Board of Directors meeting, and subsequent to that the final draft report was completed.

This report, and two appendices – the community survey report and pools assessment, are now available for review.

The Board of Directors has established a Special Committee for Parks and Recreation Planning to assist the community and Board in finalizing recommendations and to conduct further analysis as required. The Committee will meet monthly, beginning in September and these meetings will be posted on the RA online Events Calendar. Committee contact information will be posted soon. For questions about the plan or process, please contact Larry Butler, Director of Parks and Recreation at 703-435-6501, or at lbutler@reston.org.

Local Emergency Information

Public Safety Communication Center: (703) 691-2131