The Reston Association - News & Events

North County Governmental Center Community Room
12000 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston, VA

The Pedestrian & Bicycling Summit is an opportunity to hear progress reports on major bicycling and walking improvements along with
presentations about walking and bicycling in Reston. You can also provide your feedback, and meet those who are working for a more walkable and bicycle-friendly Hunter Mill District.

Those who live or work in Reston and those who like to walk or bicycle for pleasure or transportation are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be provided. This program is free and open to the public.

Reston Association Board of Directors is seeking candidates to fill the remaining term of an open At-Large Director seat; which expires in April 2009. This position will be filled by special appointment by the RA Board of Directors.

Board members determine the Association’s goals and policies, making a significant and lasting contribution to the community.

Candidates must complete a Statement and a Petition of Candidacy.

The petition must be accompanied by signatures from at least twenty-five (25) households. All forms must be filed by 5:00 p.m., Monday, May 19, 2008.

For additional information please contact Cate Fulkerson at 703-435-6512 or via email at cate@reston.org

Come learn more about RA and its many services, amenities and programs available to you, meet staff and Board members, and find out about volunteer opportunities. We look forward to meeting you!

RSVP to Ha Brock, RA Volunteer Coordinator at 703-435-7986 or, habrock@reston.org.

Employer Challenge
The company with the most participants wins
a free lunch catered by
Reston Whole Foods Market.

Free food, beverages and giveaways. T-shirt supplies are limited. Please pre-register to ensure you get one.

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