2010 Bethesda Green Award Winner One of seven Green Giants

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1 June June 2011 Report 2010 Bethesda Green Award Winner One of seven Green Giants The Little Falls Watershed Alliance 4920 Dorset Avenue Chevy Chase, MD

2 What is the Little Falls Watershed? The Little Falls watershed is the nine square mile area that drains into the Little Falls Branch, the Willet Branch and the Minnehaha Creek. These creeks drain into the Potomac at the Little Falls section of the river. The watershed is located on either side of Western Avene in both Montgomery County and Washington DC, mostly west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Wilson Lane. It has one major park, the Little Falls Stream Valley Park which runs from Norwood Park in Chevy Chase to MacArthur Blvd on the DC/MD border. There are also 5 small parks. The C&O Canal runs through the watershed, as does the Capital Crescent Hiker/Biker Path. The Little Falls Watershed Alliance was incorporated in 2008 as a stewardship group for this fragile urban watershed. The Alliance is an all volunteer organization with annual budget of less than $10,000 and over 150 members. It is managed by a board which meets monthly to discuss watershed issues and plan events and actions.

3 LABEL THE WATERSHED JUNE 2010 Label the Watershed 2010 was the second annual storm drain labeling event. Labeling storm drains reminds people that the storm drains go directly to the creek not to a waste treatment plant. The event has two purposes - one to educate volunteers about the storm drain system and second to remind the public not to pollute. Building on the success of the 2009 event, we partnered with community groups to label neighborhoods with community specific labels. Five community groups joined us and we were able to label over 300 storm drains. Along with labeling the drains, we also passed out over 1,000 door hangers with tips for preventing storm water pollution. Especially exciting was our partnership with the BCC High School Green Service club. This groups of high school kids raised $200 for labels and worked to label drains in downtown Bethesda In addition, we partnered with Montgomery County and the District of Columbia (who provided labels for the DC portion of the watershed) and other civic groups including Bethesda Green and Friends of the Bethesda Library. Business partners included Avena, Strosnider s, and Honest Tea.

4 New Website A major accomplishment in 2010 was development of our new website. The site was funded in part by a $1,000 scholarship to a four day website development class lead by website designer ThinkShout and communication experts from Water Words that Work. The class not only helped us develop the website, but also included extensive help in writing to maximize website audience. The new website allows for event sign-ups, petition signing, online donations and other take action activities. It is a Drupal site, an open source content management system, with an interactive map and other features. Our board members are trained in updating it and we have a new volunteer webmaster. We also have Facebook page now as well as a live blog feed to the website. The new website allows us to recruit volunteers for events more efficiently and advertise our activities, as well as keep people up to date on watershed issues and provide resources for our visitors on areas of interest such as native plants, county and state programs incentive programs for green activities, where to report problems and trails and recreation facilities in the watershed.

5 Saturday Weed Pulls Community Involvement Twice a month, LFWA sponsors invasive weed removal work days in the Little Falls Stream Valley Park. We provide gloves and all the necessary tools - loppers, saws, clippers, etc. In the fall of 2011, we will be adding an additional once-a-month work day in Norwood Park in Chevy Chase. Student Service Days LFWA works with local schools and supervises groups of students in invasive weed removal at various sites around the watershed. Bullis, Sidwell Friends and BCC HS are just three of the schools we have partnered with. We worked with the fifth grade class at Wood Acres Elementary School and Montgomery Parks to plan and run a community service day in Wood Acres Park for their class gift. Students and their parents spread two truck loads of mulch to prevent erosion, cut down invasive vines and labeled storm drains. Parkway Pick-up! Parkway and Creek Pick-up Every month, LFWA hosts a parkway and creek clean-up on the Little Falls Parkway between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue. These pick-ups are popular with scouts and high school students looking for community service hours. Our volunteers also pick-up River Road and other highways in the watershed on an as needed basis including a huge paper spill from an unsecured truck load. Mulch movers at the Wood Acres Community Service Day. Civic Group Service Projects LFWA has formed a strong partnership with Montgomery Parks and plans and leads group projects for them. We provide the leadership and tools necessary for the projects. Events included a garlic mustard pull by 24 young women from the BBYO on a Saturday morning. Bullis LAX team did a trash pickup over their spring break and picked up 27 bags of trash. A Hispanic Fraternity at the University of Maryland brought a group of 24 high school students for a morning of invasive weed removal. They put in a total of 60 man hours. In June, 135 employees of the Camden Groups removed 10,000 pounds of invasive bush honey suckle from Norwood Park. UMD Hispanic Fraternity mentors and their high school students removing porcelain berry vines in Norwood Park.

6 Westbrook ES Meadow Project Phase One of the Westbrook meadow restoration was completed by over 100 volunteers in the summer and fall of After covering the grass with heavy cardboard and mulch, nearly 1,000 native flowers and grasser were planted in the 10,000 square foot plot. Elementary school children and their parents planted oaks and other trees that they started from native seeds. Other volunteers included students from the American University Eco Club. Funding was provided in part by the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Phase Two is planned for the fall and will include more trees and shrubs. LFWA is also working with a Boy Scout from Troop 52 on his Eagle project to expand the meadow another 100 feet along the stream bank. Clockwise from Top: Meadow in bloom, summer 2011; Westbrook ES Students planting trees grown from local seed in the fall of 2011; Oak sapling; Native purple cone flowers in bloom.

7 Westbrook ES Outdoor Classroom For the past year, LFWA has been working with Westbrook Elementary School on a nature trail and outdoor classroom. The tree label portion was completed this year. Students and community members exploring the Westbrook campus and surrounding area will be pleased to discover that many of the native trees are now labeled. The project was funded in part by a grant secured by the Elementary School from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The final project will have a self guided nature trail, a sign kiosk with brochures and a place to gather outdoors. We expect the project to be completed after Westbrook Elementary School renovation is completed. Trash Abatement The Little Falls Watershed Alliance is active with local and State governments and neighborhood businesses advocating for a trash-free watershed. We have lobbied in DC, Rockville and Annapolis for stricter litter laws. Richard Yates, chair of our trash abatement committee, has worked with Montgomery County Council persons to draft legislation which will require businesses to be more active in cleaning up outside their establishments. Working with summer interns, our trash abatement committee researched the District of Columbia property tax records to produce for DC Coucilmember Cheh's office and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E a database of names and addresses of some 190 commercial property owners along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor in the Tenleytown and Friendship Heights neighborhoods. This information was used to mail letters on ANC 3E's letterhead alerting the commercial property owners of their responsibilities under DC law to clean up litter outside their premises.

8 Norwood Park Day In the fall of 2010, LFWA celebrated Norwood Park with music, food and invasive vine removal. Over 50 people attended removing a mountain of bush honey suckle and porcelain berry vines. The Little Falls Ramblers entertained us. Community partners included Friends of Norwood Park, Chevy Chase West and Montgomery Parks. Honest Tea donated beverages. MAEOE Youth Summit and Green School Leadership LFWA is proud to participate in the Maryland Green School program and to join MAEOE in their Green School Leader Program. After training, LFWA board member Sarah Morse helped the program by reviewing Green School applications from over 100 schools. We also participated in the Youth Summit by running a Environmental Literacy booth on What it takes to be a Watershed Hero. Over 3,700 students attended the summit. LFWA volunteers led hands on demonstrations on trash reduction and stormwater management as well as talked to students about invasive weed control.

9 Creek Clean-up In April, LFWA participated for the third year in the Annual Alice Ferguson Potomac River Watershed Clean-up. Over 50 volunteers joined us this year, removing over 50 bags of trash and recyclables from the Little Falls Branch and the Willet Branch. We also branched out and did a land pick-up on River Road where the Capital Crescent crosses. Community partners for the event included the Town of Somerset and Montgomery Parks. Advocacy Volunteers pose with creek clean-up haul. Over 50 bags of trash were removed from in and along the Little Falls and Willet creeks. The Little Falls Watershed Alliance has advocated on behalf of the new County MS4 stormwater permit. We submitted extensive comments on the Permit and the Implementation Plan. Portions of these comments were also incorporated by Montgomery County Stormwater Partners in their submission. Board members have traveled to Annapolis to testify for the Stormwater Act of 2007 and other legislation related to environmental issues. Board members also testified in Rockville on behalf of the Bag Tax Fee which passed in Montgomery County and will go in effect in January We are members of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, Montgomery County Stormwater Partners, Conservation Montgomery and the Chesapeake Network and support their efforts with letter writing and testimony. LFWA works with local civic groups on minimizing the environmental impact of development projects. We have been active participants in discussions regarding the development of the BETCO property on Butler Road in Bethesda. Park Sign Kiosk LFWA is providing funding for a kiosk for the Little Falls Stream Valley Park. Building and installing the kiosk is the Eagle Scout project of a member of Troop 15. The kiosk will be invaluable for posting information about the park, trail maps and water quality monitoring results. We also anticipate that the community will use the bulletin board for event announcements and other flyers. Conferences LFWA was honored to be asked to participate in two conferences this past year. Installing the LFWA funded kiosk in Alice Ferguson Trash Free Summit, October 2010 the Little Falls Stream Valley Park. Richard Yates, representing LFWA, presented on a panel on trash enforcement at this annual conference sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation. Community Clean Water Summit, February 2011 Sarah Morse, representing LFWA, addressed this Montgomery County Summit as a Local Conservation Leader. Sarah gave a 20 minute presentation and then sat on a panel of local watershed groups. LFWA also had a information booth.

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