From your backyard to the Chesapeake Bay, what occurs in your neighborhood affects the water quality downstream.
What is a watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that drains to a particular water body, such as a lake or river. No matter where you are, you are within a watershed. Fairfax County’s 30 watersheds are nested within the larger Chesapeake Bay Watershed. If everyone takes care of the streams in their local watershed, the Bay will benefit.
Watershed Management Plans
Fairfax County has developed comprehensive watershed management plans for each of the county's 30 watersheds. These are grouped into 11 major watershed management plan documents. A watershed management plan serves as a tool to identify and address the issues affecting our environment and to protect and restore the county's streams and other water resources.
The plans identify areas of opportunity for implementing both structural and non-structural improvement projects such as stream restorations, stormwater facility retrofits, community education and stewardship, streamside buffer enhancements and installation of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). Proposed projects in the plans have recommended priorities. These lists should not be interpreted as specific implementation schedules or a guarantee that the project will be implemented through the planned Capital Improvement Program (CIP). A full list of active or completed Stormwater projects is available online on the Stormwater Improvement Projects website or Jade (Fairfax County's Comprehensive Mapping Application).
Select a watershed to view the watershed management plan document online. Hard copies of the plans may be found at local libraries and Board of Supervisor district offices that are within one mile of the watershed boundary.
Fairfax County Stormwater Management is dedicated to protecting and restoring our vital natural resources through the implementation of stormwater management projects throughout the county.