Department Resources

Conservation Currents Newsletter

Future releases of our Conservation Currents newsletter are currently on hold. Please consider signing up for our other quality newsletters:

Watershed Calendar monthly emails, which include stream monitoring and other events
Green Breakfast notifications, which include information about speaker events six times a year

Safe Drinking Water

Sitara Sastry, a student from Oakton High School and a Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts Youth Conservation Leadership Institute fellow recently researched where the drinking water in her school comes from. Learn more about the path water takes to get to our schools.

Plant NoVA Natives

Plant NoVA Natives has been a great supporter of NVSWCD initiatives since its inception in 2011. Learn more about the role this invaluable organization plays.

Winter Stable Management

Senior Conservation Specialist Willie Woode makes recommendations for winter stable management. Learn about taking stress off your pasture fields, improving manure handling, and preventing water from freezing.

Featured Articles

Discover Early Spring Wildflowers

Mayapple emerges. Credit: Gary Putnam, Arlington Regional Master Naturalists

Looking forward to spring? Ready to open the windows for some fresh air and take a walk or bike ride on your favorite local trail? While you’re out, take a look at the splashes of color by the trailside and see if you recognize any of the early wildflowers. These spring ephemerals only bloom for a short time every spring.

It's Spring: Hold on to Your Fertilizer

Contrary to popular practice, spring is not the time to fertilize your lawn. If you fertilize in early spring, the blades will grow at the expense of the roots developing. Extra fertilizer will run off into streams and rivers, polluting fisheries and local drinking water sources.

Home Turf: Virginia Healthy Lawns

Virginia Cooperative Extension's Home Turf program brings Master Gardener expertise to the grasses in lawns across Northern Virginia.

Chickens in Your Backyard

Interest in locally grown food is on the rise, from urban gardening to backyard chicken operations. Can Fairfax County residents keep chickens? How can owners care for chickens? What is the best way to manage chicken waste?