Why is Fairfax County conducting the perennial stream project?
The directive for the perennial stream identification and mapping project came from the Board of Supervisors in response to a request from the County s Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC). EQAC was concerned that there was an unreliable, incomplete stream map and that many perennial streams were not being protected under the County s Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance (CBPO). Under the current CBPO, perennial streams are only those depicted as perennial on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps. These streams as well as wetlands, tidal wetlands, and tidal shores are included within Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) that perform certain ecological and biological processes indicative of maintaining good water quality. RPAs are vegetated riparian buffer areas, which include land within a major floodplain and land within 100 feet of the aforementioned water bodies. These buffer areas are important in the reduction of sediments and nutrients, as well as the other adverse effects
