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Cross County Trail Before and After
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On September 6, 2008, Tropical Storm Hannah delivered approximately 7 inches of rain in Springfield This is greater than the 10-year rainfall event that the CCT bridges are designed for. I went to the site of the trail paving around 5:30 pm in the area about a mile downstream of the LAP dam, where the clearcut is for the first bridge crossing below the dam. I could only get to the edge of the steep slope above the clearcut. The water flooded the entire valley, up to the steepest slopes. The current at the edge was about 5 miles per hour, and the creek was whitewater (raging fast).
On September 7, I went back and photographed the damage. Downed trees were all along the creek and some along the trail. Most of the new culverts suffered serious damage. The silt fencing and the orange net fencing were severely damaged. Some of this washed away and became deadly debris downstream. The most shocking of all sights was that hundreds of fish were dead on the trail and dozens or hundreds more were trapped in puddles and blocked culverts or were caught in the temporary fencing. I couldn't walk down the trail without watching where I stepped so that I did not step on a fish! This was over a section a mile long. I did not walk the other mile, which I hear was worse. The fish were trapped because of the fencing and raised grading of the trail.
This type of rainfall event will become more frequent, and the flooding made worse by the paving and removal of trees here and upstream. Considering that this paving project is not needed, it is extremely damaging to the environment. The fragile floodplain should be protected at all costs, not developed.
Submitted by Susan Jewell, Wildlife Biologist, Springfield, VA
On Sept 9 and 10 I walked the CCT construction zone from Hunter Village Dr to the dam. Using nets and a bucket, I rescued about 200 fish stranded in puddles by the flooding during tropical storm Hanna. Most were very small, but some were up to eight inches. All seemed to be in good health, judging by the energy they put into evading the net. I had to abandon rescue in one puddle when I found there was also a snapping turtle in the murk.
I also found about ten mussels stranded on the beach where we do our stream monitoring. They were tightly closed, so must have still been alive. I returned them to the water. One mussel was smaller and appears to have been a different species, perhaps Pyganodon grandis, instead of the usual Eliptio complanata.
It was disappointing to observe that the construction crews at the northern and middle bridge sites have built creek fording areas where heavy equipment is being driven right through the creek. These fords are not even in the area cleared for construction, but have been built parallel to the cleared path. Bridge construction has yet to begin at the southern bridge, but there is little reason to hope it will be different.
The permanent culverts being installed on year-round tributaries seem to give only lip service to fish passage. There are drop-offs on the downstream sides that seem insurmountable for the small fish present in these tributaries. If fish do manage to leap over, they will face a lenghty swim without resting points through the shallow flows inside corrugated steel pipes. Although the Park Authority maintains that sedimentation will soon render these culverts indistinguishable from the rest of the streambed, we remain dubious.
Submitted by Philip Latasa
Contact Friends of Accotink Creek, E-mail.
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