More Than 140 Trees To Be Removed To Comply with Dam Safety Code

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by Dave Emke — August 21, 2017 at 2:45 pm 15 Comments

In order to comply with Virginia code regarding flood protection and dam safety, Reston Association crews will remove 143 trees in North Reston next month.

Most of the trees to be removed (131) are located near Butler Pond. Another dozen trees located near Bright Pond will also be removed.

The issue was brought to RA’s attention during a recent dam inspection by GKY & Associates.

According to Virginia code:

Dam owners shall not permit the growth of trees and other woody vegetation and shall remove any such vegetation from the slopes and crest of embankments and the emergency spillway area, and within a distance of 25 feet from the toe of the embankment and abutments of the dam.

Butler Pond is located on the west side of Reston Parkway near the intersection with Route 7. The trees in question line Reston Parkway, with most on the eastern side.

Bright Pond is located on the east side of Reston Parkway, north of the intersection with Wiehle Avenue. The trees in question there are located on the southeastern side of the pond, near Reston Association’s Pink Trail.

RA’s arborist and environmental crews are expected to begin the work during the first week of September. RA plans to replant trees beyond the 25-foot buffer area within the natural area behind Stones Throw Drive, beginning later in September.

Map of Butler Pond work plan courtesy Reston Association

J.B.

Why not wait until bird nesting season is over, just a couple months? As usual, humans don’t care about any living being except themselves, even in Reston. It probably wasn’t even thought about. Shame on RA.
- I’d rather post as a guest
  
  The penalties for non-compliance can be severe. If the Reston Audubon group is willing to pay the cost I would think something could be worked out.
Donald

Wondering what the impact will be, potentially, to the surrounding area at Lake Anne? As I recall, a decision is pending to raise the level of the dam. That will be a major structural project.

Donald
Reston Realist

RA needs to address some of the overgrowth around Bright Pond. When using the trail for running or biking it’s hard to tell that there is even a pond there. Also, it’s a very dirty pond and the fish and wild life over the last several years have all but disappeared completely
- MakeRestonBetter
  
  I’m sure the Environmental Advisory Committee would be happy to hear your concerns. And/Or, you can contact the RA Maintenance folks to ask them to address the situation. Each of RA’s ponds and natural features need champions to help maintain them. There may be things going on in connection with Bright Pond that you don’t know about and that RA is trying to address. But with all of the wooded areas and water features in Reston, it is time consuming and expensive to maintain all of them, much less get ahead of issues. Then when something like this dam report comes out, everything else has to be put to the side so they can deal with it ASAP.
  - Reston Realist
    
    That’s a very good suggestion. Thanks! Interesting – I didn’t even know we had an Environmental Advisory Committee…. Is that an RA board committee?
    - MakeRestonBetter
      
      Advisory committee to the board. Meets first Tues each month. More info here: https://www.reston.org/AboutRestonAssociation/Governance/Committees/EnvironmentalAdvisoryCommittee/tabid/356/Default.aspx
    - Donald
      
      Yes it is. Unfortunately the Vice Chair spends the majority of his time criticizing the staff and the board. Very little time on items like Bright Pond.
      
      Donald
      - MakeRestonBetter
        
        At least he’s serving. If residents want more balance on any committee, they need to volunteer to serve.
      - Tammi Petrine
        
        Are you by any chance a Bocce aficionado, Don? You seem to know a lot about RA and it’s details… Committees and staff, etc.
      - Donald
        
        Nope, just what I observe at the board meetings and what I read from the Vice Chair here.
        
        Donald
    - Tammi Petrine
      
      The RA EAC is an amazing committee with many dedicated members and led by two devoted environmentalists who attend many RA and non RA community meetings. The EAC committee folks have produced incredibly detailed reports on all things in Reston related to our wonderful natural environment including new lighting discoveries. Their comprehensive report just released with red, yellow or green symbols is especially interesting and will be used as benchmarks for future analysis of progress in protecting our natural resources. Kudos to them all!
      - Reston Realist
        
        Hi Tammi, that’s very helpful insight. What do you think is the best way to approach them regarding getting Bright Pond back to a viable situation?
Dammit

Good… It’s about time that those Dam Trees are removed from that Dam Pond.
TheKingJAK

Meanwhile, at some of the other lakes with no trees on the dam there is constant erosion.

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