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- Info
Loudoun county environmental indicators project
| Author: |
George Washington University |
| Date: |
1999 |
| Periodical: |
Washington, DC: George Washington University |
| Abstract: |
The Loudoun County Environmental Indicators Project (LEIP) was initiated on October 1, 1998, when necessary funding requirements were realized. The first year's work was devoted to the identification of sites suitable for monitoring the 19 indicators originally proposed. This number was reduced by three to avoid duplicate terminology and three others were analyzed as subsets of significant land cover types for greater clarity. After consultation with numerous community groups and individual citizens of the county, 17 different sites were selected for monitoring existing conditions and aspects of the county considered important to the quality of its environment. A map of the 17 sites selected is included in the appendix of this report (page 64). The 17 sites are described by geographic coordinates as well as place names (page 65). It should be recognized that not all indicators are measured at each site. The faculty/student research team concentrated its efforts on establishing baseline data suitable for comparison with matching data in future years. The team expects to involve Loudoun County school students and their supervising faculty in the collection and tabulation of data at these 17 sites during the coming years in order to identify and interpret trends that may appear. This is a report of the first year of research and organizational activity for the Loudoun County Environmental Indicators Project (LEIP, say "leap"). Following several months of discussion with Loudoun County leaders, a proposal to investigate and monitor 18 carefully selected indicators of environmental change was formulated and presented to a steering committee of Northern Virginia Campus officials and Loudoun County citizens. The indicators selected were designed to make use of standard reference materials and techniques as well as advanced applications of computer science and satellite imagery. After consultation with local officials, it was agreed to expand the list with at least two more indicators reflecting trends in air quality and water quality in the county, utilizing data collected and maintained by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments. Accordingly, a multidisciplinary team of University faculty members and graduate students was formed to conduct the research required to establish baselines for each of the selected indicators. This team, which has included seven faculty members, six graduate students and two undergraduates, includes the basic disciplines of geography, urban and regional planning, geology, botany, and American Studies/historic preservation. Within the field of geography are included the specialties of climatology and satellite remote sensing. Seventeen sites throughout the county were selected for long term monitoring. These sites represent environmental conditions and types of development ranging from second growth forest areas and riparian zones to shopping centers and residential projects of varying densities. Not all sites are monitored for the same indicators; some sites were chosen primarily for their potential to reflect changes in water quality, for example, while others were selected to indicate changes in land cover from forest, fields, or farms to paved surfaces, including the rooftops of large buildings. Two special sites along Goose Creek were selected for monitoring because they are wetlands established artificially in mitigation of original wetland areas eliminated to permit construction of the Dulles Greenway. Systematic recording of information in the future for comparison with baseline data recorded in the first year of the Indicators Project will improve public understanding of the effects of change and enable more informed decision-making in the future. The Indicators Project Annual Report has been designed to provide basic objective information about certain aspects of the Loudoun County environment. The report is accompanied by an exhibit of colorful graphics, including aerial photography at user-friendly scale. These elements form the basis for a series of public presentations by members of the LEIP team, county officials, and well-informed citizen leaders and specialists in environmental issues. Experience strongly suggests the need for continuing public discussion of environmental pressures and changes in the county as the key to enlightened governance. |
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