Flood risk and Soil Study in Sally Ormsby Park

To assess the flooding risk for Sally Ormbsy Park, I used the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) online interactive tool.  I first searched for Fairfax County, Virginia and then zoomed in on the park and its surrounding residential neighborhood.  Sally Ormsby Park is contained in two FEMA flood plain maps:  51059C0260E and 51059C0280E.  Using a snipping toil, I created one image as seen below taking a portion of each of these flood maps.  The red inked lines I inserted show Barkley Drive as the northern terminus of the park and Prosperity Avenue as the southern terminus of the park.  As can be seen on the map below the entire park is in Zone AE, which is a regulatory floodway.  The residential areas to the west and east of the park are Zone X, which has a .2% Annual Chance of Flood Hazard, which is considered to be an area of minimal flood hazard.

The second image shows the same area, but instead of showing the streets prominently, shows more of an aerial view, but with the vegetation in the floodplain shaded blue.  Again, both Barkley Road and Prosperity Avenue are outlined in red ink to show the north and south boundaries of the park and flooding zones AE and X are shown.

To learn more about the soils of Sally Ormsby Park and this section of the Accotink Creek watershed, I went to the USDA Soil Survey site.  By inputting the state of Virginia and then Fairfax County, I was able to zoom in to Sally Ormsby Park and its environs.  The image below is a soil map of the site.  Once again, I inked in red Barkley Drive to the north and Prosperity Avenue to the south, to delineate the north and south boundaries of the park. 

As can be seen in the map above, the most prominent soil in the park is 29A, followed by 49A in the surrounding area.  Below is the legend for the soil map, which includes these two soils.

In the interactive site, you can click on the soil name and short description and get a readout with more details.  I have provided them below for 29A, the Codorus Silt Loam and 49A, the Hatboro Silt Loam.

29A—Codorus silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, occasionally flooded Map Unit Setting National map unit symbol: 2fjmt Mean annual precipitation: 37 to 49 inches Mean annual air temperature: 45 to 67 degrees F Frost-free period: 185 to 212 days Farmland classification: Not prime farmland
Map Unit Composition Codorus and similar soils: 85 percent Minor components: 5 percent Estimates are based on observations, descriptions, and transects of the mapunit.
Description of Codorus Setting Landform: Flood plains Down-slope shape: Linear Across-slope shape: Linear Parent material: Alluvium derived from igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock Typical profile H1 - 0 to 8 inches: silt loam H2 - 8 to 50 inches: loam H3 - 50 to 62 inches: stratified very gravelly sand to loam Properties and qualities Slope: 0 to 2 percent Depth to restrictive feature: More than 80 inches Natural drainage class: Somewhat poorly drained Runoff class: Low Capacity of the most limiting layer to transmit water (Ksat): Moderately high to high (0.57 to 1.98 in/hr) Depth to water table: About 10 to 24 inches Frequency of flooding: Occasional Frequency of ponding: None Available water storage in profile: Moderate (about 8.7 inches)

49A—Hatboro silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, frequently flooded Map Unit Setting National map unit symbol: 2fjpz Mean annual precipitation: 37 to 49 inches Mean annual air temperature: 45 to 67 degrees F Frost-free period: 185 to 212 days Farmland classification: Not prime farmland
Map Unit Composition Hatboro and similar soils: 85 percent Estimates are based on observations, descriptions, and transects of the mapunit.
Description of Hatboro Setting Landform: Flood plains Down-slope shape: Linear Across-slope shape: Linear Parent material: Alluvium derived from igneous and metamorphic rock Typical profile H1 - 0 to 6 inches: silt loam H2 - 6 to 23 inches: loam H3 - 23 to 60 inches: clay loam Properties and qualities Slope: 0 to 2 percent Depth to restrictive feature: More than 80 inches Natural drainage class: Poorly drained Runoff class: Negligible Capacity of the most limiting layer to transmit water (Ksat): Moderately high to high (0.57 to 1.98 in/hr) Depth to water table: About 0 to 18 inches Frequency of flooding: Frequent Frequency of ponding: None Available water storage in profile: Moderate (about 8.6 inches)

Both of these soils are silty loams and their landform is flood plains.  Codorus is somewhat poorly drained and Hatboro is poorly drained.  Neither is prime farmland. 

This information in addition to the FEMA flood risk maps shown above show that a park is a good land use for this section of watershed of Accotink Creek.  In particular, the area on either side of Accotink Creek and Long Branch Creek are regulatory floodways, while the surrounding residential areas have minimal flood hazard.

Resources

FEMA Flood Map Service Center.  Retrieved from https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home .

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Web Soil Survey.  Retrieved from
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/

Plan for Assembling Materials on Accotink Creek in Sally Ormsby Park Watershed Study

My tentative plan is to assemble all my various blog posts on Sally Ormsby Park into usable presentations or documents and then upload them into Canvas's e-Portfolio.  I do have some questions about this process, whether I can assemble them all as one file, or if they would be separate files. 

Also, my Google Slide decks that are embedded in this blog are ones that I would use if I was doing a presentation to an audience about the various topics.  With that in mind, I did not make them text-heavy, because I know that is one of the pitfalls of presentations.  When I do presentations, I do not create speaker notes, because I don't generally need them if I am familiar with a topic, but I need to decide if I should add speaker notes to the slides,

I am planning to discuss these and other topics with my professor, Jim, at our meeting next Tuesday.

Invasive Species in Sally Ormsby Park

Evaluation of Water Monitoring Equipment Suppliers

There are many different methods to evaluate a waterway and an even greater number of companies devoted to supplying the evaluation equipment.  This paper shall serve to mention some of the different methods of evaluation as well as an evaluation of the supply companies.

Audubon International has created a concise fact sheet called Resources for Stream Quality Monitoring (Audubon International).  It lists the following different methods of stream monitoring:  visual surveys, macroinvertebrate surveys, testing for physical characteristics and specific chemical testing.  Visual surveys would consist of looking at the stream for color, surface film, checking odor, litter, etc.  Macroinvertebrate surveys involve sampling the water for insect larvae and worms.  The abundance and variation of the species present gives an indication of the health of the stream.  Testing for physical characteristics includes collecting data on pH, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and conductivity.  Lastly, specific chemical testing includes measuring the concentration of nitrates, phosphorus, potassium, heavy metals and other compounds.

The NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), on the other hand, has a set of ten different protocols for evaluating streams (Carlsen, W. et al, 2004).  Some of these protocols are similar to the broader categories of Audubon International.  Protocol 5, for instance, is “Collecting aquatic invertebrates to do a survey of biota”.  Protocol 6 is a Simplified Stream Biota Test (SSBT) using data from Protocol 5 to assess the quality of a segment of a stream.  Similarly, Protocol 7 involves a more complicated assessment called an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) that also used the data from Protocol 5.  Protocol 8 measures a stream’s discharge, calculating the volume of stream flow, based on water depth and flow velocity.  Protocol 9, Aquatic Chemistry, involves collecting stream samples and analyzing the water using kits.

A dizzying number of businesses supply the equipment professionals and volunteers use to monitor physical, biological and chemical characteristics of streams.  Below, I shall list some of the more prominent companies and organizations that supply this equipment, with a concise description of their offerings.

Ben Meadows—This family-owned company was purchased in August, 2018 by Forestry Suppliers.  The notice on the Ben Meadows website describes the two companies as “friendly competitors” since the 1950’s, with similar values. 

Forestry Suppliers https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/BM/index1.php#  --  This family-owned company sells equipment for forestry, engineering and environmental science.  They sell over a thousand items of water monitoring equipment.  These include data loggers, water samplers, water analysis kits, water testing kits, and stormwater and spill management equipment.  You can search by price point as well as by brand.  A very comprehensive supply company.

In-Situ  https://in-situ.com/ -- In-Situ is an environmental equipment rental company.  It manufactures its own equipment for water quality and water flow monitoring and appears to be directed more towards the professional than a volunteer water evaluator.  In-Situ provides 24/7 technical support.  They also sell their products, but do not list the price on the website.  You need to contact them for a quote.

SOS (Save Our Streams), Izaak Walton League  https://www.iwla.org/conservation/water/save-our-streams -- Save our Streams is a citizen science program sponsored by the Izaak Walton League.  They recommend various chemical and physical monitoring equipment designed for volunteers and have links to companies that sell these items.  They also supply data forms and encourage you to share your data with the League, so that they can compile and use it.

Chemetics—This company offered kits for measuring various chemical properties, but was purchased by Worley in April 2019.

BioQuip Products https://www.bioquip.com/ --  BioQuip is a small company that sells equipment, supplies and books related to entomology and other biological concentrations.  It is a helpful source for stream monitoring using the NSTA’s Protocol 5.  Products include specialized collecting nets, magnifiers, books, educational materials and water sampling chambers.

YSI https://www.ysi.com/ -- YSI is a large company that sells every possible product you can imagine for assessing fresh and salt water bodies, stormwater and wastewater.  It is geared more towards the professional than the volunteer.  It offers extensive customer support and sponsors educational blogs as well as trouble-shooting articles (e.g. 5 Tips to Prevent Costly Mistakes with your Water Quality Sonde). 

LaMotte https://www.lamotte.com/en/ -- LaMotte’s website says they have been “solving analytical challenges since 1919”.  Many of their products have to do with pools and spas, drinking water and aquaculture.  However, they do have a full line of products for environmental education.  These include water monitoring kits, test strips, and bacteria studies kits.

Carolina Biological Supply Company https://www.carolina.com/ -- This company carries educational products for many natural and physical science curricula.  It sells the Earth Force Low-Cost Water Quality Monitoring Kit, developed in cooperation with Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN).  The kit tests temperature, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphate and coliforms.

Acorn Naturalists https://www.acornnaturalists.com/ -- This environmental company sells educational products “for Trail and Classroom”.  Their website states that after 30 years of evaluating water quality test kits, they find LaMotte kits to be the best.  They offer a full array of LaMotte water quality test kits, including their GREEN (mentioned above in Carolina Biological Supply Company review) water quality monitoring kits.

Fondriest Environmental, Inc. https://www.fondriest.com/ -- Fondriest rents and sells many brands of equipment, including their own, In-Situ, YSI and Hach.  Their merchandise is directed towards the professional, rather than the volunteer.  They sell over 1700 water quality products alone.

Flinn Scientific https://www.flinnsci.com/ -- This company sells products for earth and environmental science.  It sells water samplers, water quality field trip kits, water sampling supplies and a DO kit.

Hach https://www.hach.com/ -- Founded in 1933, Hach specializes in water analysis.  Its products are geared towards the professional and most products are for continuous monitoring. 

Resources

Audubon International. Resources for Stream Quality Monitoring.   https://auduboninternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/WQ-Stream-Quality-Monitoring-Resources.pdf

Carlsen, W., Trautmann, N., Krasy, M. & Cunningham, Ct. (2004) Watershed Dynamics, Student Edition and Teachers’ Manual.  Arlington:  NSTA Press.

More About the Trees of Sally Ormsby Park

Other watershed studies

For those who are interested in reading about other watershed studies, I am listing below my classmates in Virginia Tech’s Watershed Stewardship class.  Please read and enjoy:

Amy - Lake Michigan (IL,MI,WI) (Links to an external site.)
Bill B. - St. Francis River (AR) (Links to an external site.)
Brenda - Lynnhaven River (VA) (Links to an external site.)
Christina - San Lorenzo River (CA) (Links to an external site.)
Daniel - Trout Run (VA) (Links to an external site.)
Emily - Occoquan River (VA) (Links to an external site.)
Jeremy - Yakima River (WA) (Links to an external site.)
Jessica - Yellowstone River (MT,WY) (Links to an external site.)
Jim - Potomac South Branch (WV) (Links to an external site.)
Jim - Potomac South Branch (Fcbk) (Links to an external site.)
Joel - Everglades (FL) (Links to an external site.)
Kayla - Hood Canal (WA) (Links to an external site.)
Lacy - Stemple Creek (CA) (Links to an external site.)
Marie - Schuylkill River (PA) (Links to an external site.)
Nichole - Pugent Sound (WA) (Links to an external site.)
Nikolai - Kailua (HI) (Links to an external site.)
Roxanne - Accotink Creek (VA) (Links to an external site.)
Ryan - Octoraro Creek (PA) (Links to an external site.)
Samara - Gorst Creek (CA) (Links to an external site.)
Theresa - N. Anna River (VA) (Links to an external site.)
Thomas - Eno River (NC) (Links to an external site.)
Will C. - Upper Tennessee (VA)

Friends of Accotink Creek