There are Treasures in Our Streams: 6th Annual Family Stream Day

Bring your friends and family to this year’s Family Stream Day event, held October 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harper Park Middle School, 701 Potomac Station Drive in Leesburg. Loudoun County children of all ages are invited to learn about their local waters and the habitats they support. Family Stream Day is an interactive, outdoor environmental education event for students – the only event of its kind in Loudoun. It is scheduled each year in October to coincide with World Water Monitoring Day and the Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Loudoun Watershed Watch and its partners are the sponsors; Harper Park Middle School is the host for this year’s event. Admission is free and the event will be held rain or shine.

Several interactive water learning “stations” will be located in front of the school and alongside a stream that runs adjacent to the school. Kids and their parents can pick up a Stream Day passbook at the starting point, and then visit all the stations where their participation in a water education activity gets them a stamp in their passbook. When their passbooks are full, they can pick up a prize. The stations will showcase all the ways in which Loudoun residents impact our waters, such as recognizing wetland habitats (good) or pouring household hazardous wastes down the kitchen sink (not good). Participants are encouraged to wear proper walking shoes.

At 12 p.m., prizes will be awarded to the top entries in this year’s Stream Day poster, poem and essay contest, “Streams—Discover the Hidden Treasures.”

The contest was open to all Loudoun County Public and Private School students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Event Background
This annual event coincides with World Water Monitoring Day (September 18) and commemorates 35 years of the Clean Water Act and watershed awareness. It is being planned and organized by several County organizations including: Loudoun Watershed Watch, Loudoun County Department of General Services, Loudoun County Sanitation Authority, Loudoun County Department of Building & Development, Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District, Audubon Naturalist Society, Piedmont Environmental Council, Leesburg Environmental Advisory Commission, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, and many more.

Directions: East of Leesburg
Take Route 7 West toward Leesburg. About a mile before Leesburg, take a right onto River Creek Parkway (at the traffic light). Take a left at the next light onto Potomac Station Drive. About a 1/2 mile on Potomac Station Drive you will see Harper Park Middle School on the left.

LWW Background:
Formed in 2000, the primary goal of the LWW is to monitor and protect water resources in Loudoun County by raising local students’ and others’ awareness of Loudoun’s water resources and engage them in meaningful, hands-on water science activities. For the last four years, LWW has been working in three areas: compiling and examining existing water quality data; designing a comprehensive surface water monitoring program covering all significant streams in the county; and implementing a public outreach program to raise citizen awareness and involvement in local water quality. LWW hopes its reports and initiatives will encourage citizens and elected officials to take actions that support environmental stewardship that benefits our local waters. For more information, or to find out how you can get involved with Loudoun Watershed Watch, go to www.loudounwatershedwatch.org

                                                                  
Contact Liza Young, 571-291-7847


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