Volunteers Help Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District Earn National Award

Since 2015, more than 4,500 volunteers with the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, or PWSWCD, have removed tons of refuse from county waterways. Last year, volunteers removed more than 13,000 pounds of trash from the county’s streams, ponds and wetlands.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, recently announced its 2021 National Earth Team Award Winners. With help from the volunteers, PWSWCD was recognized for its Water Quality program. The conservation service promotes conservation and protects natural resources, especially water, with a focus on cleaning waterways, ponds and natural environments. They also promote community science and water quality data.

“This award was given to Prince William County because of its outstanding water quality program which brings together a lot of volunteers with different backgrounds and volunteer groups across the county,” said Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District Water Quality Programs Manager Veronica Tangiri. “The outstanding work of the water quality volunteers was nominated by the local NCRS office in Warrenton to compete for the 2021 Virginia State Award. This is where the PWSWCD Water Quality program stood out with its high level of volunteers' engagement in Virginia.”

PWSWCD earned the Group Volunteer and National Earth Team Group Volunteer awards. The Earth Team is a national program that promotes natural resources protection and conservation.

“Volunteers play a vital role in sustaining and improving Virginia’s soil health and water quality for generations to come,” said USDA State Volunteer Coordinator Barbara Bowen. “They help NRCS and districts stretch available resources to deliver programs and services that can build a better future for all Virginians. The national Earth Team awards are a ‘thank you’ from the NRCS chief to volunteers who freely give their time and talents to support our mission of ‘Helping People Help the Land.’”

“These awards not only help us recognize these individuals and teams for the good work they are doing to support conservation but also strengthen our partnership with districts as we work together to achieve our mutual goal of protecting our nation’s precious natural resources,” Bowen said.

Volunteers across the county also help improve water quality through the Adopt-a-Stream/Pond, Biological and Chemical monitoring, and the Floatable monitoring programs. The data from the monitoring goes to the U.S. Department of Environmental Quality for record keeping and analysis through the Virginia Save Our Streams and the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Co-op programs. Adopting a stream is open to anyone who can commit to cleaning a stream or waterway once a year or monitoring and collecting water quality data quarterly or monthly.

The PWSWCD also gets help from county students who assist with water cleanups and monitoring. In return, these students meet their service hour requirements while their work helps keep waterways clean, Tangiri said. “The county schools now have their teachers thinking about getting certified for the biological monitoring program so that we can get more kids to learn more about water quality monitoring, thereby promoting STEM in Prince William County. It’s a win-win.”

The PWSWCD has an Occoquan River cleanup scheduled for Sept. 24. On Nov. 5. PWSWCD is set to hold a cleanup at the Neabsco Creek Boardwalk.

Visit pwswcd.org or call 571-379-7514 or 571-379-8213 for more information.