Clean Water

To protect the water we drink, we need clean air, expansive forests, responsible farms, wooded stream banks, and communities and individuals who make choices to avoid pollution.

Impoving Water Quality - Through Good Land Management

Impoving Water Quality – Through Good Land Management

From rural to suburban to urban, there are best management practices (native plantings, livestock fencing) that make water cleaner ...
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Restoring Connections – By Eliminating Barriers

Culverts, low-water crossings and linear infrastructure (i.e. pipelines, highways) can serve as disruptions to healthy stream flow ...
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Measuring Success - Through Stream Monitoring

Measuring Success – Through Stream Monitoring

Monitoring water quality, biological populations, and physical features of stream habitat are all vital to understanding stream health ...
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An aerial view of an open-face dirt hills of an open pit gold mining, with green/brown tinted retention ponds and construction vehicles.

Metal mining in Virginia risks public and environmental health

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The Haile Gold Mine, a historic mine in the town of Kershaw, South Carolina. Image by Jeff Blake. Historic gold mining has left a legacy of contamination Gold mining occurred throughout Virginia in the gold-pyrite belt, including substantial operations across the PEC region in Orange, Culpeper and Fauquier counties. Based ...
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Your Support is Doubled for Giving Tuesday

Your Support is Doubled for Giving Tuesday

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Giving Tuesday is a global movement dedicated to giving back to organizations and causes you care about. Today on November 30, your donation will go twice as far thanks to the generosity of a longtime supporter who is offering a dollar-for-dollar match on any gifts we receive up to a ...
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sprawl cartoon

Rural Crescent Under Threat in Prince William County

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Credit: Noah Regan The rural area of Prince William County, also known as the “Rural Crescent,” is under threat. Three different proposals are being considered, each unique in scope, but together represent the urbanization and industrialization of the remaining rural lands in Prince William County. The future of farming and ...
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a large tree with trees in tubes next to it in a field

750+ Trees Planted at Sky Meadows State Park

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Photo by Sophia Chapin/PEC On Thursday, October 28 through Saturday, October 30 volunteers joined the Piedmont Environmental Council in a tremendous effort to plant a 3.5-acre riparian area full of native trees. Despite the rainy and muddy conditions, we are happy to report that over 750 trees were planted at ...
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an aerial image of a bridge over the potomac river

49th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act

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Credit: Hugh Kenny/PEC The Clean Water Act was passed the same year the Piedmont Environmental Council was founded, in 1972. The landmark law provides a set of broad goals, national minimum standards and processes to move toward improved water quality. Today on its 49th anniversary, we want to reflect on ...
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