Adventures of Finding, Planning, Designing and Constructing Stream Restoration Projects in a Rapidly Changing County
Michele Seib, PE
Chris Stone, PG, CFM
Loudoun County, Virginia – Department of General Services
Leesburg, Virginia
Loudoun County, Virginia, is a rapidly developing Mid-Atlantic county, adding 30 new residents every day. This presentation will focus on the challenges and opportunities that a rapidly changing urban/suburban landscape provides for stream restoration projects.
Once a project finds support and proceeds forward, the watershed and site conditions can often change in the time it takes to plan, fund, design, permit, and move to construction. The landscape (and thus the watersheds) is frequently changing, both in land use changes and in water runoff patterns. Because of the evolving landscape, finding and implementing stream restoration projects can be challenging. A project that might look great initially during the planning phase may be directly adjacent to a large subdivision that hasn’t yet been fully designed (or built!). Or a project could be entirely on County-owned property but have competing interests with other county programs. In other cases, private entities are opposed to the changes that stream restoration might bring (such as removal of trees) to their viewshed.
Several projects in Loudoun County have been impacted by development (privately funded and publicly funded) during various phases of the process. Sometimes the impacts were negative, such as having to push a project to later years to allow other projects to be completed first, resulting in the loss of funding. Other project impacts were more beneficial such as efficiency savings from combining workspace or leaving the access prepped and in place for a future project.
Understanding how to manage expectations and adapt to “unforeseen” development surprises, while communicating the project goals and process with the public requires keeping an open and creative mindset. This presentation will also explore tactics used for effective communication.
About Michele Seib
Michele Seib is a Senior Stormwater Engineer working for Loudoun County Virginia. She has almost 20 years of engineering experience in water resources and stormwater and has worked across the world and across various industries (almost every industry needs a good stormwater engineer!). She currently manages the planning, design and construction of stream restoration projects and other capital stormwater projects for Loudoun County. In her spare time, she loves to garden, spend time outside, and volunteer. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Penn State in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in Hydrology and Water Security.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-seib-6140419
About Chris Stone, PG, CFM
Chris is a Professional Geologist and Certified Floodplain Manager. He has a BS from Shippensburg University in Geo-Environmental Studies and an MS in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University. Chris worked as a consultant for the first 16 years of his career and has worked for Loudoun County for the past 12 years. He is currently serving Loudoun County as the Stormwater Chief where he has the pleasure of working with a small but mighty team of dedicated individuals. Together, Chris and his Team are responsible for the maintenance of the stormwater system on both public and private land, compliance with the MS4 stormwater permit, and compliance with the Chesapeake Bay and local TMDLs. Chris and his Team are currently managing eight (8) stream restoration projects and five (5) stormwater retrofit projects.