out in nature
Enjoying Goose Creek While Preserving It
Rebecca Cramer and Helen Ventikos
During summer camps at a local school , we remember swimming in the water , counting bugs on the river , and hiking through stream crossings . Like many other camps , we used resources found in our backyards to have fun . Our middle school even had a pond that runs into Goose Creek , and we learned about its ecosystem in biology . During the muggy Virginia summers , we kayaked along Goose Creek and remembered how fun it was to jump into the water to cool down .
Now , as high school students , we have taken groups of people down to visit our own school “ beach ” near Goose Creek . We have been connected to Goose Creek for our entire lives and are always excited to return to it . All
of these memories are tied back to Goose Creek , and that is why we want to preserve it for future generations to have as much fun as we did .
Many of our memories of the summer revolve around Goose Creek , a State Scenic River . This is a story shared by many others who grew up here . Goose Creek is 54 miles long and is located in northern Virginia in both Loudoun and Fauquier counties . It has provided a learning opportunity for young minds , while providing summer fun and recreation for countless residents .
However , Goose Creek needs your help . The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ( VDEQ ) has designated it as “ impaired ” for over twenty years . This is because it is unsafe for recreational use in some areas . The hazardous water conditions are due in part to harmful bacteria , such as E . coli , that come from animal pastures and broken septic lines that eventually seep into Goose Creek ’ s waterways . These bacteria are hazardous to residents because ingesting even a drop of the water when participating in recreational activities on Goose Creek could make people very ill .
Over the past 50 years , the Goose Creek Association ( GCA ) has worked to protect and preserve the Goose Creek . GCA ’ s original mission was to stop sewage from entering the water near Crenshaw Road . Then GCA ’ s mission grew to protect and preserve the entire Goose Creek watershed , an area encompassing 385 square miles . Today programs include the Goose Creek Challenge where volunteers plant riparian buffers with grasses , shrubs and trees along stream banks to stabilize them , prevent erosion , and filter runoff . The Goose Creek Challenge has planted over 13,000 trees , shrubs and grasses alongside waterways for 10 linear stream bank miles .
32 wander I spring • summer 2022