Cameron Run: Mother Nature Can Bite...and Its Not Always With Teeth!

So I was out walking today (Thursday) around Capitol Hill during my lunch break and the sky was blue, the birds were chirping, the Fall air was cool and I am thinking, "Do I really have to go back to the office?"  Of course, like all good workaholic Washingtonians, I did go back to the office.  Ugh.  Being outdoors though, got me to thinking about my watershed (Cameron Run) and especially the map rendering that I had examined earlier in the week that shows how my watershed's downstream course has been changed over the last half-century on account of suburban development and nearby highway construction.  The rendering, above, accompanied an article in the Washington Post from almost exactly one year ago when a devastating flood inundated many homes in the Huntington neighborhood of Alexandria--the second "100-year" type flood in a five year period.  What's especially interesting is how the course of Cameron run has been altered and channelized over the years. 

The rendering clearly shows that what was once a meandering stream, is now a nearly straight channel.  Due to sedimentation from years of highway construction and reconstruction, increased impervious surface resulting from suburbanization upstream, and channelization of many parts of the waterway, Cameron Run today cannot handle the volumes of water that rush into it and its upstream tributaries during a heavy rain event.  The result: the seemingly endless flooding of a close-knit and vibrant working class neighborhood.  Years of studies and proposals for a levee, pumping station, and redevelopment have borne no fruit so far.  The latter option, redeveloping the neighborhood into a mixed-use area, seems the most viable since it would involve partnering with developers who would have the funds and motivation (on account of the neighborhood's proximity to the Huntington Metro Station) to implement the infrastructure changes that neither the Federal, State, or local government have so far been able to pursue.  



Upstream View of Cameron Run (Huntington Metro Station is at left).

  In the meantime, I think that now that we have an increased awareness of the ill-effects that can befall urban streams (and the neighborhoods and natural areas that sit astride them) when we don't plan with nature, we really need to think and act more rationally and carefully in the future with respect to watershed planning and carefully consider all the effects that altering stream corridor and adjacent wetlands may have not only in the immediate area of any development/disturbance but, also downstream.  The price of not planning and considering all such adverse effects is not only detrimental to wildlife and biodiversity but, also hurts the bottom line and welfare of us humans as well.