Prince William County Watershed Management is restoring 1,360 feet of the stream that flows along the border of Hylbrook Park in Woodbridge.
Located between Route 1 and 1-95, this stream is surrounded by residential development on small lots, largely built in the 1960’s when there was considerably more vacant land and stormwater impacts were easy to ignore.
Today, more than 50 years later, stormwater runoff has dramatically eroded the stream bank to the point where it is now just feet away from the Prince William Senior Center, adjacent to Hylbrook Park.
This restoration project aims to protect the Senior Center building and downstream properties. The price tag is $1 million, with $360,000 in funding coming from a state grant and $640,000 from Prince William County taxpayers. This is a cost of $735 per foot.
Prince William Conservation Alliance (PWCA) Stream Stewards visited this stream at Hylbrook Park in March 2012. During the tour, Prince William County Environmental Engineer Clay Morris pointed out challenging conditions that would limit the restoration, notably the lack of land along the stream bank which leaves no space to re-establish an adequate channel.
Morris concluded that riprap (rocks used to armor stream banks) was the only available option to stabilize the banks and prevent further erosion. He pointed out that this would not improve water quality, only water flow and erosion control.
