Merrybrook Run Stream Valley Park - Fairfax County Watershed Cleanup 2026

Help remove trash from your watershed! The Nature Conservancy is once again partnering with the Fairfax County Park Authority for a watershed cleanup. This spring clean up event will remove tires, plastic bottles, cans and other debris from local waterways, preventing trash from reaching the nation’s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.

Saturday, April 11, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (you can leave early if needed)

30 volunteers needed

If you're planning to bring a group of 6 or more people, email Jen Dalke, volunteer program manager, at [email protected] so we can plan accordingly.

You will receive an email with event details about a week before the workday.

Your participation in this workday keeps trash from polluting our drinking water and from harming animals. Our marine scientists see trash, primarily plastic, floating in the ocean every time they go offshore. Studies from our university partners at NCSU analyzed the stomach contents of 50 fish (mahi, wahoo, and blue marlin) caught in a major fishing tournament. They were looking for microplastics and found them in every single stomach sampled. Our partners at VCU have been deploying tags on the endangered Atlantic sturgeon in the James River. They have tagged Atlantic sturgeon after freeing them from plastic debris. We're also seeing plastic on the seafloor in the deep sea.

You are making a dfference!

Through 10 years of this cleanup:

• 4,546 volunteers
• donated 10,618 hours
• removed 31 tons of trash
• cleaned 150+ miles of local streams, shorelines and trails

Through your support of The Nature Conservancy and Fairfax County Park Authority, we can continue to preserve and protect the places you care for most.

For information about Fairfax County Park access & accomodations visit: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/accessible. For additional questions visit www.nature.org/fairfaxcleanup

Questions: contact Jen Dalke, volunteer program manager at [email protected].

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher The Nature Conservancy