Back on January 17, 2018, we officially kicked off the development of the Salt Management Strategy (SaMS) for Northern Virginia ( meeting summary)! Since then we’ve made a lot of progress building a solid foundation upon which the SaMS will be developed.

Throughout the past six months, our Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) has been very active. Because the SAC will be driving the development of the SaMS, a diverse and informed SAC is important to the success of the SaMS.  Therefore, we are happy to share that since January 2018 the SAC has grown from 36 members representing 26 different organizations to a more diverse and balanced array of stakeholders totaling 74 members from 40 organizations. 

The SAC first met on February 27, 2018 where we discussed the scope of the SaMS, the project goals, objectives, and participation guidelines, and expectations that SAC members have for this project ( meeting summary). During discussions at this meeting, SAC members identified a need for training on salting best practices and alternative deicers. As a result, we slowed down the SaMS development schedule to organize a full day of technical training for SAC members that was held on May 24, 2018 and graciously hosted by Fairfax Water at their Griffith Water Treatment Plant. During the morning of the training, technical experts presented on five topics, followed in the afternoon with a robust panel discussion ( training summary).  

To make the best use of time between the first and second SAC meetings, two surveys were shared with the SAC for their input. One survey sought feedback on the goals, objectives, and participation guidelines discussed at the first SAC meeting and the other survey sought feedback on the proposed SaMS workgroups. Taking this information and the lessons learned from the surveys, the SAC met again on June 13, 2018 to discuss the decision-making processes and preferences for workgroup size and composition. Additionally, the SaMS goals, objectives, and participation guidelines were finalized and approved by the SAC at this meeting ( meeting summary). 

Based on SAC member preferences and the discussions from the second SAC meeting, DEQ recently drafted the lists of which stakeholders will participate on the different workgroups and shared it with the SAC for feedback. Once these workgroup memberships are finalized, we will begin scheduling the first round of workgroup meetings, the first of which we plan to hold in September. We’re excited to enter this phase of the development process because the workgroups will develop the recommendations for the final SaMS document. So stay tuned for more updates on the development of the SaMS!

The SAC could benefit from more property/building managers and winter service providers being involved. So if you know of any interested managers or service providers, we’d love to include them in the discussion!

You can submit comments, questions, and contacts to Dave Evans at David.Evans@DEQ.Virginia.gov.

As concerned citizens, we hope that you will continue the conversation with your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Better public awareness of the benefits and impacts of winter salt use will only improve the success of the SaMS. For more information, check out our “ Report on the Impacts of Salts on the Environment, Infrastructure, and Property ,” our SaMS Project webpage , and also the materials from all of our meetings at our meeting materials page.