<p> The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance was adopted to protect our local streams and one of the world's most productive
estuaries, the Chesapeake Bay, from pollution due to land use and development. All of Fairfax County drains into the Potomac
River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. In an effort to protect and improve the quality of these waterways, sensitive areas
along streams throughout Fairfax County have been designated as Resource Protection Areas.</p><p>State regulations require
that Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) be designated around all water bodies with perennial flow. Perennial flow means that
water always flows in the stream or other water body except during periods of drought. The Department of Public Works and
Environmental Services conducted field studies to identify all perennial streams throughout the county and used this information
to prepare a set of maps showing the location of RPAs as defined under the revised Ordinance. The maps were adopted by the
Board on November 17, 2003.</p><p></p><p>The datainclude the boundaries of the RPAs adopted by the Board in 1993 and the additional
RPAs adopted by the Board in 2003. These are general locations of RPA boundaries for planning purposes and the actual limits
may be further refined by detailed field studies conducted at the time a plan is submitted to obtain a permit to develop a
property.</p><p></p><p>Any areas within Fairfax County not contained within the RPAs are Resource Management Areas (RMAs).
Together, the RPAs and RMAs comprise the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas.</p>