Mission Statement

Friends of the Occoquan is a non-profit organization of local citizens who preserve and maintain the natural integrity of the Occoquan River and other Virginia and nation wide watersheds by promoting community awareness through public and private partnerships.


Vision of the Friends

To energize individuals, community and business groups to take on the challenges of keeping Virginia’s and the nations reservoirs and rivers clean, by controlling excessive sedimentation and pollution. This message will be brought to schools, civic groups and community organizations, as well as local and federal government agencies.

Friends of the Occoquan River/Reservoir Spring Cleanup 2021

The saying, “Many hands make light work,” applies to FOTO’s Occoquan River cleanups on April 10 and 17, 2021. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, two hundred sixty-five volunteers participated at the Bull Run, Fountainhead, Lake Ridge Parks, Occoquan Regional Park/Marinas, the Town of Occoquan, and our newest site at the Occoquan Harbor Marina. They removed 1.6 tons of debris from the River’s shore and Reservoir, the source of drinking water for 1.2 million people in Northern Virginia.

Families came out with their children, among them 30 employees from American Water, several members of the Bull Run Rotary Club, JROTC cadets and their leaders from Woodbridge Senior High School, NoVAGO kayakers and Boy Scout Troops 1369, Cub Scout Pack 1369, 1373, Girl Scout Troops 295, 6881, and 18060. Glenn Richman of Lake Ridge with Lt. Col. (Ret) Burnette and cadets brought a truckload of filled trash and recyclable bags from the shorelines to the Marina.

Among the items were 110 filled trash and 46 recyclable bags, a kid’s pool, six PCV pipes, two lawn chairs, two metal rods, an oil barrel, rusted garden shovels, one six-foot iron beam, two trash can lids, one tire, two golf clubs, one plastic crate, several metal & plastic containers, one 8-ft bench, a large net filled with trash, several buckets, five board boxes and one container with hazardous material.

A big thank you to our Sponsors, NOVA Park managers and their staff, and the Town of Occoquan’s team.

June 2020

Kudos go out to Matthew McKinnon who added eight more hours to earn his "Citizen in the Nation Merit Badge" by picking up eight bags of trash along the Occoquan and Chesapeake bay area.

April 22nd is Earth Day! Since we were forced to cancel our April 18th river cleanup due to COVOID19, I would like to remind our wonderful volunteer that they can still do small things to help in water preservation by picking up small trash items when walking or jogging along the roadways. Even a candy wrapper or a discarded cigarette will end up in the water. Other activities might include:

• Take a walk and observe nature

• Plan a food or pollinator garden

• Plant seeds

• Plant a tree

• Try a recyclable art activity

• Watch an environmental video

• Birdwatching

• Make a bird feeder

• Look for Wildflowers

• Take nature inspired pictures

• Draw or paint nature inspired themes

• Commit to taking care of your planet!

February 8, 2020

Stop Mowing, Start Growing was the theme for the symposium on Native Plants, sponsored by various agencies of Prince William County, VA Cooperative Extension, Plant NOVA Natives Plant, and many others. 🌲, Native 🌱 for 🐝 , 🦅 and butterflies 🦋! Keep our 💦 clean👍 @ Northern Community College Woodbridge Campus.

9/14/19

KUDOS to all the FOTO Volunteers and Participants
On Saturday, September 14, 2019, FOTO celebrated its 20th Anniversary of cleaning up the Occoquan Watershed. Pat Conway, the former mayor of Occoquan invited FOTO to conduct their 1st cleanup. As FOTO grew, with the help of 10,000 volunteers, 90+ tons of trash was removed from the River and Reservoir. The present mayor of the Town of Occoquan, Dr. Ernie Porta provided the beautifully restored Town Hall for the event. After a light lunch, Alex Vanegas and Sonia Monson presented the well-deserved awards to 30 participants who so generously helped FOTO over the years.