What Maryland Can Do to Help Clean Up the Bay

The Chesapeake Executive Council has confirmed that long-standing goals for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay by 2010 will not be met; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its role in the cleanup; and a series of Post articles detailed the challenges our vast watershed faces as we accommodate an ever-increasing population. Today, there is a renewed sense of urgency to restore the bay.

But as we become more attuned to details of the Chesapeake Bay's problems -- too much nitrogen from wastewater treatment plants; vehicle emissions; pollution from power plants and agriculture, among other examples -- how many of us focus on the significance of stormwater? In fact, urban and suburban runoff accounts for 13 percent of Maryland's nitrogen load to the bay.

Undeveloped land absorbs rainfall like a sponge and slowly releases it. As we build our homes, schools, office buildings and highways, though, we drastically change this natural pattern. When rainfall hits paved or "impervious" surfaces, it carries waste, chemicals, nutrients and sediment to our waterways. Stormwater runoff also erodes streams and increases flooding.

Over the past year and a half, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has focused on this challenge in a big way. First, we are improving how stormwater is controlled during construction, when sediment is the primary concern. A new draft permit for construction activities includes new monitoring and plan review requirements, using critical elements of site design and increasing public notification and participation. This year, we will begin to review and update Maryland's erosion and sediment control technical standards, which have not been revised since 1994.

Second, we have proposed regulations requiring developers to use quality environmental site design practices to control runoff from new development and redevelopment. Environmental site design uses better site planning, permeable covers in lieu of impenetrable surfaces, vegetative buffers and small-scale treatment practices. Many of these techniques -- rain gardens, green roofs -- are not only simple and cost-effective, but they also increase the value and aesthetic appeal of development projects.

Finally, how our most populated areas address stormwater runoff is improving. The proposed Montgomery County Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit is one of the most progressive in the country and clearly demonstrates that the county and Maryland are serious about improving water quality. The permit requires retrofitting 30 percent of areas developed before modern stormwater control requirements were in place to treat stormwater; developing and implementing measurable strategies to reduce trash as part of the county's commitment to a trash-free Potomac River; and setting pollution limits necessary to meet water quality standards for impaired waters.

The permit could provide a model, though not a one-size-fits-all solution, for the 11 other Maryland jurisdictions required to have these permits under the Clean Water Act. Together, we estimate these new stormwater measures will reduce nitrogen loads from urban and suburban runoff by as much as 30 percent.

Each of us can also do our part. Property owners can use permeable surfaces such as wood decks, bricks and concrete lattice for driveways and patios. We can connect our downspouts to drain into vegetated areas. We can grow "buffer strips" alongside waterways and plant native trees, shrubs or groundcover to reduce bare patches. We can reduce or eliminate the use of fertilizers and pesticides and pick up trash and pet waste before it can pollute our waterways.

Restoring the Chesapeake Bay will require each of us -- state, local and federal governments as well as individuals -- to do our part.

-- Shari T. Wilson

Baltimore

The writer is secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment.