admin, Author at Center for Watershed Protection

Environmental Concerns about Lead Wheel Weights

Wheel weights are used to balance car tires, and in most states are made of lead. According to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, about 65,000 tons of lead wheel weights are in use on U.S. vehicles. About 2,000 tons of these weights fall from vehicles each year and end up in the roadway or street gutter. This creates an issue for water quality as the weights, which are made of raw lead, are worn down by traffic and can leach into local creeks. Because they are heavy, they can remain in the gutter or storm drains for many [...]

admin2019-02-26T13:54:47-05:00February 25th, 2019|

Promote Your Watershed Content through Center Lunch and Learns and Blogs

Are you looking to share your watershed work with a wider audience? The Center for Watershed Protection can help connect you to thousands of watershed and stormwater professionals through Lunch and Learns and blogs. As some of you already know, the Center’s Lunch and Learn series is a benefit offered exclusively to our members as an opportunity to peek behind the curtain into the professional water world. These series are held during lunch from 12 pm to 1pm EST at our office in Ellicott City but we offer these presentations for viewing online through Adobe Connect. This is an informal [...]

admin2019-01-18T15:02:47-05:00January 18th, 2019|

Constructing Stormwater Retrofits in Maryland: Challenges & Recommendations for Cost Estimation

The construction of stormwater retrofits has greatly accelerated within the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the past decade, as communities work to meet water quality requirements such as TMDLs and stormwater permits. The Center for Watershed Protection took a look at data from 584 stormwater retrofit projects constructed by 41 different partners over the past seven years in Maryland to see what we could learn about retrofit costs and the factors affecting their variability. We began with a dataset of projects funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and reached out to the grantees to collect additional information on [...]

admin2019-01-23T12:05:35-05:00January 11th, 2019|

Expanding the Agricultural BMP Database

The Center has expanded the scope of peer-reviewed studies included in the Agricultural BMP Database. The Agricultural BMP Database is a long-term collaborative effort of the Water Research Foundation, the National Corn Growers Association and the United Soybean Board that provides a central repository of scientifically-based information on the effectiveness of individual BMPs for reducing sediment and nutrient pollution from agricultural sites. The long-term goal of the database is to provide agricultural planners, consultants, and producers with information that enables them to better select BMPs for their operations and to support improvements in agricultural BMP design and implementation. The work [...]

admin2021-04-02T11:31:53-04:00January 11th, 2019|

Top Five Reasons to Attend April’s 2019 National Watershed and Stormwater Conference

The Center for Watershed Protection is once again hosting its annual Watershed and Stormwater Conference from April 29-May 2, 2019. The conference is the place to connect with water quality experts from across the country. Here are the top five reasons why you should attend: Hot topics and networking. Learn about the latest in stormwater management, watershed and stormwater research and its applications, watershed and stream health, and decision-making tools and credit protocols. Network at evening receptions (over a beer!) with water resource managers, practitioners, researchers and regulators from all over the United States. Real-world solutions. Too many conferences leave [...]

admin2020-03-19T09:59:43-04:00November 14th, 2018|

Guidance for Developing an Offsite Stormwater Compliance Program for Redevelopment Projects in Massachusetts

A new guidance document was recently developed by the Center for Watershed Protection to assist regulated small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) communities in Massachusetts develop an offsite mitigation program for redevelopment projects. Starting July 1, 2018, a new Massachusetts Small MS4 General Permit went into effect. Through this permit, EPA Region 1 established a new stormwater performance standard for redevelopment projects within regulated small MS4 communities. The standard requires these projects to retain stormwater runoff and/or provide pollutant removal. Recognizing that this may be a challenge on many redevelopment sites, the new permit provides flexibility by allowing redevelopment [...]

admin2021-08-02T08:50:26-04:00October 24th, 2018|

Refining Stream Erosion Rates and Stream Restoration Credits in York County, PA

Stream restoration is a rapidly expanding and evolving science and understanding the nutrient, sediment, and habitat functions of individual stream segments has become increasingly technical. Many communities, particularly MS4 communities in the Chesapeake Bay region, are wrestling with how to develop cost-effective strategies to meet their water quality and impervious treatment goals and stream restoration is often a significant component. Unlike many other water quality BMPs, the benefits of stream restoration are largely based on the existing versus restored condition of the stream. Therefore, to identify, prioritize and understand the benefits associated with the restoration of individual stream reaches, some [...]

admin2019-07-25T16:27:56-04:00October 15th, 2018|

Improving Stormwater Management at Maryland State Parks

In 2014, the Center for Watershed Protection was asked by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)- Parks Service (Parks) and Chesapeake and Coastal Services (CCS) to help address chronic maintenance issues associated with stormwater management on state park lands. After an initial scoping process, four projects were selected at North Point State Park and Gunpowder State Park, located in Baltimore County. The Center developed designs for the following projects and worked with DNR Parks Service, DNR CCS, and Maryland Department of the Environment to ensure that the projects addressed the park maintenance issues while providing water quality benefits: Permeable [...]

admin2018-11-28T08:02:28-05:00October 12th, 2018|

Performance Enhancing Devices for Stormwater BMPs

With the 2025 deadline for reaching water quality goals in the Chesapeake Bay fast approaching, and the estimated price tag of $7.3 billion to meet these goals in Maryland alone, new, cost-effective strategies for reducing stormwater pollution are sorely needed. The Center for Watershed Protection led a three-year project to research the capability of “performance enhancing devices” or PEDs to boost the performance of standard stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for removal of specific pollutants. This work was funded through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and included the in-kind support of Carroll County, Maryland. This project [...]

admin2018-11-28T08:02:22-05:00September 25th, 2018|

How Asbestos Finds its Way into Water Sources

As community infrastructure ages and water lines corrode, the possibility of dangerous contaminants trickling into the same water you drink can become a real threat. Unfortunately asbestos, lead and other dangerous materials can raise concern when found in public water supplies because of the health risks associated with these substances. Asbestos, the culprit of a rare cancer. Asbestos has been linked to several health complications. Most significantly mesothelioma, a devastating and rare form of cancer that develops 20-50 years after exposure. The most common way to develop mesothelioma is by the inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers. These fibers travel through [...]

admin2021-09-14T08:27:49-04:00September 7th, 2018|

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