Maryland Coastal Bays Watershed Plan

admin2020-12-02T14:21:59-05:00December 2nd, 2020|

In 2015, the Center for Watershed Protection led the development of a watershed-based plan focused on meeting the nonpoint source TMDL load reductions from the Maryland portion of the Coastal Bays watersheds in Maryland, which include Assawoman Bay, Isle of Wight Bay (including the St. Martin’s River), Sinepuxent Bay, Newport Bay and Chincoteague Bay. The plan addresses the 16 waterbodies with approved TMDLs for nutrients and/or sediment in the Coastal Bays watershed and identifies current and future BMPs to reduce pollutant loads in each TMDL subwatershed. This project involved identification and mapping of existing and proposed BMPs, a desktop assessment [...]

Building Capacity to Eliminate Discharges from Grey Infrastructure in Hampton Roads

admin2020-12-02T14:21:07-05:00December 2nd, 2020|

Communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permits are required to screen their stormwater outfalls to detect illicit discharges of sewage and other pollutants and take actions to eliminate them. In 2014, the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) assembled an Expert Panel to evaluate the nutrient load reductions associated with the elimination of illicit discharges. The panel concluded that nutrient discharges from the sewer system collectively can contribute a significant portion of the dry weather nutrient loads in urban watersheds, and identified a set of actions above and beyond what is required in MS4 [...]

Expert Panel on Nutrient and Sediment Removal Performance of Nontidal Wetland Projects

admin2020-12-02T14:24:55-05:00December 2nd, 2020|

The 2014 Chesapeake Watershed Agreement establishes wetland restoration as a fundamental objective to a more comprehensive Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration goal. Bay partners committed to “create or reestablish 85,000 acres of tidal and nontidal wetlands and enhance the function of an additional 150,000 acres of degraded wetlands by 2025.” Key to the advancement of this strategy is the ability to quantify how increased wetland coverage helps to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution to the Bay. The Center, in partnership with Virginia Tech and the Nature Conservancy, led a Chesapeake Bay Program Expert Panel to quantify the pollutant reduction benefits of [...]

North Branch Bennett Creek Stream Restoration Complete

admin2020-12-02T14:25:33-05:00December 2nd, 2020|

The Center completed a $1.3 million, three-year project to restore over 2/3 of a mile of stream at the Bar-T Mountainside property in Urbana, Maryland. The Center managed the overall project with design and construction support from Ecotone, and the work was funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Frederick County, and Baltimore Gas and Electric. The North Branch of Little Bennett Creek flows through the 115-acre Bar-T Mountainside property, owned by Joe Richardson and operated as an outdoors summer camp and afterschool program. This project restored a 1,744-foot segment of the creek, which, prior to restoration, had three [...]

2020 Coastal & Island Specialty Conference Highlights

admin2020-12-02T12:29:58-05:00November 24th, 2020|

On November 16th and 17th, the Center for Watershed Protection hosted its very first Specialty Conference—an event with technical content, industry sponsors, and themed activities that were specifically designed around a focus area under the watershed and stormwater umbrella. We intend to hold an annual Specialty Conference each Fall to complement the National Watershed & Stormwater Conference we offer each Spring, which provides a forum for sharing all kinds of fresh ideas on watershed and stormwater management principles and practices. The 2020 Coastal & Island Specialty Conference was held virtually to keep our attendees, presenters, sponsors, and staff safe in [...]

Experts Release First-Ever Plan to Clean Up Pollution from Conowingo Dam, Restore Chesapeake Bay

admin2020-10-20T14:03:55-04:00October 20th, 2020|

October 14, 2020, Ellicott City, MD – After months of collaboration, a coalition of nonprofits, including the Center for Watershed Protection, have drafted a comprehensive and cost-effective approach to reduce nutrient pollution flowing past the Conowingo Dam into the Chesapeake Bay. This work began in September 2019 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided nearly $600,000 for three projects to further the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), including support for the Center for overseeing the WIP’s development and implementation. The coalition, which also includes the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Chesapeake Conservancy, partnered with the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program [...]

Application of Reach Level Assessments for Stream Restoration Targeting and TMDL Accounting in the City of Frederick

admin2020-09-15T16:46:27-04:00September 14th, 2020|

Over the last decade, stream restoration has become an increasingly popular strategy for achieving sediment and nutrient load reductions. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed alone, approximately 700 miles of stream restoration projects are expected to be implemented to achieve the nutrient and sediment load reductions defined by the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. In 2013, the City of Frederick developed a watershed management plan for meeting NPDES Phase II MS4, Chesapeake Bay TMDL, and local TMDL requirements that include a set of candidate stream restoration sites. Before advancing these proposed projects, the City’s Sustainability Manager wanted to better understand the current conditions, [...]

Pennsylvania Communities to Gain Stormwater Expert

admin2020-09-15T16:46:38-04:00September 14th, 2020|

September 3, 2020 Lancaster, PA – The Center for Watershed Protection, a national leader in stormwater management and watershed planning, has announced a new program director in Pennsylvania to get clean water projects in the ground. The Center has hired Ruth Ayn Hocker, a highly respected stormwater professional engineer with experience in all technical and policy aspects of stormwater management, to lead efforts in Pennsylvania. “Protecting our nation’s water quality and natural resources has never been so important, especially in states like Pennsylvania, which contributes significant nutrient loads to the Chesapeake Bay,” said Hye Yeong Kwon, the Center’s Executive Director. [...]

An Evaluation of Municipal Policies and their Role in Protecting Forests from Development Impacts

admin2020-09-18T09:15:51-04:00July 22nd, 2020|

Over the past eight years, the Center has expanded its reach to the Delaware River Basin, which spans four states and includes 42 counties and 838 municipalities. With the support from the Academy of Natural Science at Drexel University’s Delaware Watershed Research Fund, the Center recently finalized a three-year research project in partnership with Rutgers University and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation to analyze the role of municipal land use controls in forest protection. The goal of the research was to identify areas of the Delaware River Basin that would benefit from improved regulatory protection for important forest lands such [...]

Making Nature Great Again: Integrating Biodiversity and Nutrient Targets into Watershed Management

admin2021-12-09T10:17:06-05:00June 22nd, 2020|

In the early history of pollution management, big pipe dischargers, especially sewage treatment plants, were an obvious primary target for control. The strong and settled regulatory foundation under the Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program brought measurable progress, but as the millennium approached, much work remained. The Clean Water Action Plan of the Clinton Administration hit center stage in 1998, with a timely if not overdue refocus on nutrients as a significant and growing cause of eutrophication impairments, especially in estuarine watersheds and systems where I have worked for much of my career. [...]