Frederick County ranks lowest among Maryland counties on its plan to clean up local rivers and streams

 

The Chesapeake Bay and most of Maryland’s rivers and streams are contaminated, which endangers public health and damages our economy. But there is a solution – two years ago, the EPA put Maryland and five other Bay watershed states, and Washington, DC, on a “pollution diet” that:

- involves all the players
- has an end date
- includes proven actions we know can work.
To comply with this pollution diet, Maryland is working on a new “clean water plan” to reduce pollution at the local level.,,Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and our local rivers and streams will require significant action from all levels of government – local, State and Federal – and citizen support

Local governments and decision makers play a critical role in making sure Maryland’s new clean water plan will work. Each county has an opportunity to create its own local clean water plans and goals/milestones, now through July 2, 2012.

Local clean water plans = local control and local benefits:

- clean, healthy water in our rivers and streams

- safe places to swim and to fish.

- protected drinking water

- local jobs and a thriving  fishing industry– both commercial and recreational.

Pollution control is local. Local leaders must be engaged in this process, for they are the ones who will play a crucial role in achieving pollution reduction goals.  Local plans decide who does what and when.

The actions we need to take to reduce pollution  have many benefits:

• Upgrading wastewater treatment plants protects drinking water and keeps bacteria out of the waters in which our children swim.
• Practices that reduce polluted runoff from urban areas, such as green roofs and urban tree planting, also conserve energy, cool and clean the air, reduce flooding, and increase green spaces for wildlife and our children.
• Advanced septic tank systems are more efficient, so they last longer for homeowners and produce cleaner water, protecting local streams.
• Land use planning that protects farms and forests strengthens rural economies.
• Planting forest buffers and restoring wetlands create wildlife habitat, control flooding, and provide recreation areas or urban green spaces.
• Best management practices on farms benefit local water quality while maintaining or even enhancing agricultural production.
• All of these projects support and create local jobs!

Frederick County received 1 point on the evaluation (barometer reading) of it’s Watershed Implementation Plan:  read below for an explanation of the barometer reading.

 

About the County Barometers

• All Maryland Counties created local plans, called Watershed Implementation Plans (WIP), that will create cleaner, safer water in our communities, and local jobs for our residents, and a more robust local economy.
• Every county in Maryland submitted a draft plan, and we are encouraged that every county has begun this important process
  • These barometers are intended to help citizens understand what progress their county has made and what it will take to finish the job.
  • We believe working on these plans has caused counties to think differently about how they can structure staff, resources, and funding to meet clean water goals.
  • With so many excellent models from across the state, including both urban and rural counties, we are optimistic that every county can develop a strong plan by July
  • We encourage the public to provide public comments on their local plans and on the State’s overall WIP II plan by March 9^th –email: wipcoordinator@mde.state.md.
  • There are also public meetings being held around the state that we hope people will attend .

Question & Answer

Q: Who put these barometers together? How did you do it? What did you measure?

In December through January Coalition experts worked with a planning consultant to review the county plans.  They evaluated the strength of the plan based on the three questions:

1. Does it compute? Does the plan provide a measurable path toward long-term pollution reduction targets?

2. Are there short-term commitments? Does the plan list the actions the County needs to take in the next two years (2-year milestones)?

3. Will it be paid for? Does the plan list the funding needed to cover the local costs of reducing the County’s share of pollution?

The expert team then had conversations with advocates from each county ensure that the analysis reflected local efforts on the ground.

The counties fell fairly clearly into these four categories: “A Strong Start, Let’s Put it to Work”; “A Good Start, Much Work Remains” “A Plan is Emerging, Significant Work Ahead”; and “Much Work Ahead for Clean Local Waters.” There was a marked difference between those counties that had a thorough, methodical analysis with clear commitment to implementation and those counties that were still rolling up their sleeves on this planning effort.

 

Q: What makes certain plans strong and others weak?

A: The strong plans include a thorough, science-based assessment of what is required to clean local waters, and commit to clear next steps to make clean water a reality.  Also, the weak plans do not include clear next steps and are vague and non-committal.

Q: Why are some of the plans weak?

A: The Bay restoration effort is a complicated process. The counties had to pull staff and other resources together to focus on this project, and the pollution models and goals did change during the planning process.

Recognizing the effort this process will take, MDE has given the counties until July to finalize their plans, and we are glad to have the additional time to help make sure the plans are putting us on track for clean local waters.

 

That said, we have strong and weak plans from across the State. So we know that every county across Maryland can create a strong plan if they understand that this will make a difference in their communities.

 

Q: Has the State’s guidance and communication been clear?
A: Actually cleaning up our waters is a huge effort that everyone has been figuring out together.  The State has done some great things – like providing state liaisons to each county team and giving the counties extra time to finalize their plans.

 

Of course there has been confusion along the way. The science on the bay is constantly getting better, and that new information gets put into new models which gave us more accurate goal numbers last summer. And we will probably see improvements like that continue, because everyone is committed to getting the job done and doing it right.

 

No other state in the bay watershed has given the counties so much responsibility for creating their own plans. While the communication has not been perfect, we are glad to see the counties have so much control over their own future.

 

Q: How will we pay for it?

A: There are a lot of low or no cost solutions and there are grants and financing options. The coalition members will continue working with the counties to create smart plans that take advantage of the options that exist.  That said, state-wide and in many areas of the state there will be large costs to clean our waters.  We are paying back a debt we have been creating for years; the longer we wait to take action, the more it will cost.

 

We must also remember the cost we pay for polluted waters — clean, healthy water is vital to a strong economy. Doing this work will create local jobs and protect our seafood, recreational and commercial fishing industries, and protect our families and drinking water supplies.

 

Q: Did you evaluate the 2-year milestones?

A: Yes, we looked at the milestones as part of analysis number 2: Are there short-term commitments? Does the plan list the actions the County needs to take in the next two years (2-year milestones)?