DEP News

Monday, May 07, 2012

Sligo Creek: Better stormwater management results in higher quality aquatic resources

Montgomery County’s Sligo Creek has been confirmed by EPA as a success story for improvements in aquatic life resulting from extensive stormwater pollution control and management in the watershed. Success Stories are used by EPA to request and justify continued funding for grant monies (known as Section 319 grants) ear marked for controlling nonpoint source pollution which carries pollutants from urban surfaces and agricultural lands into waterbodies in rainfall runoff.

Since 1989, the County has improved the stream banks down the length of the Sligo Creek, created wet ponds to capture stormwater runoff and treat it before it goes into the creek, restored pools for breeding habitat for fish and amphibians, retrofitted existing stormwater ponds by adding additional storage and retention capacity to capture rainfall runoff from more urban surfaces, and reshaped the stream channel itself by adding more meanders and curves which slows down flow and creates habitat niches for biological life. More recent investments by the County have included installations of low impact development bio-retention systems. These installations help to filter out the pollutants in stormwater runoff and help to absorb the rainfall in place through vegetation roots instead of allowing runoff to flow into gutters and into the stream conveying pollutants.

The County’s biological monitoring program has been sampling fish and other aquatic organisms in the stream for decades. Since 2000 when the fish complex found in the stream were of only four pollution-tolerant fish, steady incremental changes in the creek’s water quality and habitat opportunities have led to noticeable improvement. Today fourteen naturally sustaining fish species can be found in the creek, including some that require specialized habitat. The bioassessment done of the aquatic life in the creek shows that the overall Index of Biotic integrity scoring has improved from a “poor” rating to a “fair”rating.

More details on the Sligo Creek Success Story are available on EPA’s Nonpoint Source Program Success Story Web site .

Friday, October 01, 2010

Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection receives Potomac Champion Award

The 5th Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit was held Wednesday, September 22, 2010 in Washington DC. The annual convention addresses the goal of trash reduction in the Potomac River and is a forum to evaluate progress, strategies, commitments, and regulatory tools in place to achieve the goal. Montgomery County is one of the initial signatories to the Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty which commits signers to achieving a Trash-Free Potomac by 2013.

At the Summit, Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection was awarded a Potomac Champion Award. The award, received by Director Bob Hoyt, acknowledged the Department’s leadership in championing the use of regulatory tools, innovative outreach, and cooperative management to reduce trash in the river. Regulatory tools include Montgomery County's State-issued stormwater permit which requires that the County (1) meet a numeric pollution budget (TMDL) for trash and litter in the Anacostia River, a tributary to the Potomac and (2) achieve the goals of the Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty—a trash-free river by 2013. TMDLs provide the scientific basis for establishing water quality-based controls and reducing pollution. Under Hoyt, DEP has also provided support for a public education campaign and marketing effort to prevent litter, under development by the Alice Ferguson Foundation slated for region-wide distribution later this year.

The Secretary of Maryland’s Department of the Environment, Shari Wilson said, “Getting the requirements in place to meet the pollution limits required support from Montgomery County to come to fruition, and we appreciate the County's hard work.”

In awarding the Potomac Champion Award, Tracy Bowen, Executive Director of the Alice Ferguson Foundation which spearheads the Trash Free Potomac Initiative, recognized that the leadership shown by the Montgomery County’s DEP would catalyze other neighboring jurisdictions to also use regulatory tools and other strategies to reduce trash and litter in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. She praised DEP’s “outstanding dedication to finding innovative solutions to eradicate trash.”

The annual Trash Summit had attendance from political jurisdictions around the Potomac Watershed which covers portions of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. Among the over 300 summit attendees were elected officials and decision-makers from around the region, non-profit and community organizations, the business community, solid waste professionals, students, clean up volunteers and others with a stake in a clean river.

Panel discussions and roundtable sessions were held on support for and implementation of regional strategies aimed at reducing trash and increasing recycling; and increasing education and awareness of the trash issue throughout the Potomac Watershed. Early drafts of the regional publicity campaign to address litter and stormwater pollution which winds up as trash in our rivers after rainfall events were also unveiled and discussed at the Summit.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Amphibian and Reptile Identification Workshop and Search

The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas is a 5-year atlas documenting amphibian and reptile distributions in Maryland.  The atlas will establish a baseline for future efforts and promote conservation and protection of amphibians and reptiles by systematically documenting distributions throughout the state.  This workshop will train volunteers to conduct fieldwork and document the roughly 95 species and subspecies known to occur within the State.

You are invited to attend a workshop designed to train volunteers to develop this atlas.  The workshop is free but registration is required and space is limited, so contact poves@audubonnaturalist.org to reserve your spot and visit www.anshome.org to learn more! Children 10 and over may participate with adult supervision.

• Help conserve and protect amphibians and reptiles in Maryland!
• Learn how to locate and identify amphibians and reptiles in Montgomery County!
• Explore the areas surrounding Meadowside Nature Center in a group search!

To learn more about the Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas or to volunteer to survey in Montgomery County please contact mara.montgomerycounty@gmail.com.

Date and Time:
Sunday, September 26, 2010
1:00 to 4:30 pm

Location:
Meadowside Nature Center
Rock Creek Regional Park
5100 Meadowside Lane,
Rockville, MD 20855
301-924-4141