Federation Blog

The environmental community continues to work with legislators to prevent a weakening of the Maryland Department of the Environment's (MDE) stormwater regulations slated to go into effect in May 2010. The Federation, along with others, is working to arrange a meeting between the environmental community, the development community, and regulators to see if some of the concerns with the bill that have been raised can be handled administratively, rather than with new laws. We appreciate everyone who contacted their legislators and asked them to stand firm on the regulations. The message definitely got across. We'll keep you posted as things progress.

In the past couple of weeks, bills to expand the uses of Bay Restoration Fund (BRF) dollars (SB 20/HB 313) were introduced. These bills would allow the septic portion of the BRF to be used to subsidize the conversion of communities with failing septic systems to sewer, in some instances. Given that there are a number of such communities on the South River and in Anne Arundel County, this has been a priority for the Federation for the past 2 years. Our hope is that we can get it passed this session. Calls to legislators in support of these bills are always appreciated.

Finally, as you may have read in the paper, the Watershed Protection & Restoration Act, which require local jurisdictions implement a fee on existing impervious surfaces to create a dedicated funding source for stormwater retrofits, is a priority for the environmental community and the Federation. In Anne Arundel County alone, there is estimated to be a $1 billion backlog of stormwater restoration repairs that are currently needed. A dedicated source of funds to address these issues on a continuing basis is the only way we can hope to make progress on this restoration work which is so critical to improving water quality. The bills will be dropped in the House and Senate next week and we will alert you as soon as they are.

The idea that ignorance could be a strength sounds odd (unless you're an Orwell fan), but the acknowledgment that one has significant knowledge gaps, rather than a full or almost complete understanding of an incredibly complex system, can be empowering, particularly in an evolving discipline.  That case is well made by Dr. Eugene Turner in the article linked here, "The value of 'ignorance' in restoration."

The central thesis is that the assumption that "restoration" is bound to work is very likely a road to perpetuating failure.  If we aren't monitoring what works and what doesn't, and revising our strategy when things don't work, we're going to end up wasting a lot of time and money and missing great opportunities to improve outcomes.

On Tuesday evening, the environmental community gathered in Annapolis to discuss our legislative agenda.  In the clip below, I discuss the reasons we need a state requirement for local stormwater utilities.   Video courtesy West/Rhode Riverkeeper, Chris Trumbauer.

 

Andrew Muller pulling the anchor for me on the South River after we were done water quality monitoring.

Meeting with a landowner last week, I came across this 1970s era photo of their farm above Bacon Ridge Branch. The photo is taken looking southeast towards the river, with St. Stephen's Church Road in the lower right-hand corner.  It really gives a great sense of how little development there was in the headwaters during that time, and just how rolling and dramatic the topography is throughout that entire area.

 Photo courtesy Tommy Boehm.

The Federation is working with a local landowner to undertake a massive restoration effort on the headwaters of Church Creek, just about Route 665 (Aris T. Allen Blvd).  As part of that effort, we have hired an environmental consulting firm to design and permit plans for the project.   Earlier this morning, I met out at the site with the consultant to walk the property and get a sense of the lay of the land.

Currently, the property is at the confluence of two streams (below), one coming from Route 2 and one from Old Forest Dr. (by the Allen Apartments) than drain some of the most heavily urbanized and paved portions of the South River watershed.  The restoration plan is to create a stream and wetland system that will trap and process sediment and nutrients from upstream and provide high quality habitat for fish, birds, and amphibians.

As was the case yesterday with Flat Creek, because the marsh was frozen much more solidly than usual, we were able to get down to tidewater where we found a pleasant surprise: Beavers!  This beaver lodge had clear signs of recent activity. 

 Not far downstream, I came across the biggest of several dams.  It's approximately 40' long by about 18" high, and is probably close to underwater at high tide.  Right now, you can see that it is impounding quite a bit of water in an area that would normally be dry.

 There are historic signs that beaver have been present further up the system, but the thinking is that perhaps, carrying the stormwater from Parole, Harbor Center, the Festival at Riva, and Old Forest Drive, the stream is too "flashy" and high energy  for their dams to remain stable in that location.  The hope is that through restoration we will have a stream and wetland complex that encourages beaver and other wildlife to once again inhabit this green corridor.

Spurred on by the comments of a colleague, "you've got to see the water clarity on Flat Creek where the beavers are.  It's crystal clear."   I couldn't keep myself away.  I took the rare opportunity, with the leaves down and the marsh frozen enough to support the weight of an adult, to hike down Flat Creek, through the inundated/frozen marsh towards tidewater.   Not far down from Governor Bridge Road, I came across the first of several beaver dams, clearly very actively maintained.

Further down the system, there is still submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) ( I think it may be one of the Sparganium species) alive.  I even caught glimpse of a small, black fish.  The water clarity in the system is incredible.  Below, you can see straight through to the bottom of about 3 feet of water (the novelty of that sounds more depressing than it should).

A little further down, a well-buttressed dam holds back what must be several acre-feet of water and emergent wetland.  Really something to behold.

Several hundred feet down from the road crossing, the marsh opened up as I approached tidewater.  The white house in the photo below is actually on the other side of the South River.

 

Well, not really.   It's just that the combination of a low tide and strong wind blowing out towards the Bay have de-watered the river and its creeks substantially, leaving water level several feet below the usual low tide mark.

Diana and I were out at the Wilelinor restoration project taking water quality samples and stumbled upon a beautiful, bushy red fox (Vulpes vulpes) who quickly scattered as soon as we came along (below).  Perhaps he was scavenging for small fish or shellfish that had been exposed by the low tide.   We've seen quite a bit of evidence of fox throughout the watershed recently.

Most of the aquatic beds at Wilelinor are frozen over several inches thick, but at each of the stone grade controls, where water is still running through the system, spectacular stalagmites of ice form where spray hits the cold, winter air.

Yesterday, at the Maryland State House, a coalition of scientists, former policymakers, and environmental advocates, including representatives from the South River Federation, presented the EPA with a 24-point plan to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay, and a declaration that the voluntary, collaborative approach to pollution reduction taken over the past several decades has failed.

You can read the group's plan and position paper in support of S. 1816/HR 3852, The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009  below:

• Comments on EPA strategy for restoring the Chesapeake Bay
• Comments in support of the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009

 WMAR-TV and WJZ also covered the event.  The newsclips can be viewed at the links below:

• Bay Advocates Send Obama Restoration Strategy - WMAR 2
• Bay Advocates Send Obama Restoration Strategy - WJZ 13
• Capital coverage:  Experts: Stronger bay action needed

Did you know that in the period before the Revolutionary War Catholic churches were illegal?  Apparently one of the earliest Catholic Churches in the region stood near the old graveyard on Priest's Farm near where Route 2 (Solomons Island Road) crosses the South River.  According to "A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland: Adapted for Use in the Schools." (1905). By Samuel Elihu Riley, the Farm bordered what is now called Church Creek and gave the creek its name.

The church that once stood on the shores of Church Creek may have looked something like the one shown above.