Federation Blog

EPA Unveils Chesapeake Bay Restoration Strategy

 The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Strategy is now out as presented by Lisa Jackson (EPA administrator) yesterday.  She stated that only thing needed is money and resources.

I would like to include Three more things:

1)  The absolute old fashion American CAN DO.  With out the can do/will do we will not have anything.

2 ) Much better enforcement,  marinas have put large piers/bulkhead/and pilings into the South River and have only received a 43,000.00 fine, and they did not have to take out the structures that were installed.  So, in reality the company folded the fine into the cost of doing the construction.  The State and Federal agencies need to not only have greater fines but mandate that these structures be removed! 

3)  I would also like to include more education on the true causes of the destruction of the Chesapeake Bay and the South River.  I speak beyond the choir quite often and have learned that most adults really do not know what stormwater runoff it,  they do not know how fertilizer can harm the Bay/River,  they do not realize how poor the infrastructure of our septic and sewer systems is.  I see very well educated folks over-fertilize their lawns in order to get the Crayola crayon green color, instead of managing their lawns in a River-friendly way.

http://wjz.com/local/Bay.foundation.epa.2.1689773.html

Fred Tutman, the Patuxent Riverkeeper, asked me to come out to meet him to discuss some restoration options on the river near where Governor Bridge Road crosses the mighty Patuxent.

Not a problem, I thought, though the road through that area is one of my local sore spots.  The bridge, which is perhaps 100' wide spans only the main channel of the river, and for the other 300' feet of the river valley, the road is at the floodplain elevation (or lower in some cases), leading to the road often being closed down after heavy rains.  

As fortune would have it, I ended up pulling up to the bridge at the same time as the road crew from Anne Arundel County DPW, only to see this:

It's time for a multi-jurisdictional effort (Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, MDSHA) to do the right thing by the river and by the people living in the area: Cross the entire river valley with an elevated bridge, encourage flooding of the floodplain, and design infrastructure so that it enhances, rather than degrades the natural resource.  Many people fish throughout this area, and one aspect of a re-designed crossing could/should certainly incorporate a way for those folks to safely enjoy fishing out of the way of traffic and up off the floodplain.