Tracking Maryland’s Progress
2-year milestones on target

By Jill Kubatko

The Chesapeake Bay means many different things to many people. For watermen it’s been their lifeblood for generations. For some it’s a place to boat and fish recreationally. And for others, it’s a beautiful view from the Bay Bridge, a restaurant or a home.

All of these folks share a connection: If Maryland does not take care of this valuable resource, future generations won’t be able to enjoy these experiences, whether they are cultural, economic or recreational.

Meeting milestones

In 2009, Governor Martin O’Malley instituted Maryland’s 2-year Chesapeake Bay milestones to clean up the Bay. Until then, the Chesapeake Bay Program set one overall pollution reduction goal for restoring the Bay, focusing on up to a decade or more into the future. But this approach did not include the incremental, short-term goals necessary for steady progress in reducing pollution.

Today, Maryland uses short-term goals called milestones. Now the seven watershed jurisdictions are tasked with meeting the objective of reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels. The first milestone ended July 2011. The State is finalizing its next set of milestones which will go through 2013.

EPA mandates

Mid-Atlantic states (Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Delaware, West Virginia) and the District of Columbia, are working to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mandated reduction of nitrogen and phosphorous into the Chesapeake Bay by 2025. Maryland is awaiting EPA confirmation of its compliance. The State is 98 percent of the way to reaching its first 2-year milestone commitments, a sign that it is making significant progress toward reaching its short-term Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction goal.

“While along with the other Bay States, we must await confirmation of our numbers from the EPA’s computer model at year’s end, our BayStat process has allowed us to accurately track Maryland’s progress on a monthly basis,” says Governor Martin O’Malley. “With our farmers planting record numbers of cover crops, our citizens planting trees and growing oysters, our municipalities upgrading wastewater treatment plants and our legislators enacting important new laws, these numbers once again prove that here in Maryland, we don’t make excuses, we make progress.”

BayStat tracks progress

Maryland uses BayStat to continually assess and adapt 2-year milestone achievements and goals while reflecting actual conditions. BayStat is also a model for a new federal Chesapeake-stat effort. Also, GreenPrint and other interactive maps help target land preservation within the Bay’s Critical Area.

Maryland’s specific goals for the period 2009-2011 were to reduce nitrogen by 3.75 million pounds and phosphorus by 193,000 pounds. Using BayStat to develop these 2-year milestones, the State was able to set several objectives such as: double the State’s cover crop program, expand forested buffers and wetlands on both public and private lands (primarily through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program), upgrade septic systems, update sewage treatment plants and reduce nitrogen from power plants through measures required by the Healthy Air Act.

On target

In 2010 a record 1,567 Maryland farmers planted more than 400,331 acres of cover crops, thus meeting this important milestone. The State also upgraded 23 of its largest wastewater treatment plants, with another 15 upgrades underway. This will prevent more than 1.7 million pounds of nitrogen from entering the Bay and local waterways each year.

Maryland scientists are in the process of updating the P Site Index, an assessment tool that identifies the risk for phosphorus drainage from agricultural production fields to nearby bodies of water. Farmers use this index to develop agricultural nutrient management plans.

Controlling run-off

Approximately 95 percent of polluted stormwater run-off in Maryland comes from developed land. Last year, the State enacted regulations to implement Maryland’s Stormwater Management Act requiring that “environmental design” controls keep water on-site allowing water to seep into the ground.

Suggestions to meet this requirement include using vegetated swales (constructed open drainage areas), pervious pavers (a porous surface allowing drainage to underlying soils) and green roofs (a roof partially or completely covered with vegetation).

As part of its Watershed Assistance Collaborative, the State also launched a new Stormwater Financing and Outreach program to help local governments assess financing options to address community priorities such as increased green space, decreased infrastructure costs and improved water quality.

The program will work with two communities each year and will hold a series of workshops for municipal stormwater managers across Maryland. The Town of Berlin is the first municipality to benefit from the program.

Commitment to restoration

While funding remains a challenge, Governor O’Malley has reiterated his commitment to working with the legislature to address shortfalls in the Bay Restoration Fund which pays for cover crops, and wastewater treatment plant and septic upgrades.

A 2009 law requires septic systems to have nitrogen-removing capabilities within the Bay’s Critical Areas and prioritizes funding to help homeowners comply. Governor O’Malley named a committee to study septic systems in Maryland. Part of the Task Force on Sustainable Growth and Wastewater Disposal’s recommendations is to continue to support the Bay Restoration Fund through additional fees.

In addition, the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund compensates local restoration projects. Since 2008, the trust fund has dedicated more than $65 million toward pollution projects.

Prescription for a healthy Bay

The State is working with local, county-based teams to develop Maryland’s Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan which must include specific, locally-based strategies to reduce nutrients and sediment to comply with the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load pollution diet.

Not only will sticking to this pollution diet assist in returning the Bay to better health, it will also improve water quality in Maryland streams, rivers and reservoirs, protect drinking water and public health, reduce flooding and create jobs.

“The Chesapeake Bay connects us all. By continuing to work together with our State, federal and local government partners, the restoration of one of the greatest estuaries in the world is achievable within our lifetime,” says Governor O’Malley.

Coastal facts

www.baystat.maryland.gov
www.chesapeakebay.net/eyesonthebay 

Jill Kubatko is the Publications Manager in DNR’s office of Communication.

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