982 2015 11 20 Watersheds.pdf

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Terminology

Challenges facing Washington County Watersheds

TMDL- Total Maximum Daily Load

•This can be thought of as a “pollution diet” for a waterway or watershed.

•If a waterway is impaired, the state will put it on their 303(d) list for whatever the impairment is caused by (sediment, bacteria, etc.).

•A TMDL calculates the existing “load” and mandates the maximum pollution allowed for a particular waterway.

WIP- Watershed Implementation Plan

•Mandated by the state and federal government.

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The Challenges?

• Sediment

– stormwater, agriculture, construction, streambank erosion, residential runoff, etc.

• Nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen)

– urban, agriculture, septic, atmospheric deposition, and others. • Biological

– pH, methylmercury, PCBs, CBOD (Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand) & NBOD (Nitrogenous Biochemical Oxygen Demand)

• Fecal Bacteria

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So…watersheds?

First, let’s get to

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Antietam Creek

Total area 2902mi

Total area in Wash Co 185.52mi

Total length of stream 54 mi

Total length in Wash Co 42 mi

Sub-Watersheds 19

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Potomac River (WA)

Total area 912mi

Many small streams Up to 5,939 ft

Sub-Watersheds 13

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Conococheague Creek

Total area 5682mi

Total length of stream 80 mi

Total length in Wash Co 22 mi

Sub-Watersheds 8

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Conococheague Creek

Geology is important to

watershed development,

stream location, and

stream chemistry.

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Conococheague Creek

Shale/Carbonate Contact

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Marsh Run

Total area 212mi

Total length of stream 6.2 mi

Sub-Watersheds 2

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Little Conococheague

Total area 17.92mi

Total length in Wash Co 11.2 mi

Sub-Watersheds 3

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Licking Creek

Total area 213.22mi

Sub-Watersheds 5

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Tonoloway Creek

Total area 60.62mi

Sub-Watersheds 1

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Little Tonoloway

Total area 25.22mi

Sub-Watersheds 3

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Sideling Hill Creek

Total area 1042mi

Sub-Watersheds 4

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Sideling Hill Creek

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Potomac River (AL)

Total area 17.32mi

Many small streams Up to 4 mi

Sub-Watersheds 4

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Potomac River (FR)

Total area 14.72mi

Israel Creek 9.1 mi

Sub-Watersheds 3

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The Land We Use

Total area 467.52mi

Total 8 digit watershed 13

Named streams 40-ish

Total length in Wash Co 2,330.5 mi

Municipalities 9

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The Challenges

1. Sediment - Local & the Chesapeake Bay

2. Nutrients - Local & the Chesapeake Bay 3. Fecal Bacteria - Local

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The Challenges

Sediment

• Can come from any place where the earth has been disturbed (urban

stormwater, agriculture, construction, residential, etc.).

o can be dislodged by rain drops or is picked up and is suspended and

transported by storm water runoff.

• Can “fill in” and cover essential aquatic habitat in streams (gravel beds, etc).

o covers aquatic vegetation and prevents photosynthesis.

• Suspended sediments scour stream beds and banks (positive feedback cycle

of sediment making more sediment).

• Pollutants attach to sediment particles.

o nutrients, metals, pesticides, and organics bound to sediments pose

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

Notice the

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The Challenges

Extreme erosion on the outside of a stream meander outside Boonsboro. Notice the sections of bank to the right (yellow lines) about to detach from the bank. The erosion has been happening from left to right as the stream hits the bank and is able to get behind the soil and remove it. Sites similar to this are very common across the County.

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The Challenges

Notice the gravel that acts to armor the banks from erosion. Also, note the root depth. Roots from trees and shrubs are the best protection against bank erosion in the long term. Riparian buffers are needed throughout the county as well as better stormwater management.

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

Livestock access to streams is not only a source of fecal bacteria and nutrients, but also are generally sites of extreme soil erosion due to the animals climbing in and out of the water. Many

people, including our partners from the state,

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The Challenges

Does sediment really reach the Bay?

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

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The Solutions

Sediment

• Washington County Board of County Commissioners strengthened the

sediment erosion and control ordinance in 2010.

• Funding stream restoration projects throughout the county through CIP. • Working with the Ag. community to implement no-till planting practices,

participate in the cover crop program, fence out streams, and other soil conservation practices and Ag. BMPs.

• Maryland has issued TMDLs for impaired waterways across the state to be

in compliance with the Clean Water Act Section 303(d)(1)(c).

• There are three watersheds that have sediment TMDLs. o Antietam Creek

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The Solutions

Page iv- “The objective of the TMDL established herein is to ensure that there will be no sediment impacts affecting aquatic health, thereby

establishing a sediment load that supports Use III-P/IV-P designations for the MD 8-digit Antietam Creek watershed.”

Page 1- “TMDLs are established to determine the pollutant load

reductions needed to achieve and maintain water quality standards. A water quality standard is the combination of a designated use for a particular body of water and the water quality criteria designed to

protect that use. Designated uses include activities such as swimming, drinking water supply, protection of aquatic life…”

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

Nutrients

• Nitrogen and phosphorus are the main focus of the Bay TMDL and the County’s WIP, though the Antietam does have a Phosphorus TMDL.

• Sources include manure, WwTP, septic tanks, lawn fertilizers, stormwater runoff, and atmospheric deposition.

• Nutrients are essential for plant growth, but too much of a good thing…

• Excess nutrients cause algae blooms in local waterways and the Bay and can cause eutrophication.

• It can also lead to a lack of biodiversity as one specie thrives on the excess nutrients, which has effects across the food web.

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The Challenges

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The Challenges

Septic Tanks

Septic tanks only contribute nitrogen to the ground water of the County and ultimately to the Chesapeake Bay. This is because any phosphorus that is discharged from the septic tank attaches to the soils and does not reach the ground water.

2010 MAST Progress

Calculated loads coming from septics in the County being delivered to the Bay

93,690.6

2017 Target Load

The calculated load target the County is to reduce the

septic loading to by 2017

77,337

2025 Target Load

The calculated target load the County is to reduce the

septic loading to and 70,921

The County is being asked to reduce the septic tank

nitrogen loading being

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The Cost

The County looked at three scenarios to meet the septic WIP targets that included a mixture of:

• Hooking up septics to waste water treatment plants

• Retrofitting existing septics with BAT (best available technology) • Requiring septic pumping every three years

The cost estimates ranged from $303.8 - $545.3 million dollars.

The County looked at several scenarios to meet the WIP stormwater goals that included a mixture of:

• Adding new stormwater structures to treat urban runoff • Retrofitting existing stormwater structures

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The Solutions

Nutrient Reductions

• Washington County Board of County Commissioners

voted to continue to work towards reducing the nutrient loads as funding is available.

• Worked with each municipalities to develop a list of

potential projects in their town to reduce their load that are contingent upon funding.

• Working with the Ag. Community to implement no-till

planting practices, Nutrient Management Plans, participate in the cover crop program, fence out streams, and other soil conservation practices.

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The Challenges

Fecal Bacteria

• Fecal bacteria are microscopic single-celled organisms (primarily fecal coliform

and fecal streptococci) found in the wastes of warm-blooded animals.

• It is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to test directly for the presence of a

large variety of pathogens, so water is usually tested for coliforms and fecal streptococci instead.

• Some waterborne pathogenic diseases include typhoid fever, viral and bacterial

gastroenteritis and Hepatitis A.

• The presence of fecal contamination is an indicator that a potential health risk

exists for individuals exposed to this water.

• There are two TMDLs for bacteria in Washington County:

o Antietam Creek

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The Challenges

Page vii- “Multiple antibiotic resistance analysis (ARA) source tracking was used to determine the relative proportion of domestic (pets and human associated animals), human (human waste), livestock (agriculture-related animals), and wildlife

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The Solutions

What

Can

We

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The Solutions

Challenges facing Washington County Watersheds Until animals can start to

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The Solutions

Fecal Bacteria

• Upgraded Nutrient Management regulations prohibit manure

application (by animal or machine) within 10 ft of a stream.

• Upgrade existing septics to BAT or ensure that current systems are pumped and working as designed.

• Connect more homes up to existing sewer infrastructure.

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The Solutions

• The County has partnered with PetSmart to develop a Pet Waste Management Program that has targeted dog owners who walk their dogs in public areas.

• We have deployed another 70 pet waste bag dispensers and educational signs in County and town parks to provided pet owners with the tools to pick up after their four legged family members.

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Conclusion

• There are fairly serious environmental concerns within some of the watersheds in Washington County, but none of them are irreversible. Changes can be made, but they will take time. The problem wasn’t made overnight and won’t be fixed overnight either.

• We are aware of most of the issues; at least on a watershed level.

• We need to work to change attitudes, habits, and the way we do the everyday things like yard-care, pet care, and development.

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County on the Cutting Edge

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Alex Reed

Watershed Specialist

Washington County, MD