Healhy Harbor Repor Card Ocober 212 Working ogeher for a swimmable, fishable Harbor! Wheher i s cleaning up lier from a vacan lo, picking up afer our pes, or using rain barrels and rain gardens o reduce he amoun of waer running off our properies, we all have a role o play in keeping our sreams and Harbor clean. Cleaning and greening neighborhoods in Balimore Ciy and Balimore Couny is he only way Balimore Harbor will ever be safe for swimming and fishing because sorm drains and sreams in our neighborhoods connec us all o he Harbor and he Chesapeake Bay. Voluneers pick up rash from he For McHenry welands during a Naional Aquarium field day. Phoo credi: Naional Aquarium. The good news for he Harbor There are more people and organizaions working ogeher on waer polluion issues in Balimore oday han ever before. Ciizens are voluneering heir ime and energy o clean up rash from srees, sreams, and he Harbor a evens like he Mayor s spring and fall cleanups and he Naional Aquarium s For McHenry field days. Communiies are planing rees wih he help of Blue Waer Balimore and adoping vacan los wih he help of Balimore s Power in Dir program. Wih he suppor of local governmen and advocacy from area businesses and nonprofis, he Maryland sae legislaure has recenly passed new laws ha will help reduce waer polluion and esablish designaed funding for projecs ha decrease pollued sormwaer runoff. To help seer all of his aciviy, Waerfron Parnership of Balimore has published he Healhy Harbor Plan, which deails he seps ha need o be aken by ciizens, governmen, and businesses o make he Harbor swimmable and fishable by 22 (available a HealhyHarborBalimore.org). As an example of he grea parnerships being formed, on a chilly November morning, a group of 8 voluneers rolled up heir sleeves, go down in he dir and planed over 35 rees in Balimore s Hillsdale Park. The even was coordinae by Blue Waer Balimore and Waerfron Parnership, he voluneers were from Balimore-based Consellaion Energy, and he Ciy s TreeBalimore program provided he saplings. Trees help improve waer qualiy by reducing he amoun of runoff, which ranspors harmful polluans ino sorm drains and he Harbor. Mayor Rawlings-Blake speaks a he release of he Healhy Harbor Plan. Phoo credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. Fish kill a Balimore Harbor. Phoo credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. The bad news for he Harbor Even hough a lo is being done, we sill have a long way o go. Balimore Harbor is lised as impaired by rash under he Federal Clean Waer Ac and lier from Balimore Ciy and Souhwesern Balimore Couny coninues o be a major source of rash in he Harbor. Baceria from pe wase, sewer overflows, and old leaking sewer pipes also coninues o flow ino our sreams and Harbor. In 211, he Maryland Deparmen of he Environmen repored ha 5.7 million gallons of sewage overflowed from Balimore s sewer sysem ino sreams and he Harbor, compared o 1.1 million gallons in 21. These overflows were mainly caused by large sorm evens, during which rainwaer infilraes ino broken sewer pipes. Large sorms also ranspor pollued sormwaer runoff ino he Harbor resuling in algae blooms, dead zones, and fish kills.
Has waer qualiy in he Harbor improved? Waer qualiy in Balimore Harbor did no improve 211 Waer Qualiy Grades in 211. Compared o he 21 repor card (available a HealhyHarborBalimore.org), dissolved oxygen and waer Indicaor 211 21 Grade Grade clariy scored beer, bu chlorophyll a worsened. When Dissolved oxygen C D compared o oher Chesapeake Bay rivers, Balimore Harbor Chlorophyll a D+ Chas he lowes levels of dissolved oxygen in he region. Waer clariy C+ CThe Paapsco/Back River reporing region, which includes Nuriens* n/a F Balimore Harbor, received a D- on he 211 Chesapeake *211 daa no available Bay Repor Card. Waer qualiy is closely linked o weaher evens. Rain and snow can ranspor polluans ino sorm drains and sreams and degrades waer qualiy, bu large rainfall evens can also flush polluans ou of he Harbor leading o emporary improvemens in waer qualiy. In 211, here was a lo of rainfall in he springime, followed by a ho, dry summer. Nuriens and sedimens found in sormwaer runoff flowed ino he Harbor in he spring and, combined wih he warm summer emperaures, resuled in poor waer qualiy condiions. In he fall, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Sorm Lee iniially helped he Harbor by diluing polluans in he waer column and flushing hem ou o he Chesapeake Bay. However, hey also provided new polluion ha helped re-sar he cycle of poor waer qualiy condiions laer in he fall. The mild winer of 211-212 means ha he lingering effecs of Tropical Sorm Lee impaced waer qualiy well ino he spring of 212. Top: Residens of Balimore s Fells Poin neighborhood fill sand bags in preparaion for Hurricane Irene. Phoo Credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. Jones Falls Waershed Boom: Trash capured by he Jones Falls rash boom near he Inner Harbor. Phoo credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. This repor card uses 211 daa colleced by Blue Waer Balimore, he Maryland Deparmen of Naural Resources and he Ciy of Balimore. In 212, Blue Waer Balimore began implemenaion of an expanded Balimore Harbor waer qualiy monioring program, which will grealy enhance he emporal and spacial resoluion of waer qualiy daa in fuure repor cards Owings Mill Righ: This map shows he Balimore Harbor waershed. A waershed is an area of land ha all drains o he same locaion. Balimore Harbor has hree main waersheds The Gwynns Falls, Jones Falls, and Direc Harbor waersheds. y Gwynns Falls aershed Waershed 2.5. 2 5 Kilomeers 4 Miles Towson Direc Harbor waershed
Sorm drains ranspor rash from Ciy srees ino sreams and he Harbor 8 7 211 Inner Harbor Trash Trash Sreamflow Tropical Sorm Lee 14 12 5 1 4 8 3 6 2 Hurricane Irene 1 4 2 January Unforunaely, because people coninue This char shows he relaionship beween sorm evens (sreamflow) and rash colleced from Balimore Harbor by Ciy rash boas. 16 December Sreamflow (cfs) Trash (ons) 6 18 Balimore Harbor ges firs rash free zone Sudens from he Crossroads School s icomets program have been working wih he Living Classroom Foundaion in downown Balimore o learn o lier, rash coninues o flow ino Balimore abou he Healhy Harbor movemen. Sudens Harbor. Trash in he Harbor comes from have sudied how o ake waer qualiy samples, hroughou he Harbor s waershed. The learned how o design devices ha remove amoun of rash in he Harbor is direcly rash from he waer, and even produced relaed o amoun of rain falling on he Public Service Announcemens and a Healhy Balimore region. The accompanying graph Harbor documenary, which have aired on shows he relaionship beween sorms local TV. Working wih he Balimore Ciy and he amoun of rash colleced by Ciy Deparmen of Public Works, Living Classrooms rash boas in he Inner Harbor. In spring sudens have designaed a rash free zone and afer Tropical Sorm Lee, when flows in he canal nex o heir school on S. Caroline were highes, here was he greaes amoun Sree. The Ciy has insalled booms o capure of rash enering he Harbor. rash a oufalls and pledged o spend more ime Sorm drain murals help communiies connec srees and sreams Sarah Tooley and youh from 91 Ars paining a sorm drain mural in Beer Waverly. Phoo credi: 91 Ars. Living Classrooms sudens clean lier and debris from he rash free zone in he canal near heir school. Phoo credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. 211 rash reducion acions 18 sorm drain murals pained in Balimore Ciy 1 Clean Waer Communiies engaged Blue Waer Balimore is leading he Clean Waer Communiy iniiaive, which assiss communiies in developing plans for cleaning and greening heir neighborhoods as well as reducing lier and sormwaer runoff. The goal is o engage 1 new communiies each year. 74,48 miles of srees swep, almos 1, more miles han in 21. (source: Balimore Ciy) 7,161 ons of lier colleced. (source: Balimore Ciy) 294 new Adop-a-lo licenses issued In Sepember 211, he Ciy launched is Power in Dir program, which sreamlines he process for adoping vacan los. This more han doubled he number of vacan los adoped in 211 compared o 21. (source: Balimore Ciy) 513 sorm drain markers insalled. cleaning rash from he area wih Ciy rash boas, which already clean he Harbor daily. Beginning in 21, youh from 91 Ars designed and pained sidewalk murals around sorm drains in Balimore s Beer Waverly neighborhood. In 211, heir arwork inspired oher communiies around he ciy o ake acion on heir neighborhood sorm drains. Wih he help of Blue Waer Balimore s Clean Waer Communiy Iniiaive and Balimore Ciy s Deparmen of Public Works, 18 sorm drains were pained in 211 in neighborhoods around Balimore Ciy! To learn abou paining sorm drains in your neighborhood, please conac Lauren Poor a lpoor@bluewaerbalimore.org. Sorm drain mural in Beer Waverly. Phoo credi: 91 Ars. 86 sorm drains senciled (source: Paerson Park Audubon Cener)
Baceria from pes and overflowing sewers coninues o plague he Harbor Percenage of ime waer sample me he swimming sandard 1% 9 99% 8 <9% 7 <8% 6 <7% <6%.5 1 Miles 211 Baceria (Enerococci) Scores Middle Branch sub-region Inner Harbor sub-region Blue Waer Balimore launches new baceria monioring websie For he firs ime ever, he public can ge imely informaion on baceria levels a 3 differen locaions around Balimore Harbor. Blue Waer Balimore s innovaive baceria daa-mapping websie displays polluion levels on an easy o use ineracive map along wih informaion abou waer conac safey. Blue Waer Balimore s baceria monioring websie can be found a hp://baceria.bluewaerbalimore.org.5 1Kilomeers * The U.S. Environmenal Proecion Agency s frequen full-body recreaional conac (swimming sandard) is 14 Mos Probable Number of baceria colonies per 1 ml of waer. Average percen passing for each saion for he swimming season (Memorial o Labor Day) presened in map. The annual risk of coming ino conac wih baceria in Balimore Harbor remains high, hough much higher in he Inner Harbor sub-region han in Middle Branch. Baceria, viruses, and oher microorganisms ha cause disease can be found in our sreams and Harbor. The bes way o reduce and eliminae hese pahogens is o sop he flow of baceria enering he Harbor from sewer sysem overflows, sewer leaks, and animal wase. We weaher condiions exacerbae hese issues, meaning ha he possibiliy always exiss for increased baceria levels during and afer significan rainfalls. The Cener for Waershed Proecion works wih Blue Waer Balimore and Balimore Ciy o check sorm drains for evidence of sewage discharges. Phoo credi: Waerfron Parnership of Balimore. Blue Waer Balimore moniors baceria indicaors o inform he communiy abou he risk of illness from coming ino conac wih he waer in Balimore Harbor and o highligh areas where baceria are ofen found a high levels. The map above shows ha several areas, paricularly in he Inner Harbor, rarely me he sandard for safe swimming, indicaing a high risk of conracing waerborne illnesses a majoriy of he ime. Saions in he Middle Branch region me he swimming sandard more frequenly, indicaing a lower risk of conracing waerborne illnesses. In Balimore Ciy, he larges sewage overflow in 211 occurred on March 1h and was he resul of rainwaer seeping ino sewer pipes and causing hem o overflow during a large sorm. This single even resuled in nearly 4.7 million gallons of sewage overflowing ino he Jones Falls more han all sewage overflows from he previous wo years combined. The lower level of he Penn Saion parking garage was flooded wih sewage, inundaing parked cars and overflowing ono he Jones Falls Expressway. Blue Waer Balimore saff collec waer samples from Balimore Harbor. Phoo credi: Blue Waer Balimore. 211 baceria reducion acionss In 211, Blue Waer Balimore moniored 3 sampling saions in he Norhwes and Middle Branch of he Harbor for Enerococcus, an indicaor of baceria. Resuls are available a hp://baceria.bluewaerbalimore.org. In 21, he mos recen daa available, Balimore Ciy conduced weekly ammonia screenings a 32 locaions in he Balimore Harbor, Jones and Gwynns Falls waersheds. Ammonia is an indicaor of sewage and when i is deeced he Ciy conducs an invesigaion o deermine he source. In 21, 19 invesigaions were conduced by he Ciy, an increase of 42 from 29. (source: Balimore Ciy)
Pollued sormwaer sends nuriens and sedimen ino he Harbor Land Use in he Balimore Harbor Waershed Jones Falls 2.8% Direc Harbor 1.5%.8%.4% Gwynns Falls 11.2%.7% 2.7% 72.7%.5% 6.1% 97.2% 85.4% Agriculure Developed Fores Oher The amoun of pollued sormwaer runoff flowing ino Balimore Harbor is direcly relaed o he percen of developed land draining o he Harbor. This area of land is known as a waershed and he Harbor s waershed is made up of 156 square miles, exending norh from he Harbor all he way o Reisersown in Balimore Couny. As we replace fores and farm land wih developmen like houses, sores, and parking los, we cover ground ha used o soak up waer wih surfaces designed o move waer as quickly as possible ino sreams and sorm drains. The above pie chars show ha he Balimore Harbor waershed is highly developed, which leads o an increase in sormwaer runoff. Luckily, here are acions we can ake, like insalling rain gardens and rain barrels, o help reduce sormwaer runoff. A rain garden is a landscaped area ha is recessed ino he ground. The shape of he garden allows waer o pond and hen seep slowly ino he soil and is an effecive way o reduce sormwaer runoff from roofops, driveways, and lawns. Rain barrels also reduce pollued sormwaer runoff by capuring waer ha flows off of a roof and soring i so i can be used o waer gardens and indoor plans. Schoolyard Greening In 211, Blue Waer Balimore removed a oal of 34,675 square fee of impervious surface from hree Ciy school grounds. The larges impervious surface removal projec in 211 ook place a he Academy for College & Career Exploraion in Balimore s Hampden neighborhood. The even engaged an esimaed 3 people including rock bands and roadies from he Vans Warped Tour who voluneered heir day off o dig up he paved back lo of he school and replace i wih conservaion landscaping. Aferwards, newly greened sies were convered o a combinaion of rails, urf, naive landscapes and vegeable gardens. Blue Waer Balimore also insalled pracices ha capure sormwaer runoff from approximaely 56,5 square fee of school properies, reaing or fully removing over 1.5 million gallons of sormwaer runoff per year. These pracices also provide valuable oudoor educaion opporuniies for sudens, in addiion o healhier oudoor recreaion space. The majoriy of urban school grounds have opporuniies for greening and sormwaer reducion. Wih he new sae Environmenal Lieracy requiremen for sudens, in addiion o increasing ineres in he Maryland Green School and Green Ribbon School cerificaions, demand for such pracices is on he rise. Voluneers from he Vans Warped Tour pich in o remove asphal a a school in Balimore s Hampden neighborhood. Phoo credi: Blue Waer Balimore. 211 sormwaer reducion acions 74 downspous disconneced resuling in he redirecion of 29,424 square fee of roofop drainage away from he sorm drain sysem. 173 rain barrels sold and insalled. 1,668 square fee of rain gardens insalled for bioreenion. 34,675 square fee of impervious surface removed from schools. $2,71 disribued in communiy grans for sormwaer polluion reducion projecs. 6, square fee of impervious surface removed o creae new ree pis. (source: Parks & People) 6,424 rees planed. (source: Balimore Ciy, TreeBalimore) 13,255 linear fee of sream resoraion projecs compleed. (source: Balimore Ciy)
Wha is he Healhy Harbor Repor Card? Healhy Harbor is a movemen o make he Balimore Harbor swimmable and fishable by 22. The Healhy Harbor Repor Card is a ool o help us communicae his goal and rack our progress. This repor card is he produc of a parnership beween Waerfron Parnership of Balimore and Blue Waer Balimore, wo local nonprofis working o make Balimore s sreams and Harbor clean, safe, and accessible o everyone. EcoCheck, publishers of he Chesapeake Bay Repor Card, provided scienific experise and daa analysis. For more informaion please visi HealhyHarborBalimore.org and BlueWaerBalimore.org. How can you help clean up Balimore Harbor? If you see somehing unusual, le he appropriae people know Balimore Ciy has se up 311, a sysem for he public o repor polluion concerns and reques Ciy services including sree and alley cleaning, sree corner can collecion, issuing ciaions for rash on privae properies and reporing evidence of sewage discharges. When you repor an issue o he Ciy you will receive a Service Reques Number, which can be used o check he saus of your reques. You can also submi 311 requess hrough Balimore Ciy s websie (hp://www.balimoreciy.gov) or hrough he Ciy s free 311 smar phone app, which allows users o submi phoos along wih service requess. Balimore Couny has differen holines depending on he ype of polluion you are observing. For general environmenal concerns call 41-887-3733; for saniary sewer concerns call 41-887-7415; and for erosion and sedimen conrol issues call 41-887-3226. Blue Waer Balimore has a polluion holine and will make conac wih your local environmenal agency on your behalf. You can repor polluion by visiing BlueWaerBalimore.org and clicking on Repor Polluion or by conacing David Flores a dflores@bluewaerbalimore.org or 443-98-696. HealhyHarbor A cleaner, greener fuure for our neighborhoods, sreams, harbor and Bay. Ge involved wih voluneer opporuniies There are many grea voluneer opporuniies offered by local organizaions and Balimore Ciy. Wheher you wan o wade hrough a sream, pick up rash, plan a ree, or canoe in he Harbor, here s a voluneer aciviy for you! Blue Waer Balimore hp://www.bluewaerbalimore.org Parks & People Foundaion hp://parksandpeople.org For McHenry Field Days, Naional Aquairum hp://www.aqua.org/conribue/voluneer Canoe & Scoop, Balimore Ciy Deparmen of Recreaion and Parks Conac Molly Gallan a Molly.Gallan@Balimoreciy.gov or 443-984-458. Help spread he word o family and friends Many people don realize ha polluion on our srees and in our yards is ranspored by rainwaer ino Balimore Harbor and he Chesapeake Bay. I s imporan o ge he word ou and ell ohers wha hey can do o help. Here are some suggesions: Use a igh fiing lid on boh rash and recycling conainers Clean up afer pes Don pu oils and grease down your sink. Reduce your use of ferilizer, especially before rainy weaher and during we monhs. Insall a rain barrel or a rain garden Conver your garden o naive landscaping Don lier! Plan a ree! A parnership beween Legislaive Updae In 211, boh Waerfron Parnership and Blue Waer Balimore were insrumenal in building momenum for new legislaion o proec and resore waerways in our Ciy and around he Sae. The resuling 212 legislaive session, deailed below, represens a significan vicory for clean waer advocaes and he people of Maryland. Sormwaer Managemen (House Bill 987) This bill requires Maryland s nine larges counies and Balimore Ciy o levy fees o fund pollued sormwaer runoff reducion projecs. Municipaliies can se heir own fees based on he amoun of heir impervious land cover, hough propery used for public purposes and owned by he sae, a couny, a municipaliy, or a regularly organized voluneer fire deparmen may no be charged he fee. Susainable Growh and Agriculural Preservaion Ac of 212 (Senae Bill 236) This bill requires counies o develop land-use plans o encourage growh in exising communiies, aiming o reduce polluion hrough a iered sysem o limi new housing developmens on sepic sysems, especially in areas wih high concenraions of farm and fores land. The bill was alered o limi sae regulaory requiremens on local jurisdicions, which will insead be required o hold public hearings when heir growh plans differ from he sae framework. Bay Resoraion Fund (House Bill 446) This bill doubles fees for users of wasewaer faciliies, onsie sewage disposal sysems, and sewage holding anks o fund upgrades for sewage reamen plans and oher Bay resoraion aciviies. The bill also: 1) allows for some areas in Maryland o mainain fees if hey do no discharge ino or are no locaed wihin he Chesapeake Bay Waershed or he Coasal Bays Waershed; 2) esablishes a hardship program; 3) deermines use and disposiion of Bay Resoraion Funds, including upgrades o Bes Available Technology, cover crop aciviies, ec.