Managing Stormwater in the Community One Best Management Practice at a Time Maryland Department of the Environment 23 rd Annual Groundwater Symposium Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Managing Stormwater in the Community One Best Management Practice at a Time Discuss The Issue Detail The Strategy Describe The Solution
Water Quality/Recharge Impacts (Courtesy of the Virginia Cooperative Extension)
How Groundwater Works Flow System Unconfined and Confined Aquifers (www.mgs.md.gov/images/wtartesian.png)
How much water falls during a storm? Say a house has a roof that is 30 ft. by 30 ft. or 900 sq. ft. Then an inch of rain falling on that roof and rolling down the downspouts would equal 561 gallons, enough for 14 forty- gallon baths. An inch of rain falling on an acre of land would be 27,154 gallons of water, enough for 679 forty-gallon baths. An inch of rain falling on a square mile of land would be 17,378,560 gallons, enough for 434,464 forty-gallon baths. The Mall in Columbia and surrounding parking lots are about 0.14 sq. mi. of surface area. An inch of rain falling on the Mall in Columbia and its parking lots would be about 2,433,000 gallons into Lake Kittamaqundi verses into the ground. In a year, we get 40-45 inches of rain in the Howard County area. A ¼ acre lot on average receives 288,511 gallons of rain per year, enough for 7,213 forty-gallon baths a year, or 20 baths a day.
Howard County, MD Acres of Impervious Surface Uncontrolled 11500 62% Controlled 7000 38% Controlled Uncontrolled (Courtesy of the Howard County Office of Environmental Sustainability)
Impervious Surface Map
Hydrograph
Detail the strategy 1. 2. 3. Train Citizens and Community groups Offset Impervious Cover Manage Stormwater at Source
Why the Need for Watershed Stewards? Land use has changed dramatically, from pervious to impervious, thus Decreasing absorption of storm water into the ground Increasing runoff of sediment and nutrients Decreasing water quality Damaging infrastructure NASA satellite image captured 9/12/11 showing the plume of sediment entering the Chesapeake Bay from the Susquehanna River.
What Is a Watershed Stewards Academy? The Academy trains and supports volunteer community leaders to serve as Master Watershed Stewards for protection, restoration and conservation of local watersheds. Collaborative, mostly volunteer, effort with representatives from University of Maryland Extension Howard County Government Columbia Association Howard County Master Gardeners
Notable Aspects of WSA Training 1. Lead watershed action projects to apply residential storm water best management practices (BMPs) in your neighborhood. 2. Become part of a network of local professionals and volunteers who work to reduce storm water pollution.
Neighborhood Source Assessment
Pervious Area Assessment
Notable Aspects of WSA Training Opportunities for Continuing Education (some public and some private)
WSA Program Highlights Trained over 205 Master Watershed Stewards Worked with over 738 volunteers (6,300 volunteer hours), educated over 220 students, worked with 20 teachers Planted over 600 sq. ft. of streamside forest buffers Installed over 14,000 sq. ft. of rain garden or bioretention Planted over 7000 native trees and plants Installed/distributed over 300 rain barrels Installed over 5000 sq. ft. of conservation landscapes Installed 30 Pet Waste Signs and Stations Removed 4000 lbs. of trash
Describe the solution Slow it down 2. Spread it out 3. Soak it in 1.
Rain Gardens
Best Management Practices Impervious Surface Removal Conservation Landscapes
Best Management Practices Cisterns & Rain Barrels Dry Wells
Clean Water Communities Hillsmere Shores Community 9 Cisterns 7 Conservation Landscapes 2 Rain Gardens
516 Beach Drive Cistern Conservation Landscape Rain Garden A B C Rain Garden Conservation Landscape
Property Assessment Lot Coverage Area: ft 2 Lot: % Hard Surfaces 35 Roof Tops 4,000 Driveway/Sidewalk 4,225 Pervious Cover 65 Trees/Landscaping 6,000 Lawn 11,000 Total 23,500 NOTE: 43,560 ft 2 = 1 acre
Contact Information Suzanne Etgen, Program Coordinator Anne Arundel Watershed Stewards Academy Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center 975 Indian Landing Rd, Millersville, MD 21108 setgen@aacps.org 410-222-3831 Vaughn Perry, Manager of Adult Education National Capital Region Watershed Stewards Academy Anacostia Watershed Society 4302 Baltimore Avenue, Bladensburg, MD 20710 vperry@anacostiaws.org 301-699-6204 Jennifer Dindinger Cecil County Watershed Stewards Academy Cecil County Government Building 200 Chesapeake Boulevard, Elkton MD jdinding@umd.edu 410-827-8056 Terry R. Matthews, Program Coordinator Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy University of Maryland Extension 3300 North Ridge Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043 trmatt@umd.edu 410-313-2711