Howard County, MD Howard County, MD Phase II Phase II

Watershed Implementation Watershed Implementation PlanPlan

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011

Howard SaltzmanHoward SaltzmanHoward County Department of Public WorksHoward County Department of Public Works

Tonight’s OutlineTonight’s OutlineWhat is a TMDL and why is it

important?What is a Watershed

Implementation Plan (WIP)?• Why is it needed?• What are the WIP goals?• What is the WIP schedule?• How will the WIP be developed?

What happens after the WIP is written?

What is a TMDL and why is it What is a TMDL and why is it important?important?

TMDL = Total Maximum Daily Load◦A TMDL is the maximum amount of

pollution, that can be discharged to any given body of water and still allow it to meet water quality criteria.

◦A TMDL is often referred to as a “pollution diet”

◦Clean Water Act of 1972 requires to be set for all impaired water bodies

So, what does that mean for So, what does that mean for tonight’s discussion?tonight’s discussion?

•The water body, of particular concern tonight, is the Chesapeake Bay•The pollutants in questions are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sediment•The water quality standards to be met include water clarity and dissolved oxygen – needed to allow aquatic plants, shellfish, and fish to thrive

Benefits of Achieving the Bay Benefits of Achieving the Bay TMDLTMDLAchieving the Bay nutrient

TMDLs will help maintain the Bay:◦Recreational – boating, fishing , and

tourism◦Economic resource – commercial

fishing, crabbing, oysters◦Improvements in local water quality◦Job creation (restoration projects)

A little history….A little history….The first interstate

agreement to restore the Chesapeake Bay was signed by Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC in 1983

There have been additional agreements since 1983.

More recentlyMore recentlyThe 2000 Bay Agreement said to meet

water quality criteria by 2010, otherwise the Bay will be listed as an impaired water and a TMDL will be set

Progress has been made, but the Bay’s waters still do not meet water quality standards

The result of not, yet, meeting Bay The result of not, yet, meeting Bay WQ standardsWQ standards

EPA and the States have agreed to a more regulatory approach that includes Baywide TMDLs for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment

ANDRequire Watershed Implementation Plans to meet those TMDLs◦Including milestones and deadlines to

measure progress

TMDL and Initial WIPTMDL and Initial WIPEPA issued the initial Chesapeake

Bay TMDL in December 2010

Maryland Department of the Environment prepared the Phase I WIP for meeting the 2010 TMDL◦Local governments have the

opportunity to fine tune the plan as a Phase II WIP

The Bay TMDL was The Bay TMDL was determined from modelingdetermined from modelingThe model determines loads from

each state in the Bay watershed based on land use, location, and best management practices (BMP) in place to reduce pollution in storm water runoff◦More on BMPs in a few minutes

And allocated to the And allocated to the CountiesCountiesThe results of the model were

further refined to provide pollutant load allocations by County and major contributing “sector”

The major sectors of concern are:◦Agriculture◦Urban stormwater◦Septic systems◦Wastewater treatment

What are Howard County’s What are Howard County’s TMDLsTMDLs

Phosphorus Loads Delivered to Chesapeake Bay (Lbs/year)Agriculture Urban Septic Forest Wastewater TOTAL

2009 Progress 14,467 24,908 - 1,825 46,418 87,618 2017 Target 13,543 21,768 - 1,810 28,438 65,559 2020 Target 13,148 20,422 - 1,804 29,628 65,002 2020 Reduction 9% 18% 0% 1% 36% 26%

Nitrogen Loads Delivered to Chesapeake Bay (Lbs/year)Agriculture Urban Septic Forest Wastewater TOTAL

2009 Progress 111,155 409,328 78,243 79,039 846,792 1,524,557 2017 Target 105,577 374,781 64,884 78,606 385,675 1,009,523 2020 Target 103,187 359,975 59,158 78,420 408,922 1,009,662 2020 Reduction 7% 12% 24% 1% 52% 34%

Pollutant reductionPollutant reductionWithin each sector nitrogen

and phosphorus discharges can be reduced by application of various techniques commonly referred to as:

Best Management Practices(BMP)

Examples of BMPsExamples of BMPsAgriculture

◦Fencing animals out of streams◦Cover crops◦More precise fertilizer applications◦Manure management◦And lots more…

Wastewater treatmentWastewater treatment

Upgrade treatment process to Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR) at Little Patuxent

Water Reclamation Plant

Examples of BMPs Examples of BMPs continuedcontinuedSeptic

◦Upgrade of existing septic systems to Best Available Technology designs

◦Connection of existing septic systems to ENR level wastewater treatment plants that provide better nutrient removal

Examples of BMPs Examples of BMPs continuedcontinuedUrban Stormwater Management

◦New and retrofit SWM ponds◦Stream restoration◦Impervious surface reduction◦Tree planting◦Street sweeping◦Rain gardens

Stream RestorationStream Restoration

Before

After

Stormwater Management Pond Stormwater Management Pond RetrofitRetrofit

Before

After

How do we know what to How do we know what to do?do?

Maryland Assessment Scenario Tool (MAST)

◦A computer model developed by MDE◦Allows input of percentage of land

treated by various BMPs◦Calculates nutrient loads delivered to

the Chesapeake Bay from Howard County

◦Allows for an iterative process to develop one or more scenarios to meet the County’s TMDL allocation

Watershed Implementation Watershed Implementation Plan SchedulePlan Schedule

October 14, 2011 Draft WIP II Milestones to MDE

October 28, 2011 Draft Local WIP II inputs to MDE  November 18, 2011 Local WIP II Report Narrative

to MDE

Mid-Dec 2011– Draft Statewide WIP II to EPA

March 2012 – Final Statewide WIP II to EPA

Possible actions (through Possible actions (through 2017) that will be included in 2017) that will be included in

the WIP IIthe WIP II

Add urban BMPs to provide storm water management treatment of 20% of currently untreated impervious area ◦ Approximately 9,000 acres◦ Approximately 2% of untreated acres

completed last10 years

Upgrade 20% of the 15-20,000 septic systems in the County,◦ Particularly those within 1,000 feet of a

perennial stream◦ Currently upgrade less than 10 septic systems

per year

Wastewater treatment and Wastewater treatment and agriculture are closer to agriculture are closer to

meeting their goalsmeeting their goals

Upgrade of Little Patuxent WWTP to ENR underway and will be completed in 2012

AgricultureAgricultureHoward Soil Conservation District and

MD Department of Agriculture are preparing the agricultural section of the WIP which will outline BMPs and nutrient management plans to be developed for farms

When does all of this need to When does all of this need to be completed?be completed?

EPA requires that measures needed to achieve 60% of the reductions be in place by 2020

But, Maryland has decided to meet this goal by 2017

All practices to be in place by 2025, but Maryland has agreed to do this by 2020

What will all of this cost?What will all of this cost?Construction costs are yet to

be determined and are likely to be in the $300M to $800M range for urban storm water BMPs and septic system upgrades

The wastewater treatment plant ENR upgrade has already been funded at $35M

HSCD has existing programs and funding in place to meet the County’s agricultural TMDL allocation

Where will the money come Where will the money come from?from?Wastewater paid out of the Utility Fund

supported by user fees and assessments◦ ENR upgrade also funded by grants from the MD

Bay Restoration Fund

Agricultural BMPs are substantially funded through existing Federal and State cost sharing programs

Septic system upgrades in Howard County are not a priority for funding through the Bay Restoration Fund

More money…..More money…..Storm water management BMPs are

funded by Howard County out of the general fund or bonds and by grants from MDE (which may include federal monies)

Feasibility of a storm water utility is being studied provide a steady and reliable funding source for implementing and maintaining SWM BMPs

What’s Next?What’s Next?Complete the County’s

input to the Phase II WIP

MDE will compile all the County WIPs into a Draft Maryland Phase II WIP for submission to EPA in December 2011

Maryland’s final WIP II will be submitted to EPA March 2012

And after that….And after that….Implementation of the Phase II

WIP proceeds◦The WIP will include milestones for

2013 and 2015 to be compared to actual implementation progress

By 2017 a Phase III WIP will be developed to ensure the 2020 TMDL nutrient pollution limits are met

Howard County’s WIP Howard County’s WIP TeamTeam

Department of Public WorksDepartment of Planning and ZoningHoward County Health DepartmentHoward Soil Conservation DistrictHoward County Public School SystemColumbia Association

Questions?Questions?For further information contact

Howard Saltzman410-313-6416Hsaltzman@HowardCountyMD.gov