Garden State

Tim Iverson

(5/2018) The winter has finally finished its thaw. Now that spring is finally in full swing flowers beckon us to warmer days. The April showers have come and gone. Spring rains wash away the cold winter scene ushering in new life. Springs rains also wash away nearly everything that accumulates on the surface too. Contaminated water, or runoff, is an unfortunate byproduct of nearly every rain storm.

The issue with runoff is that the stormwater picks up pollutants and chemicals from impervious surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and roofs and carries them to drains and rivers instead of through the ground where they get filtered out through the soil. Governments certainly play a role in remediating this problem, but citizens can help reduce the overall impact as well. So, what’s a homeowner to do?

Citizens can’t prevent rain, but they can prevent runoff. Collecting rain in rain barrels or by constructing rain gardens you can strategically utilize rain, reduce runoff, and save on your utility bill. Rain barrels are inexpensive and collected water can be used for anything. All you need is a 50 - 60 gallon drum (sold at hardware and outdoor stores), PVC coupling to connect to downspouts or roof drainage areas, screening to keep insects and debris out of the barrel, and a hose is optional. For many homeowners up to 40% of summer water usage is dedicated to watering gardens and lawns, this can help to reduce that number and your water bills. A slightly more ambitious do it yourself project would be to plant a rain garden.

The EPA advocates for rain gardens saying, "A rain garden is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rainwater from a roof, driveway or street and allows it to soak into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property. Rain gardens can also help filter out pollutants in runoff and provide food and shelter for butterflies, songbirds and other wildlife." Excessive water that is directed into storm drains can overwhelm the system causing toxic backflows. Rain gardens can help prevent this by absorbing the water. This has the added benefit to increasing groundwater recharge for the water table. When considering a rain garden, or any other garden, it is important to remember to utilize native plants. Native plants are best equipped to handle local variable weather conditions, are most suitable for wildlife, and prevent the spread of potentially harmful invasive species.

Planting hedgerows can achieve the same water filtering effects. While hedgerows filter water, preventing runoff from pouring through, they also retain water in their root system which hydrates surrounding plants. Once they’re large enough, hedgerows block wind preventing evaporation of the ground surface and can reduce heating bills on blustery days. Additionally, they provide much needed habitat space and wildlife corridors, increasing the biodiversity of the area, while creating a natural fencing and privacy barrier.

While all roads lead to Rome, our regional rivers lead to the the Chesapeake Bay - the largest and most productive estuary in the United States. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation releases an updated report every two years based on fisheries populations (crabs, Rockfish, and oysters primarily), acreage of bay grasses, total poundage of estimated pollution emptied into the bay and its tributary waterways. The most recent report, released in 2016, denotes the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay at a ‘C-’ grade. Restoration is costly, but failure to do so would be catastrophic.

There is a path to restoration called the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. This is a provision of the Clean Water Act enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2010, the EPA began to legally enforce the "Total Maximum Daily Load" (TMDL) which is a scientifically derived basis of the acceptable amount of total pollutants the water system can handle while still being productive and meet water quality standards. Six states (Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, W. Virginia) and the District of Columbia are now required to incrementally reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution over two year periods through 2025. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment are the top three pollutants contaminating the bay. Farms and agribusiness are responsible for 41% of the polluted runoff, but urban and suburban areas are responsible for 15% of the total deposited amount.

The most recent State of the Bay report card details significant improvement from the previous report card. While complete restoration is a long way off there are real successes as a result of the work. State and Federal officials recently established the largest man-made oyster reef, which covers more acreage than the National Mall, located in Harris Creek on the eastern shore. Oyster populations have been in decline for decades from overfishing and disease. This is huge news for reviving the troubled populations, but even more so because they are massive filtration organisms. A single oyster can filter 50 gallons of water per day. The plan is to create 10 of these reefs with over 1 million oysters in no fishing zones. This will allow for the reestablishment of the species that’s a filtering machine. Seagrasses are also making a huge come back.

The National Academy of Sciences released a 30 year study reporting that underwater seagrass beds have increased from 38,000 acres in 1984 to 97,433 acres in 2016. Restoring seagrass is critical to maintaining healthy populations of economically important marine life like the Blue Crab, and protected marine life like the Diamondback Terrapin. These grasses serve as valuable nursery habitat for all species. They signal the overall quality of the habitat. There are many areas that are making comebacks, grass is being sighted in places it’s never been seen before. However, there is still a lot of progress needed for a complete recovery.

As part of the recent Congressional Omnibus spending bill the Chesapeake restoration plan will be fully funded for another six years, despite the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle it. The state of Maryland is still warding off judicial appeals to the 2012 Stormwater Management act, but consistently upholds the law as legal and necessary for restoring wetlands and the bay. Homeowners can still play their part in reducing the 15% of runoff that degrades the bay by implementing gardens and reducing water usage. The progress seen over the past several years is remarkable indicating positive growth and a bright future for the Chesapeake, including its residents and fishermen that depend on the quality of the nation’s most productive estuary.