In December, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission met with staff of the Anacostia Watershed Society to provide an overview of the results from the WSSC’s monitoring of 2007-2011. (I had been invited to attend as a representative of Friends of Sligo Creek, but had the time wrong and missed the meeting). The WSSC is required to monitor area creeks for bacteria with source tracking as a result of a consent decree order in 2005. The results of the monitoring have been compiled on a page on the Friends of Sligo Creek web site.
The presentation made by the WSSC can be found here. A preliminary qualitative observation is that 80-100% of the bacteria sources in area streams has been found to be pets, wildlife, and agriculture. This highlights the need for continued introduction of stormwater reducing technologies to reduce this pollution in our waterways.
Note: The comment in slide 4 “Suggestions from AWS considered: Reduce sampling points outside Anacostia watershed.” Emphasis on the word points. The complete suggestion was to reduce the sampling points and double the monitoring frequency at those stations, leaving the actual number of times monitoring was done unchanged at those stations.
Dear Stormwater Partners and Friends,We have a short window of time to save the last remaining forested area in the Wheaton Sector Plan.
This green forested buffer contains remnant streams and headwater catchments that drain to Sligo Creek (of Northwest
Branch of the Anacostia) and to Lower Rock Creek. Mapping, protecting, and expanding existing green
forest buffers is one of the most important first steps we can take in any watershed restoration program.
Please see the attached graphic map that shows the location of this green forested buffer, the Costco project,
and the surrounding residential communities near the Westfield-Wheaton Mall. (Thanks to Dolores Milmoe
of Audubon Naturalist Society for the map.)
Your emails and calls to the Montgomery County Council are needed now,
before Close of Business, Monday, November 21.
Sample letter below, but adding a personal note is most powerful. Let’s save and expand this green buffer!
Thank you for helping to protect our green forested buffers,
“the majority of German households are charged for stormwater services based on an estimate of the stormwater burden generated from their properties. This approach of individual parcel assessments (IPAs) differs from the approach used in the United States, where the same charges are levied on all parcels or all parcels of the same class (such as residential). Since IPAs in Germany are used to assess fees that relate directly to conditions present on specific parcels, and because land-use decisions (like paving a driveway or installing a green roof) have major impacts on the amount of stormwater leaving a property, this approach creates incentives for individuals to incorporate green infrastructure on their properties.”
This approach has several benefits: it is useful in increasing public awareness of the impact of their personal land use decisions on water quality; the detailed data gathered is helpful for government planning; and, the data can be used to design new fee structures that promote on-site stormwater management.
Don’t forget to put December 9th on your calendar for a dance party ($15 for adults; $5 for kids) to support Stormwater Partners (as part of a series of Dance Parties that raise money for local environmental efforts; last time, we supported Nick’s Organic Farm).
The dance party will be held Friday, December 9, from 7:30 till 11:30.
Beer, wine, juice and munchies and crunchies will be available.
What: Dance Party to support Stormwater Partners Network
As the effective date (Jan. 1) approaches for the 5 cent tax on carryout bags, I commend to your viewing the wonderful video produced several years ago and included in a recent Chesapeake Bay Trust notice:
*The Majestic Plastic Bag: A Mockumentary*
This Chesapeake Bay inhabitant is something that almost every citizen in the watershed has seen in the wild. They have watched it swing in the breeze from trees, float slowly toward sewer drains during rain storms, and tumble playfully across roads in their communities. Although they may seem harmless, plastic bags in “the wild” can actually hurt local
ecosystems and animals. Watch this great‘mockumetary’ on the life of a plastic bag.
