Stormwater Partners Network

Ed Murtagh is chair of Friends of Sligo Creek’s Stormwater Committee.  He grew up in Chevy Chase, went to B-CC High School, and now lives in Wheaton.  Ed is an engineer and works for the USDA.  He is currently working to “green” the USDA Headquarters Complex in Washington, D.C.

How did you become interested in the stormwater problem?

It was during a clean-up event in Sligo Creek Park several years ago.  Kathy Michels (who was helping coordinate the event) made a remark about stormwater runoff to me and the environmental impacts on Sligo Creek.  Unbeknownest to Kathy, I (Mr. Environmentalist) had spent the Labor Day weekend a few weeks earlier trenching my front yard to replace the clogged pipe that took the runoff from my roof to the street curb.  Because of all the tree roots I encountered, it was really hard work.  It never occurred to me that what I was doing was damaging Sligo Creek.  I always thought that rainy weather was a life enhancing event for our aquatic habitat in Sligo Creek.  The more I learned about how we had needlessly turned stormwater runoff into one of the most serious environmental problems,  the more I became interested in looking for steps that homeowners like myself could take to become part of the solution rather than being part of the problem.  Looking back, it would have been so much easier to install a raingarden rather than replace the pipe to the road.

What vision do you have for improving Montgomery County’s water quality?

Currently, government agencies are taking on most of the responsibility for improving our water quality, partly because the solutions usually have been large multi-million dollar engineered storm water management practices (i.e. stormwater ponds) that did not engage homeowners, schools, businesses, or houses of worship.  Despite millions of dollars spent on watershed and stream restoration efforts in Sligo Creek, its water quality remains poor.

The site will periodically be profiling different Stormwater Partners

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