Stormwater Partners Network

Film & Discussion Night at the Rockville High School Auditorium on Oct. 22 7:00 - 9:00. The film RiverSmart directed by David Eckert will be shown.

Following the film, there will be a discussion about what is being done to improve water quality in both the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and our local streams.  Discussions will also focus on what citizen can do to help.  Much of Montgomery County is in the Anacostia watershed and much of the pollution that is poisoning the river originates in Montgomery County. Students and the general public are encouraged to attend this event.

This event is being sponsored by the Montgomery County Water Quality Advisory Group, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and the MCPS Environmental and Outdoor Education.  Mark your calendars now for this important event.  Details will follow later.  

I am working on setting up monthly meetings for the Stormwater Partners; our September meeting will focus on the Water Resources Element of the County’s General Plan.  Environmental Planner Mark Symborski has been working hard on this WRE for a couple of years now and he wants to unveil his latest version and get our feedback.  (We will also briefly discuss the ESD Code Changes that Montgomery County is working on.)

September 24 meeting with Mark Symborski about Water Resources Element
We will meet at 7:00 pm on Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Planning Board (in a conference room to be announced.)  

RSVP to dcameron@audubonnaturalist.org

Water Resources Element schedule of decisionmaking:
December 2009 – work sessions at the Planning Board transmitted to the County Executive — in the Spring of 2010 to the County Council — worksessions later in the Spring of 2010.

October 1st 2010:   Adoption deadline
The Water Resources Element then has the force of the General Plan and Associated Master Plans.

For a Friends of Sligo Creek program meeting Tuesday October 20th, at 7:30 p.m., Larry Silverman will be speaking to us about ways for citizen watershed groups to carry out advocacy and communicate with public officials. He will be sharing his personal strategies, insights, and advice on the matter.

Larry has spent his career working for clean water and other environmental causes in Montgomery County and the Anacostia watershed and has a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from. He is currently chair of Montgomery County’s Water Quality Advisory Group and a board member of the Patuxent Riverkeeper. He is also a founding member of the Anacostia Watershed Society. He was instrumental in getting a consent decree against the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Larry is a professor at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches Environmental Sciences and Policy.

The meeting will be held at the Long Branch Community Center 8700 Piney Branch Road. Come at 7:15 for chatting. We will start the discussion at 7:30. Refreshments will be served.