Stormwater Partners Network

Monday, March 15th and Monday, March 29th

Two-hour evening training for Montgomery citizens with a choice of either Monday.  At Audubon Naturalist Society-Woodend:

Led by Bruce Gilmore for Anacostia Watershed Society (who has done more local Environmental Site Design code reviews in Maryland than any other individual in the Stormwater Consortium), this will be a hands-on, 2-hour training repeated on the two Monday evenings to give you a scheduling choice.

Both evenings will feature fascinating site plan examples, and a chance to learn how to “green up” a site — and how to advocate for full application of the new ESD codes to every proposed project in your own watershed!  Landscape architect Andie Murtha has been invited to share her know-how in “greening up a site,” and will probably be able to join us for the March 15 training.

Location:  ANS-Woodend.  Likely time frame:  7 to 9 pm.

Please email Bruce Gilmore at bgilmore@anacostiaws.org to sign up for a training.

This is forwarded from the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection:

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will host a regional public meeting to discuss the state of the county’s streams.  The public will be encouraged to provide input on watershed-specific restoration plans that address stream pollution in their area and meet new stormwater permit requirements.

The meeting will focus on restoration approaches in the West-Central region which includes Lower Monacy, Potomac River tribuatries (including Muddy and Watts Branch) and Seneca Creek watersheds.  It will be held on Saturday, February 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Seneca Valley High School, 19401 Crystal Rock Drive, Germantown.

For more information, see the attached flyer or go http://montgomerycountymd.gov/dep and click on “Stormwater Permit (MS4)”.

Regards,

Montgomery County Stormwater Restoration Implementation Strategy Team

Attached are four documents related to the “Watershed Protection and Restoration Act,” a bill to require the establishment of local stormwater utilities throughout Maryland, whose lead sponsor and champion in the Maryland Senate is Senator Jamie Raskin (D-20). Many thanks to Senator Jamie Raskin, his staffer Alice Wilkerson, and Consortium members Erik Michelsen and Andy Galli for their hard work in bringing this bill forward this year. We look forward to promoting this bill and educating legislators and local officials on why this dedicated funding source is essential if we are to restore the Bay and other waters of Maryland.

Attached are:

• The draft bill
• A blurb you can incorporate into powerpoint presentations
• A set of talking points you can use for meetings with legislators, local officials, and your own fellow activists;
• A Stormwater One-Pager on the bill, that you can send out now to your networks to begin gathering widespread support.

Every Monday at 4 pm, an ad-hoc, informal group of Consortium members meets by conference call to discuss stormwater legislation; the Raskin bill is our top priority. Erik Michelsen (erik@southriverfederation.net) and Andy Galli (agalli@cleanwater.org) are the leads for this effort; please email them if you want to help promote this legislation. This same Monday conference call is also serving to keep tabs on “the grandfathering effort.”

Dear Stormwater Partners,

This is a reminder/ confirmation that we will meet next Tuesday evening, January 19, from 7:30 to 9 pm, at ANS-Woodend (8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, 20815). We will also have our traditional 6:30 to 7:30 pm social hour; please bring a potluck beverage or snack.

Please RSVP to Diane Cameron at dcameron@audubonnaturalist.org

On the agenda:

1) Review of 2009 - changes, accomplishments, and recognition of contributions

2) Priorities for the Stormwater Partners for 2010
Issues and opportunities this year:
* Stormwater Permit implementation
(Accountability of each County agency for their role in the permit)
* Environmental Site Design code changes - not done yet!
* General Assembly stormwater bills - the good, the bad, and the ugly plastic bags
* Artificial Turf
* Forest Conservation Law Reform
* Ten Mile Creek in Clarksburg- one of our dwindling number of high quality streams
* Water Resource Element in the General Plan - public comment still timely
* Anacostia Watershed Restoration Plan

Recap:
At our meeting on November 16, we approved a resolution calling on the Parks Department to halt the installation of additional Artificial Turf fields and to pilot-test well-maintained organic, natural turf fields.

We also discussed the November 18 DEP Watershed Implementation Plan meeting, which several of you attended, and we made some plans to begin scheduling meetings with Council members to discuss Environmental Site Design code changes, the stormwater permit implementation, and the Forest Conservation Law reforms.

The Maryland State Highway Administration has decided to cut back on environmental mitigation projects it had planned for the Intercounty Connector (ICC).  Prince George’s County Council Chairman Tom Dernoga has written a letter to the SHA to protest these cuts.

In 2009, when the Maryland General Assembly was debating Senate Bill 753/House Bill 27 that would have defunded the ICC, these environmental mitigation projects were frequently used as justification for the highway.  One politician who did this was State Senator Richard Madaleno (D-18).

The Anacostia Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee has written a letter to Senator Madaleno asking him to work with the other General Assembly members representing the Anacostia watershed to see to it that all the projects are carried out as originally envisioned, given his past use of these projects to support the highway.