Clean Water Initiative

Lancaster: With the cooperation of local watershed groups, the Lancaster County Conservation District, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Lancaster Chamber, the County Planning Commission, Lancaster County Cooperative Extension, the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board, LIVE Lancaster, and other conservation-related groups, the Lancaster County Clean Water Initiative was recently formed to specifially address the Best Management Practices required for Chesapeake Bay remediate but more generally to think about the need of the County to assure the sustainability of its water resources.

This group has reached out to earlier ad hoc groups formed by Sen. Mike Brubaker to address a myriad of issues related to the Chesapeake Bay.

At the core of the effort are local watershed groups that are coordinated by Matt Kofroth, Watershed Coordiator for the Lancaster County Conservation District. To see more about the work in area watersheds, click here to go to the Lancaster County Watershed website or here to see their most recent newsletter. This site will offer a direct connection to this site on its home page over the next several weeks.

Water Quality Scorecard

EPA's Smart Growth Program, in conjunction with the Office of Water, has released Water Quality Scorecard: Incorporating Green Infrastructure Practices at the Municipal, Neighborhood, and Site Scale. This scorecard offers policy options for protecting and improving water quality across different scales of land use and across multiple municipal departments. Communities are recognizing the importance of managing water quality impacts of development at a variety of scales, including the municipal, neighborhood, and site levels. Green Infrastructure is a comprehensive approach to water quality protection defined by a range of natural and built systems that can occur at all three scales. The scorecard is intended for municipalities of various sizes in rural, suburban, and urban settings, including those that have combined sewers, municipal separate storm sewers, or limited or no existing stormwater infrastructure. It can help municipal staff, stormwater managers, planners, and other stakeholders better understand where a municipality's land development regulations and other ordinances may present barriers or opportunities to implementing a comprehensive water quality protection approach. The scorecard provides policy options, resources, and case studies to help communities develop a comprehensive water quality program. Visit the Water Quality Scorecard webpage at www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/water_scorecard.htm.

EPA Launches Online Map Tracking Enforcement Actions In Bay Watershed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an online map showing the locations of federal air and water enforcement actions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The map is part of EPA’s increased focus on enforcement of federal pollution laws in the Chesapeake Bay region, including a new strategy of targeting geographic areas and pollution sources contributing the greatest amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment to streams, creeks, rivers and the bay. EPA developed the Chesapeake Bay Compliance and Enforcement Strategy to target the greatest sources of pollution impairing the bay and its tributaries. The draft strategy is a multi-state plan for addressing violations of federal environmental laws, and will be finalized in May as part of the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order. The enforcement map is available online at www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/initiatives/progress-chesapeakebay.html.

Turf Grass & the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Washington Post recently had an article on residential lawns and their impact on the Chesapeake Bay. Read the full article at: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/24/AR2010042402214.html. The article was based on a technical bulletin produced by Tom Schueler with the Chesapeake Stormwater Network. Mr. Schueler’s technical bulletin found that "nearly 10% of the land area in the watershed is devoted to turf grass, of which about 75% are home lawns. Turf is the fastest growing land cover in the Bay watershed, and currently exceeds the land use for row crops, hay and alfalfa and pasture, respectively." You can see technical bulletin No. 8 on turf at www.chesapeakestormwater.net (currently the first bullet under What's New). Finally, EPA is developing a guidance manual for the Chesapeake Bay, and the Chapter on Urban Runoff includes a section on turf which addresses activities and actions that can be taken to address turf impacts. The draft version of this guide is available at (final version expected by mid-May) www.epa.gov/nps/chesbay502

American Rivers National River Cleanup Project

Millions of tons of trash end up in our nation's rivers and streams every year. American Rivers is a proud sponsor of National River Cleanup Project, the most popular and successful stream cleanup program in the country that taps into the civic pride of tens of thousands of volunteers across the country. National River CleanupTM is now a year-long event. Register your waterway cleanup on the American ) at least four (4) weeks in advance of your cleanup date and American Rivers will send you FREE trash bags, T-Shirts and Boulder Canyon snacks. Registering with American Rivers is a great way to connect to the larger network of cleanups across the country and garner more awareness for your local effort!