Reservoir Watershed Management Program Details
Baltimore’s Reservoir Watershed Management Program
The Reservoir Watershed Management Program is a 21-year-old, cooperative program developed by local governments and key state agencies in order to:
- monitor water quality trends in the three metropolitan water-supply reservoirs;
- promote regulatory policies and actions which will protect them;
- address emerging new technical issues involving the reservoirs; and
- comment on land-use trends, local government policies, utility plans, and proposed land-use decisions in the watersheds that could affect one or more of the three lakes.
Background
Loch Raven, Prettyboy and Liberty reservoirs are owned and operated by Baltimore City. This system of reservoirs (and the City’s treatment plants at Montebello and Ashburton) provides high-quality drinking water to some 1.8 million people living in many parts of our region. Treated water is provided to all of Baltimore City, all of the urbanized portions of Baltimore County, almost all of the urbanized areas of Howard County, and the northern end of Anne Arundel County. In addition, untreated water is taken from Loch Raven (and treated by Harford County in Abingdon) to meet about 60% of the public water needs in Harford County and from Liberty Reservoir (and treated by Carroll County) to serve residents in the Eldersburg/Freedom area of Carroll County. The reservoirs are truly a regional asset.
Loch Raven, Prettyboy and Liberty reservoirs are owned and operated by Baltimore City. This system of reservoirs (and the City’s treatment plants at Montebello and Ashburton) provides high-quality drinking water to some 1.8 million people living in many parts of our region. Treated water is provided to all of Baltimore City, all of the urbanized portions of Baltimore County, almost all of the urbanized areas of Howard County, and the northern end of Anne Arundel County. In addition, untreated water is taken from Loch Raven (and treated by Harford County in Abingdon) to meet about 60% of the public water needs in Harford County and from Liberty Reservoir (and treated by Carroll County) to serve residents in the Eldersburg/Freedom area of Carroll County. The reservoirs are truly a regional asset.
Deteriorating water quality was documented in all three reservoirs in the 1970s, particularly involving increasing levels of algal production in the lakes. Elevated algae levels can put the reservoirs’ ecosystems out of balance, can increase routine treatment costs for the several water systems, and in extreme cases, can cause taste and odor problems in the finished (treated) water. There is also a long-term problem of sediment accumulation in the reservoirs, which has decreased the available storage capacity in each lake.
The Baltimore region is fortunate to have these reservoirs, which generally supply us with very clean raw (untreated) water. They are irreplaceable assets for all of us who live or work in the sprawling service area. Alternative water sources, such as the Susquehanna River, cannot provide raw water of the same quality. That’s why it’s so important to protect the reservoirs now and into the future.
Who is involved in the Reservoir Program?
The Reservoir Watershed Management Program had its roots in regional water quality planning done in the 1970s, and it is based on a formal agreement signed at Loch Raven Reservoir in June 1984. Staff members of the signatories have been working together cooperatively ever since that time, and much has been accomplished under the "umbrella" of the Reservoir Program (see below). A Reaffirmation of the original agreement was signed in February 2003, which called for the development of a brand-new Reservoir Agreement and Action Strategy.
The Reservoir Watershed Management Program had its roots in regional water quality planning done in the 1970s, and it is based on a formal agreement signed at Loch Raven Reservoir in June 1984. Staff members of the signatories have been working together cooperatively ever since that time, and much has been accomplished under the "umbrella" of the Reservoir Program (see below). A Reaffirmation of the original agreement was signed in February 2003, which called for the development of a brand-new Reservoir Agreement and Action Strategy.
Work to update these two documents occurred during 2005, culminating in a public signing ceremony held at Loch Raven on November 7, 2005. The signatories included the leaders of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, the Baltimore County Soil Conservation District (SCD), the Carroll SCD, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, the Maryland Department of the Environment, the chairman of the Reservoir Watershed Protection Committee, and the executive director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.
The original Reservoir Watershed Management Agreement was signed in 1984 by these same agencies or their predecessors. The original signatories were chosen because they had definite roles to play or resources to bring to bear on the overall problem of protecting the three reservoirs and their watersheds. The 1984 Agreement was reaffirmed by the signatories in 1990 and again in 2003.
All of the original governments and agencies (or their successors) continue to play crucial roles in the Reservoir Program. The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC), an entity governed by the City and the five surrounding counties, provides coordination and staff support for the program.
The purpose of the 1984 Agreement was to commit the parties to protecting the three reservoirs from increased phosphorus and sediment inputs and to reducing the phosphorus inputs to all three lakes to "acceptable" levels. It was clear at the time that all three lakes were accumulating sediments from the tributaries, and that each had been experiencing its own level of nutrient (phosphorus) overenrichment, resulting in worsening seasonal algal problems.
How does the Agreement work?
The 1984 document endorsed the implementation of a very detailed Action Strategy for the reservoir watersheds, which included a broad range of policy commitments and resource commitments. Implementation was assigned to a policy board (the Reservoir Watershed Protection Committee, or WPC, consisting of local elected officials or agency heads) and a technical committee (the Reservoir Watershed Technical Group, or RTG), made up of staff from each signatory entity. Actual implementation of specific commitments in the Action Strategy is done by the state and local agencies, working through their planning and zoning programs, regulatory programs, public works departments, and other specialized programs which provide direct assistance to communities and landowners.
The 1984 document endorsed the implementation of a very detailed Action Strategy for the reservoir watersheds, which included a broad range of policy commitments and resource commitments. Implementation was assigned to a policy board (the Reservoir Watershed Protection Committee, or WPC, consisting of local elected officials or agency heads) and a technical committee (the Reservoir Watershed Technical Group, or RTG), made up of staff from each signatory entity. Actual implementation of specific commitments in the Action Strategy is done by the state and local agencies, working through their planning and zoning programs, regulatory programs, public works departments, and other specialized programs which provide direct assistance to communities and landowners.
The RTG meets approximately bi-monthly at the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. (Representatives of Harford and Howard Counties, and of interested citizens’ groups, also are present.) The group discusses any new issues of concern relating to the reservoirs, reviews local land-use plans and rezoning proposals, and reviews proposed revisions to the local comprehensive water and sewerage plans. The RTG also shares new watershed-related technical information among the members. The group plans/implements cooperative projects which are intended to benefit the reservoir watersheds in keeping with the goals of the Agreement.
The WPC meets three or four times a year. It reviews and provides policy guidance for the work and initiatives of the RTG.
What are some major past issues addressed by the Reservoir Program?
- Supporting regulatory actions and public expenditures to reduce phosphorus in the treated effluent of the Hampstead wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), the Manchester WWTP, Dutterer’s Foods of Manchester, and the former Montrose School (near Liberty Reservoir.)
- Supporting Carroll County’s project to restore the upper Piney Run stream channel (below the Hampstead WWTP outfall) to a more "natural" state (to help with warm-weather stream temperature problems.)
- Setting a numerical "total phosphorus" annual loading goal for each reservoir and attempting to track phosphorus-trapping "best management practices" (BMPs) installed on farms and in residential areas as contributing towards those load-reduction goals.
- Supporting federal and state funding to help Baltimore County eliminate the causes of periodic sewage overflows from the Long Quarter pumping station into Loch Raven.
- Ever since 1987, Baltimore City has provided partial funding for a technician position at the Carroll SCD, to provide assistance specifically to farmers in the reservoir watersheds.
- Baltimore City and the two counties have operated expanded tributary-monitoring programs in the three watersheds (as compared to the monitoring programs of the 1970s), in order to assess the health of the streams themselves and to better estimate the annual delivery of phosphorus and sediment loads to the reservoirs.
- Once every four years since 1988, in connection with the Baltimore County Comprehensive Zoning Map Process, the Reservoir Program has commented on rezoning petitions involving properties or areas in the Baltimore County portions of the watersheds. Generally, the program supported downzoning requests, and opposed upzoning requests or changes from rural to urban designations.
- The RTG has routinely commented on proposed changes to the local comprehensive water and sewer plans of Baltimore County and Carroll County.
- The program supported Baltimore County’s 1996-97 development of a "water quality management plan" (essentially a stream-channel-assessment and restoration plan) for the Loch Raven watershed.
- The program sponsored a Public Awareness Survey of watershed residents (1994) by the University of Baltimore, which measured the public’s awareness of and support for reservoir protection issues.
Recent projects and activities of the Reservoir Program
- Performed the local "lead role" in carrying out the Prettyboy Source Water Stewardship Project, in cooperation with The Trust for Public Land, Carroll and Baltimore Counties, and local citizens’ groups. This involved a weeklong workshop in April 2003 and the release of a detailed consultants’ report in October 2003.
- Reviewed the 2003 Amendments and the 2004 Amendments to the Carroll County Water and Sewerage Plan. Submitted written comments to the County Commissioners.
- Commented on the 2004 Triennial Review of the Baltimore County Water and Sewerage Plan. Comments were submitted to County Planning Board.
- Reviewed and commented on Source Water Assessment reports prepared by Baltimore City for Liberty Reservoir watershed (2003) and by MDE for Loch Raven (2004).
- Reviewed and commented on the water supply chapter of the draft 2005 Update to the Baltimore City Water and Sewerage Plan.
- Reviewed and provided public testimony on Carroll County’s new development-related environmental regulations (March 2004).
- Baltimore County 2004 Comprehensive Rezoning Map Process: Carried out a detailed review of all proposed zoning changes for Resource Conservation-zoned parcels in the reservoir watersheds. Prepared comments letters on 72 different rezoning "issues" and submitted them to the Planning Board. The letters stressed the importance of considering reservoir protection and discouraging rural sprawl when looking at the individual rezoning petitions. Testified at County Council public hearings.
- Supported Baltimore County’s efforts to analyze available tax map data to identify trends in rural residential development in the reservoir watersheds over time, and to estimate the ‘build out" potential for further such development in the rural areas of the county, given the current zoning.
- Developed a detailed report, entitled Water Quality Assessment, Targeted Studies and Ongoing Water Quality Issues in the Baltimore…Reservoirs and their Watersheds. This report summarized over twenty years of monitoring and study of key reservoir pollutants; summarized major watershed studies done in the past decade; and spelled out a list of the current major concerns regarding water quality trends and the gaps in our understanding of water quality in the lakes. This report was released at a well-attended public conference in November 2004.
The New Documents
During 2005, the Reservoir Technical Group and the Reservoir Watershed Protection Committee worked hard (in concert with key local officials) to develop a new Reservoir Watershed Management Agreement and a new Action Strategy (both in pdf). These were intended to update, build upon, and replace the original 1984 Agreement and Action Strategy. During this renewal process, the staff retained the key beneficial provisions of the earlier Action Strategy, while adding new "commitments" which address emerging new issues, such as the thirty-year upward trend observed in sodium concentrations in the treated drinking water.
The 2005 Agreement resulted from at times intense negotiations among the staffs of the principal signatories. It was signed in early November by the top elected officials in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Carroll County; the chairmen of the Baltimore County and Carroll County Soil Conservation Districts; the secretaries of MDA and MDE; the chairman of the Reservoir Watershed Protection Committee; and the Executive Director of the BMC.
Work began early in 2006 by the Reservoir Technical Group to set priorities for starting work on the new "commitments" included in the 2005 Action Strategy.
For more information:
Gould Charshee, Water Resources Program Manager, gcharshee@baltometro.org or 410-732-0500 x1006
Gould Charshee, Water Resources Program Manager, gcharshee@baltometro.org or 410-732-0500 x1006
Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 December 2008 10:24