Paving the Bay
The Potomac River, one of the largest tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay, has seen its pollution levels plateau or rise since much-praised cleanup efforts three decades ago, according to a new report by a nonprofit group, the Potomac Conservancy.
Read the group's new summary of the river's "D plus" grade for health, which was released today.
One of the most shocking facts in the report: For every 8 percent rise in population in the Chesapeake Bay's watershed, the amount of pavement grows by 41 percent. This means fewer trees and fields to filter rainwater flowing into the bay, and more roads and parking lots to accelerate the flushing of junk into the nation's largest estuary.
How to combat this death-by-mall-and-sprawl? More compact and ecologically smart development designs.
Another interesting recommendation of the report is for the federal government to set limits on pharmaceutical pollution, which today is unregulated. Over the last few years, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey have been finding large numbers of sexually mixed up bass in the Potomac River. Male fish are growing eggs, with their organs malformed they are incapable of reproduction.
It's unclear why this is happening. But researchers have suggested one cause might be residues of birth control pills and other medications flushed down toilets and then washed out into the Potomac River without filtration.
Among several other steps to clean up the river, the Potomac Conservancy advocates changes to the federal Clean Water Act to list "endocrine disruptors from personal care and pharmaceutical products" as pollutants that must be controlled.
“The Potomac River is a national treasure, and part of the lifeblood of the Chesapeake Bay,” said H. Hedrick Belin, president of Potomac Conservancy. “Decision makers must take immediate action to protect and preserve the river so it is available for all people to enjoy. The steps we take – or fail to take – today will have a profound impact on the future of both the Potomac and the Chesapeake.”
Here is the press release from the Potomac Conservancy:
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First “State of the Nation’s River” report rates Potomac’s health a D+
Action steps listed for Maryland and Virginia to control stormwater runoff
and protect forest cover at the local level
SILVER SPRING, Md.--- Potomac Conservancy grades the health of the Potomac river watershed a D+, saying “polluted runoff from our parking lots, roads, and roofs,” soil erosion, unhealthy stormwater, and river pollution are overwhelming and degrading the Potomac River system.
The report, State of the Nation’s River: Potomac Watershed 2007, was issued with a companion Potomac Agenda. The Agenda lists several steps that local and state governments can take immediately to help the river in two critical action areas: land development and stormwater management.
State of the Nation’s River Report
According to this year’s report, the health of the river has reached a plateau. Improvements were made initially after the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act. In the three decades since, population in the region has boomed. The resulting land conversion and development, as well as poor land use practices, have increased polluted runoff.
There have been some reductions in nutrient and sediment pollution, the report says, but the pollutants still exceed their caps, and levels are not decreasing enough to significantly improve water quality. Of the rivers that flow into the Chesapeake, the Potomac delivers the largest amount of sediment each year, and the second-most volume of water.
“The Potomac River is a national treasure, and part of the lifeblood of the Chesapeake Bay,” said H. Hedrick Belin, president of Potomac Conservancy. “Decision makers must take immediate action to protect and preserve the river so it is available for all people to enjoy. The steps we take – or fail to take – today will have a profound impact on the future of both the Potomac and the Chesapeake.”
The Conservancy said it found “disturbing trends of loss of forest cover and inefficient increases in paved surfaces amidst improvements in nutrient runoff and CSO prevention.” Data from the US Geological Survey point to a 41 percent increase in paved surfaces such as rooftops, sidewalks, and parking lots, for every 8 percent increase in population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Solutions offered in the report include:
• Protect existing forest land, and replant strategic areas
• Mandate use of low-impact development techniques
• Require states to fully fund cost-share programs and best-practice implementation and hold agricultural interests responsible for mitigating their impacts on the watershed.
• Update the federal Clean Water Act to respond to new sources of pollution such as phthalates from plastics and endocrine disruptors from personal care and pharmaceutical products.
The group will provide annual reports on specific issues facing the Potomac watershed.
The report is based on data compiled by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, the Chesapeake Bay Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and researchers at the University of Maryland, among others. It was funded in part by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Danaher Corporation.
The Potomac Agenda
Potomac Conservancy Director of Policy Anne Merwin said, “Our first-ever Potomac Agenda identifies the Potomac Conservancy’s two top policy priorities—land protection and better stormwater management—and highlights several specific actions that Maryland and Virginia can take in the immediate future to make a positive difference in those areas.”
The Agenda details actions that will protect existing forest land and replant strategic areas, such as streamside buffers and greenways and mandate use of low-impact development techniques in new and rebuilt construction for better stormwater management.
The full report and the Potomac Agenda, as well as a five-minute video featuring Potomac Conservancy President Hedrick Belin, are available on the Conservancy website at www.potomac.org/site/state-of-the-nations-river/
About Potomac Conservancy
Since 1993, Potomac Conservancy has protected the health, beauty, and enjoyment of the Potomac River and its tributaries. The Conservancy’s primary focus is protection of water quality through land protection and sound land use practices and policies. Because clean water alone is not enough, the Conservancy also works to preserve and restore the Potomac’s scenic landscapes, and to enhance river-based recreational opportunities
I report on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, I have focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, I've crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. Recently, I have been covering the growth and development transforming the landscape. I love seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. I hope to share some here.
Comments
Where can we throw old,outdated, medicine? We can not toss them in the trash, we can not flush them. What are we to do with them?
Posted by: Cynthia A Coyle | November 13, 2007 2:41 PM
As long as we keep overpopulating the Bay and its rivers will continue to get more polluted. Bottom line is most people don't care or can't be bothered. And developers will keep developing because they worship the almighty dollar - open land is just a means to an end for them. It is very sad and disheartening.
Posted by: JenW | November 13, 2007 3:29 PM
As an avid hunter and fisherman I am on the Potomac alot and aside from the trash on the river banks, the potomac appears to be in pretty decent health. Fish stocks are high, resident and migratory waterfowl populations are up, and there are more Osprey's, Bald Eagles, Kingfishers, and assorted hawks and owls than at any point in my decade on the river. I am sure that we can do more to control the amount of pollution that enters the river, but to rate the mighty Potomac a D+ is silly. The Potomac Conservancy obviously has a political agenda, and until they spend a hundred days a year on the river like I do, I don't buy this.
Posted by: Eric G | November 13, 2007 5:16 PM
Since he's a fisherman who spends "a hundred days a year on the river," I have a question for Eric G. about the fish he's caught. According to the Potomac Conservancy's report, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey have been finding large numbers of sexually mixed up bass in the Potomac River. Male fish are growing eggs, with their organs malformed they are incapable of reproduction. Since Eric G. is an expert on fish in the Potomac, I'd like to know whether he's caught fish with malformed resproductive organs. Over.
Posted by: John Hunka | November 16, 2007 3:18 PM
Well as a mater of fact even though I spend quite a bit if time on the water fishing and also killing ducks and geese, I rarely kill a fish, especially a large mouthed bass. In fact I don't eat large mouth bass and rarely even target the species. I can tell you though that I take my kids down to our dock and let them fish with worms all the time and they catch fingerling large mouth bass for as long as the supply of worms holds out. They also catch alot of sunfish, small catfish, white perch, baby rockfish, and even the occasional baby herring or shad. All of these fish stocks seem to be in good shape. As an avid outdoorsman I am very much in favor of conservation, because I want to sustain the resource. We never leave trash when we fish or hunt, we always pack trash out, infact I pulled a 55gallon oil drum from the water a couple of months ago,. You have no idea what a pain in the butt this was. I dragged the drum for a quarter of a mile before I could get to a shallow spot to pull it into the boat. I then brought it to my shop, drained the drum of its oil and recycled both the drum and the oil. I saw a problem and I did what I could to correct it. The problem I see with the USGS and the potomac conservancy is that they are politically motivated. If there were no bad news they would lose funding because it would seem as if there efferots had succeeded and their continued financial support would in turn diminish as the perceived need diminished. As far as hermaphroditic fish, I am not sure if you are aware but many fish have this ability to change their sex. I have not seen the study you are referring to, but I doubt (based on my annectdotal evidence) that the percentage of large mouth bass that are unable to reproduce is as high as the USGS would have you believe. As far as efforts to reduce pollution and continue to help keep the potomac clean I said and will say again that I support these types of measures. In closing Mr. Hunka how many days have you spent on the river and what are you doing to help clean up the ecosystem. We drive hybrid cars, set our thermostats low(and they are on timers) we set our lights on timers, and recycle everything possible. I hope that, considering what I perceive to be your snide attitude, you are doing more than that.
Posted by: ericG | November 16, 2007 3:58 PM
Dear Eric,
Thanks for the detailed response to my post. I live in the East Village in Manhattan about five blocks from the East River. I’m not a fisherman, but I used to go crabbing with my dad at Barnegat Bay in New Jersey. Based on what I’ve seen from the cockpit of my sea kayak on the Chesapeake Bay, Barnegat Bay, and Hudson River, we have a major problem with water pollution in this country. It is well-documented that fish and shellfish in waterways throughout the nation – including the Potomac River -- are contaminated with PCBs, mercury and other toxic chemicals. I hope your kids don’t eat many of the fish they catch, because the fish are contaminated with the potent neurotoxin methylmercury. Children are at a high risk of neurological damage from this poisonous substance. We can’t see it, taste it, or smell it, but we know the methylmercury’s in the fish. The source of the mercury is "fly ash" and emissions from coal-fired power plants. When I go kayaking at Tilghman Island in the Chesapeake and at Barnegat Bay in Jersey, I see huge numbers of jellyfish. This is a sign that the water is overloaded with nitrogen from lawn fertilizer. When I went crabbing as a young man with my dad at Barnegat only twenty years ago, we would scoop up nets full of eel grass from the water to keep the crabs cool and moist in the bushel baskets. Now, the eel grass is all dead or dying, and I saw numerous dead crabs decaying in the water this summer. In short, Barnegat Bay and the Chesapeake are slowly dying before my eyes. Two months ago, I took part in the International Coastal Cleanup, and I collected by hand a huge amount of trash and garbage that had washed up at Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Queens. Like you, I’m taking personal action to protect the environment. I own a car, but I rarely drive. Instead, I walk or ride my bike. In fact, I walk or ride to work every day, and I even use my bike to do all of my grocery shopping. I recycle, use compact florescent light bulbs, and unplug major appliances like the TV and computer when not in use. I’m a member of many environmental organizations, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Based on my personal experience and observation of the environment, most of America's waterways -- including the Potomac -- are in poor shape, and could be much, much cleaner. Someday, I hope I can go fishing and crabbing in the East River in Manhattan and eat what I catch. But I wouldn't dream of doing it today.
Posted by: John Hunka | November 16, 2007 4:52 PM
P.S. Did I mention that I organized this rally against global warming in New York City on November 3?
http://events.stepitup2007.org/november/reports/2058
Posted by: John Hunka | November 16, 2007 6:23 PM