Storm Waters

It's raining again today. It has been a wet week in Maryland; we had half a foot of rain over the previous weekend that caused lots of flooding. With so much land paved over for roads and parking lots, the rain has no were to go and with 6 inches of rain, the storm ponds built around the housing developments and strip malls were simply overwhelmed. As I was driving on Monday I saw the county Swift Water Rescue Team race down the highway, as I was to learn later, to save a man whose pickup truck had gotten washed away driving down a flooded roadway. I myself drove past several areas on the local backroads were streams that are normally tiny brooks were up and onto the roads.

The heavy run-off also has negative environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as the rushing waters erode the stream banks and undermine the root systems of streamside trees. The run-off also carries excess nitrogen from lawn fertilizer, pesticides, automotive, and household wastes into the bay. On drier days, if you explore the local streams, you'll find most sit in steeply eroded gullies carved by previous storms. All the sediment and pollutants are washed downriver into the bay making the water more turbid and smothering underwater grasses.

The problem is discussed in detail in the Patuxent 20/20 Report. Techniques for handling storm water run-off have improved over the years and the 2007 Stormwater Management Act will require developers to use greener, low-impact development techniques, but regulation and enforcement for the act is still being formulated. In the meantime, homeowners can help by installing rain barrels at their downspouts. These capture much of the rainwater and even provide a ready source of water for watering your lawn and garden.