The Maryland Department of the Environment is revising its regulations for sediment and soil erosion control.The review began in 2009 and the draft of the “2010 Maryland Standards and Specifications for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control,” will be implemented on May 30, 2010.
As development continues along the rivers and streams that feed into the Chesapeake, there is less natural filtration of rainwater. Soil and vegetation that once absorbed excess rainwater are covered by infrastToructure (such as roads and houses) or damaged by agricultural use.Consequently, polluted water makes its way freely into rivers, and eventually to the bay. Sediment, particles of dirt that travel in stormwater, collect on river bottoms and cloud streams.These bits of soil also contain nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers that cause oxygen depleting algae blooms in waterways.
The draft is over three hundred pages long.It presents planning and design principles and sets grading requirements to prevent erosion during construction.It also offers guidelines for sediment filtration, erosion control, and water removal.
For a full version of the draft and more information about stormwater, visit the Maryland Department of the Environment’s stormwater management program online.
Bay on the Brink is a multimedia reporting project examining the fate of the Chesapeake Bay. It is produced by fellows at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism as part of News21, a consortium of journalism schools. This is the fellows' blog. The full project site is here: http://chesapeake.news21.com
