Watershed Planning Archives - Center for Watershed Protection

Tracking Progress on the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan

The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) recently released a progress report on the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) 2022-2023 Milestones. The CWIP is a collaboration of three states: Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Progress highlights include developing an implementation framework and strengthening partnerships with outreach to targeted watershed groups. Maryland committed $25 Million for CWIP implementation through a Pay-for-Success program that will be administered by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Pennsylvania allocated funding for the Clean Water Procurement program through PENNVEST and New York provided implementation funding to the Upper Susquehanna Coalition. The CWIP outlines a comprehensive and cost-effective approach [...]

admin2023-03-03T10:56:05-05:00March 3rd, 2023|

Town of New Market Step Pool Storm Conveyance System

A stormwater retrofit designed by the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) and constructed by Resource Restoration Group (RRG) in the Town of New Market, Maryland is now complete. This project transformed an historic fire pond into a step pool storm conveyance system that reduces stormwater pollution in the Linganore Creek watershed, a drinking water supply that is part of the larger Potomac River Basin. The project was initially identified as a top priority in the Town’s Stormwater Retrofit Plan developed by CWP in 2019. The New Market fire pond was constructed more than 68 years ago as a water source [...]

admin2021-01-11T15:05:55-05:00January 11th, 2021|

Maryland Coastal Bays Watershed Plan

In 2015, the Center for Watershed Protection led the development of a watershed-based plan focused on meeting the nonpoint source TMDL load reductions from the Maryland portion of the Coastal Bays watersheds in Maryland, which include Assawoman Bay, Isle of Wight Bay (including the St. Martin’s River), Sinepuxent Bay, Newport Bay and Chincoteague Bay. The plan addresses the 16 waterbodies with approved TMDLs for nutrients and/or sediment in the Coastal Bays watershed and identifies current and future BMPs to reduce pollutant loads in each TMDL subwatershed. This project involved identification and mapping of existing and proposed BMPs, a desktop assessment [...]

admin2020-12-02T14:21:59-05:00December 2nd, 2020|

Experts Release First-Ever Plan to Clean Up Pollution from Conowingo Dam, Restore Chesapeake Bay

October 14, 2020, Ellicott City, MD – After months of collaboration, a coalition of nonprofits, including the Center for Watershed Protection, have drafted a comprehensive and cost-effective approach to reduce nutrient pollution flowing past the Conowingo Dam into the Chesapeake Bay. This work began in September 2019 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided nearly $600,000 for three projects to further the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), including support for the Center for overseeing the WIP’s development and implementation. The coalition, which also includes the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Chesapeake Conservancy, partnered with the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program [...]

admin2020-10-20T14:03:55-04:00October 20th, 2020|

An Evaluation of Municipal Policies and their Role in Protecting Forests from Development Impacts

Over the past eight years, the Center has expanded its reach to the Delaware River Basin, which spans four states and includes 42 counties and 838 municipalities. With the support from the Academy of Natural Science at Drexel University’s Delaware Watershed Research Fund, the Center recently finalized a three-year research project in partnership with Rutgers University and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation to analyze the role of municipal land use controls in forest protection. The goal of the research was to identify areas of the Delaware River Basin that would benefit from improved regulatory protection for important forest lands such [...]

admin2020-09-18T09:15:51-04:00July 22nd, 2020|

Making Nature Great Again: Integrating Biodiversity and Nutrient Targets into Watershed Management

In the early history of pollution management, big pipe dischargers, especially sewage treatment plants, were an obvious primary target for control. The strong and settled regulatory foundation under the Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program brought measurable progress, but as the millennium approached, much work remained. The Clean Water Action Plan of the Clinton Administration hit center stage in 1998, with a timely if not overdue refocus on nutrients as a significant and growing cause of eutrophication impairments, especially in estuarine watersheds and systems where I have worked for much of my career. [...]

admin2021-12-09T10:17:06-05:00June 22nd, 2020|

Helping Municipalities Work Together to Achieve Clean Water in the Wyomissing

Over the past seven years, the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) has provided technical assistance to the Wyomissing Creek Watershed Coalition, a unique coalition of eight municipalities that drain to the Wyomissing Creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania. As a cold water fishery with a naturally reproducing trout population, Wyomissing Creek has a special set of TMDL requirements. These municipalities share a single wasteload allocation as identified in the 2004 sediment TMDL and they work together to meet federal and state Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) stormwater requirements. CWP initially coordinated with the Berks County MS4 Steering Committee to hold [...]

admin2020-05-13T09:33:18-04:00March 27th, 2020|

Spreadsheet Tools for Estimating Watershed Pollutant Loads and Load Reductions

One of the basic steps in developing a watershed plan or a municipal pollution reduction plan (to meet TMDL or MS4 requirements) is to estimate the current pollutant load for the area of interest and the projected load with future development and implementation of best management practices (BMPs). Two key evaluation factors in the section of BMPs to meet pollutant reduction goals are cost and pollutant removal effectiveness. The Center has developed two tools that assist with this work: the Watershed Treatment Model and the Clean Water Optimization Tool. These two spreadsheets allow customization by users and are free and [...]

admin2021-02-04T12:38:31-05:00September 14th, 2017|

The Evolution of Watershed Plans at the Center for Watershed Protection

Recently I was asked to compile a list of all the watershed plans and retrofit inventories the Center has been a part of since its beginning in 1992. The extent of the Center’s work surprised me, both in terms of the number of plans and the geographic reach. I thought I would share some highlights from this work through a map and a timeline. We appreciate all the partners who have supported the Center’s work on watersheds over the past 25 years! The Center has worked on nearly 100 watershed plans and retrofit inventories. Our plans have centered heavily around [...]

Chris Swann2021-11-05T11:26:44-04:00May 19th, 2017|

Center for Watershed Protection Names National Leaders in Clean Water Solutions

For Immediate Release Contact: Kristen Peterson, The Hatcher Group, 410-990-0284 Center for Watershed Protection Names National Leaders in Clean Water Solutions Award winners span private, nonprofit and government organizations ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (April 24, 2017) -The Center for Watershed Protection recognized eight of its partner organizations as recipients of its 2017 Innovation and Leadership in Watershed Protection and Restoration awards for developing and deploying best practices to enhance water quality. Recipients were named at the Center's annual conference which took place this month, marking the organization's 25th year of being a national leader in stormwater management and watershed planning. "The [...]

admin2017-09-22T14:47:39-04:00April 24th, 2017|