Watershed Management Program |
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The County’s Watershed Management Program, a program deployed in the summer of 2003, serves as a core resource for both County staff, as well as other stakeholders, on watershed research and landuse and environmental advisory issues. This program was deployed in response to the “Watershed Assessment and Planning” and “Watershed Restoration” requirements of the County’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (NPDES MS-4) permit. The program is intended to link watershed data, scientific engineering models, and predictive management scenarios in a consistent geographic information system (GIS) format. | |
| This is done through the County’s Watershed Management Tool (WMT), a system that resides within this program. Based on the resultant extensive databases and in-house model analyses, a consistent and efficient approach for reporting scientific results is emerging. For the first time, extensive and costly watershed studies are now “living documents”; as new information is gathered, it is incorporated into the appropriate component within the programmatic tool avoiding resource duplication and oversights. The successful results and benefits of the WMT are impacting an immense diversity of interest groups and disciplines with the incorporation of new technologies and lessons learned into resourcerestoration designs that maintain the integrity of our natural resources and environment. |
| The WMT is in constant development and contains four major components: - Database Repository
- Modeling Component
- Management Component
- Visualization Component
The database repository provides data storage and retrieval for all the other components. Its primary sources of information are existing County databases from the Land Use Office, detailed stream assessment information, and the information generated by the other components of the tool, such as the model output. Currently the database repository is mostly complete for the Severn Watershed and is in development for the other watersheds. A future link to Subwatershed conditions, selected Watershed data, and modeling results will be available through a County interactive map. The modeling component consists of a variety of individual analytical models to assess existing and future conditions in the watershed. The models will assess pollutant loading, estimate soil erosion and impacts to groundwater, analyze the hydrology for land development conditions for the 1-, 2-, 10-, and 100-year storm events, determine the potential for road flooding at stream crossings, and determine the effects of land use changes on habitat indices using regression analysis. |
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| A stream assessment tool allows for analyses of stream assessment and Bioassessment data. The management component serves as the control interface between other WMT components. It provides workflow management, project setup/ tracking, and data integration for the WMT. The visualization component allows WMT users to browse, query, and report data. MapOptix, an existing County tool, is the graphic and non-graphic means through which the information is provided. Users are able to view existing GIS map layers, future map layers, and model results at their desktop. These components function as an integrated system that can be used by the County to examine successful management practices related to watershed health and stream restoration. |
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| Additional Environmental Information: |
| >> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| >> Center for Watershed Protection |
| >> Chesapeake Bay Program |
| >> Maryland Department of Natural Resources |
| >> Maryland Department of the Environment |
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For more information, please contact Mary Searing at (410) 222-7441. |
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| Page last published: | October 23, 2008
1:47 PM |
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