Working with the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Programs in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, OECR has completed an evaluation of the Upper Patuxent River watershed as part of the development of a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) for the area. In the conduct of this WRAS, Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties worked closely with State staff to collect existing information and develop a watershed characterization, and to field assess current stream habitat conditions, fish and aquatic invertebrate communities, and baseflow nutrient concentrations and loading rates. Additionally, the WRAS Partners (Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, and Maryland DNR) undertook public participation activities to ascertain the perceived issues and assets associated with the Upper Patuxent River watershed. The urban land within this watershed was also reviewed and assessed for the potential to retrofit or implement environmentally sensitive, low impact, development techniques that will address and reduce nonpoint source pollution from site runoff. From the existing information and current assessments, the WRAS Partners developed the Basin Condition Score, a methodology to prioritize subwatersheds for restoration and/or protection activities based on differences in ecological conditions (e.g., water quality, habitat conditions, land uses). |
Overall, stream macroinvertebrate conditions in the Upper Patuxent River watershed were rated as poor with nearly 75% of sampling sites receiving a rating of poor or very poor. Samples were typically dominated by pollution-tolerant species and had a dearth of sensitive organisms typically associated with unimpacted systems. Baseflow nutrient loading and concentrations in the Upper Patuxent River watershed were generally very low. Only four subwatersheds had stations with nitrate/nitrite concentrations above the 1mg/L threshold established as the limit for unimpaired streams. Only one station had nitrate/nitrite loading in the moderate range. For orthophosphate concentrations, levels were excessive only in Stocketts Run and elevated in a handful of other small subwatersheds. Based upon the outcome of the WRAS, Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties will continue to work to implement habitat restoration projects, low impact development techniques, and foster public stewardship of the Upper Patuxent River. >> More information on Watershed Restoration Action Strategies For more information, contact Janis Markusic or Christopher Victoria at (410) 222-7441. |
