Ecological Assessment and Evaluation

The Ecological Assessment and Evaluation (EAE) Program is responsible for the administration of the County’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System -- Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (NPDES MS-4) permit, the Town Center Surface Water Monitoring Program, and the County’s Biological Monitoring Program.  Staff assigned to these programs work closely with other County agencies to provide interpretation and implementation of these programs within the confines of State and County law.  Staff also provide review and guidance on County project implementation and policy development where the potential exists for the normal business practices of these agencies to affect the County’s natural resources. 

The program works to minimize the impacts such that resource protection is balanced with the necessity of executing projects that will maintain and improve the quality of life for County residents.  The program initiates special studies, projects, and assessments to document and monitor the current condition of the County’s natural resources. Explore EAE's monitoring regimes and recent reports below:

Biological Monitoring - EAE staff routinely assess the status of the biological stream resources of Anne Arundel County's major watersheds to establish a baseline for comparing future assessments, track the status and trends of the biological stream resources, and to relate them to specific programmatic activities.

Long-Term Targeted Biomonitoring - As part of the Biological Monitoring Program, EAE staff routinely collect biological, habitat, and geomorphological data from local streams as part of a long term targeted biological monitoring program. The sample sites are located on reaches where stream restoration activities have occurred or are planned for the future.

Surface Water Monitoring - The Surface Water Monitoring Program is responsible for evaluating the in-stream water quality of the County’s streams and rivers for purposes of developing a long-term water quality characterization of pollutant loadings from the Parole and Odenton Town Center areas.

Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination (IDDE) - Under the NPDES MS-4 Permit, Anne Arundel County manages the IDDE program to screen at least 150 storm drain outfalls annually to locate illegal storm drain connections or other non-permitted dry-weather discharges through the municipal storm sewer systems. 

Recent Reports:

Characterization of Post Restoration Conditions in Cowhide Branch

An Investigation of The Pre-Colonial Coastal Plain Stream Channel And Riparian Area - Anne Arundel County has partnered with the US Geological Survey to characterize historic conditions through a variety of assessment methods including radioisotope dating of the soil layers, identifying pollen and other plant materials found in the soils layers, and using trenching and other methods to identify the form of the historic stream channel underneath legacy sediments.

Monitoring the Effectiveness of Stormwater Treatment Practices at Reducing Pollutant Loads to Receiving Waters in the Magothy Watershed

Long Term Biological Monitoring Sites Condition Summary - 2016 Results

2015 Water Quality Monitoring of Mill and Dividing Creeks 

Rock Creek 2015 Water Quality Monitoring Results - Final Report

Characterization of Pre-restoration Conditions in the Cowhide Branch Subwatershed: 2012-2013