Mill Creek watershed struggling, scientist says

Friday, July 18, 2008

Boynton delivered the ambivalent news at a meeting of the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners last Tuesday, July 15.

The creek has ‘‘relatively poor water quality conditions despite the fact it was a dry summer” in 2007, which would be expected to reduce the influx of harmful nutrients into the creek, he said. ‘‘This is a little bit alarming considering it was, as you know, a very dry summer.”

However, Boynton was the bearer of some good news as well.

‘‘I want to remind you, though, we have never seen anoxic — zero percent oxygen — in the harbor system,” he said. ‘‘... If we start seeing no oxygen near the bottom, that automatically makes it a one [out of ten]. That’s something we really don’t want to see.”

Responding to a question from commissioners’ President Wilson Parran (D), Boynton said that actions taken by Calvert countians, especially getting nitrogen-removing septic systems and reducing or avoiding lawn fertilization, should improve the situation.

But at the same time, prior environmental sins will impact the watershed for decades as nitrogen and phosphorus — nutrients harmful to the creek and bay — gradually travel through the groundwater.

‘‘That water has a memory,” Boynton said. ‘‘We’re seeing some of that nitrogen from septic systems moving into the harbor now. There’s lots of evidence there’s going to be an effect and we’re going to have to wait” for five or 10 years after making improvements to see a drastic improvement in water quality.

While supportive of the goals of the Mill Creek Watershed Study, which keeps tabs on the creek’s health, Commissioner Linda Kelley (R) was skeptical that residents would voluntarily take the steps necessary to restore the watershed.

‘‘Americans love their green lawns and I think in spite of our best efforts, they want the other guy to stop putting fertilizer on his lawn,” she said.

Environmental planner David Brownlee told Kelley and the other commissioners that an alternative would be purchasing fertilizer with organic, instead of inorganic, phosphates, but that such ‘‘bay-friendly” fertilizer would be more expensive.

Kelley was again skeptical that residents would fork out the money.

‘‘There’s a carrot. There’s no stick,” she said.

After the presentation, the commissioners unanimously allocated $13,556 to fund water quality monitoring in the watershed for another year.

‘‘What needs to get done is establish a cost and maybe we can help in addition to grand funding in getting this done,” Parran said of watershed restoration.