Public meeting presentation for the Lower Potomac and Little Falls watershed study.

1. Watershed Assessment
and Implementation
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Little Falls and
Lower Potomac Direct
February 27, 2014
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/watershedrestoration

2. Introductions
 Darian Copiz
 Watershed Planner, Montgomery County DEP
 Pamela Rowe
 RainScapes Program Specialist, Montgomery County DEP
 Leslie Wilcox
 Outreach Planner, Montgomery County DEP
 Rebecca Winer-Skonovd
 Water Resources Scientist, Brown & Caldwell
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3. Today’s Agenda
 Watershed 101
 What is the County Doing to Protect our Streams?
 Purpose of this Public Meeting
 Watershed Study Process
 Schedule
 Questions
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4. Watershed 101
Sources of Water
 About 97% is salt water
 About 2% is frozen
 Only 1% is available for drinking water
 Across the Country, about 57% comes from surface water sources
 In Maryland, 74% is from surface water sources
 Potential for greater impacts from runoff in Maryland
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5. Watershed 101
Montgomery County, MD
 507 sq. miles
 1,000,000 people
 Second only to Baltimore City within
Maryland in average people per square mile
 184 languages spoken
 About 12% impervious surface overall
 About the size of Washington DC
 Over 1,500 miles of streams
 Two major river basins:
 Potomac
 Patuxent
 Eight local watersheds
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District of Columbia
Impervious
Not allowing water to soak
through the ground

6. Watershed 101
What is a Watershed?
 A watershed is an area from which
the water above and below ground
drains to the same place.
 Different scales of watersheds:
 Chesapeake Bay
 Eight local watersheds
 Neighborhood (to a storm drain)
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7. Watershed 101
What is Runoff?
 Water that does not soak into the
ground becomes surface runoff. Runoff
flows over hard surfaces like rooftops,
driveways and parking lots collecting
potential contaminants and flows:
 Directly into streams
 Into storm drain pipes, then streams
 Into BMPs, then streams
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Two Major Issues:
Volume/Timing of Runoff
Water Quality

8. Watershed 101
Urban Impacts to Streams
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Eroded Stream Banks
Polluted Runoff from Parking Lots
Failing Infrastructure

9. Watershed 101
What is the County doing to
protect and restore our Streams?
 Must meet regulatory requirements
 Federal Clean Water Act permit program
 MS4 = Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
 Applies to all large and medium Maryland jurisdictions
 County Program Goals
 Restore our streams and watersheds
 Add runoff management
 Meet water quality protection goals (TMDLs)
 Reduce pollutants getting into our streams
 Educate and engage all stakeholders
 Individual actions make a difference
 Focus on watersheds showing greatest impacts
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10. Montgomery County MS4 Area
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Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
 Does not include Gaithersburg,
Rockville, or Takoma Park
 Does not include MNCPPC,
WSSC, Federal or State
properties
 Does not include
agricultural lands

11. Watershed 101
What is a TMDL?
It’s a Pollution Diet
 Total Maximum Daily Load
 Maximum amount of
pollutant that can be
received by a water body and
still meet standards
 Set by MDE and approved
by EPA
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12. What is the County Doing to
Restore our Streams?
 DEP must add stormwater management for 20% of impervious
surfaces (4,292 acres = 6.7 square miles)
 About three times the size of Takoma Park.
 That’s equivalent to 3,307 football fields!
 Progress during this Permit Cycle (ends February 2015)
 Equivalent of 400 impervious acres added or under construction
 2,815 acres through projects under design
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13. Status of County Watershed Studies
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14. Purpose of this Meeting
 Present watershed study
process and areas
identified for project
development
 Receive feedback on
watershed study and
areas identified for
project development
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15. Watershed Study Process
1. Identify Watershed
2. Data Collection
3. Data Analysis and Prioritize Projects
4. Draft Watershed Assessment
5. Public Meeting
6. Finalize and Publish Watershed Assessment
7. Watershed Implementation Plan
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16. Identify Watershed
Lower Potomac Direct
 Drainage Area includes >7,500 acres
 Rock Run subwatershed
 Rock Run Imperviousness = 11%
 Notable developments include
Potomac, Great Falls and Cabin John
 Land Use; mix of open
land, forest, institutional, low density
residential
 Stream habitat is generally good b/c of
forested stream valleys
 Despite this, biological community showing signs
of impairment
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17. Identify Watershed
Little Falls
 Drainage area > 5,000 acres
 Imperviousness = 25%
 One of the County’s most urban watersheds
and contains some of the oldest developed
areas of the County
 Land Use: dominated by medium density
residential
 Stream conditions are generally poor due to
uncontrolled stormwater runoff
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18. Data Collection
Upland Assessments
 RainScapes Neighborhoods
 New Best Management Practices (BMPs)
 Reforestation Sites
Stream Corridor Assessment
 Erosion
 Inadequate Buffers
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19. Data Collection
Lower Potomac and Little Falls MS4 Area
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20. Upland Assessments
Desktop Analysis
 Large stormwater outfalls
 Large contiguous
impervious surfaces
 Neighborhoods
 With civic associations & good
communication structure
 with HOAs
 medium sized lots
 high property ownership
 Large unforested areas
 Focus in the MS4 area
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21. Upland Assessments
Field Assessments
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22. Stream Assessments
Desktop Analysis
 Stream corridors not
previously assessed
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23. Stream Assessments
Field Assessments
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24. Data Analysis
Lower Potomac Direct
Little Falls
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Assessment # of Assessed Units
Streams 6 Stream Miles
New Best Management Practices 47 Sites (e.g., parking lot)
RainScapes Neighborhoods 6 / 860 Neighborhoods / Properties
Reforestation Areas 1 Sites (e.g., unforested lots)
Assessment # of Assessed Units
Streams 32 Stream Miles
New Best Management Practices 7 Sites (e.g., parking lot)
RainScapes Neighborhoods 5 / 1073 Neighborhoods / Properties
Reforestation Areas 7 Sites (e.g., unforested lot)

25. Prioritize Projects
Ranking Factors:
 Potential Effectiveness
 Feasibility
 Accessibility
 Stream Condition
 Public Input
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26. Draft Watershed Assessment
Upland Concepts
 RainScapes Neighborhoods
 New Best Management Practices
Stream Restoration Concepts
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27. Watershed Implementation Plan
 Identifies stormwater management projects, watershed
restoration projects and programmatic actions
 Estimates potential pollutant load reduction
 Determines ability to meet applicable TMDLs
 Provided a schedule and cost estimate for meeting TMDLs
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28. WE ARE HERE
Watershed Assessment
and Implementation
Project Schedule (Tentative)
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Step Anticipated Dates
1. Identify Watershed Fall 2012
2. Data Collection Summer 2013
3. Data Analysis and Prioritize Projects Fall 2013
4. Draft Watershed Assessment Winter 2014
5. Public Meeting Winter 2014
6. Finalize and Publish Watershed Assessment Summer 2014
7. Implementation Plan Summer 2014

29. Questions?
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Darian Copiz
240-777-7774 darian.copiz@montgomerycountymd.gov
Projects Webpage:
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/watershedrestoration
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