By RUSTY DENNEN
Runoff from urban landscapes and growth in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia suburbs is the biggest threat to water quality in the Potomac River.
That's the conclusion of a report released yesterday by the Potomac River Conservancy that gives the watershed a D+ grade--unimproved from the conserv-ation agency's first "State of the Nation's River" report last year.
The agency also released a survey on public perceptions of Potomac pollution issues.
Next year "will be the tipping point where either we begin to really solve the storm-water problem in the Potomac River basin and the [Chesapeake] Bay, or accept inevitable and irreversible decline in water resources," H. Hedrick Belin, president of the conservancy said yesterday.
The report, he said, "poses a shift to a new set of storm-water practices to protect streams from degradation."
Five of the seven Bay states, he said, are revising storm-water permits in coming months, "so there's an opportunity, even in a bad economy, to make a fundamental shift in how storm water is managed."
Rainwater mixes with substances such as vehicle fluids and fertilizer from streets, parking lots, suburban lawns, farm fields and commercial developments to form a toxic soup of contaminants. That's a concern because much of Northern Virginia's drinking water is pulled from the Potomac.
And conservancy officials say that every year, billions of gallons of untreated sewage flow into the river after heavy rains. Swimming is banned in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers in the District of Columbia.
Runoff problems are not confined to the metro area: Fairview Beach on the Potomac in King George County has had numerous swimming advisories posted because of bacterial contamination from development along the shore.
Stafford County officials hope to stem the flow of runoff with the Potomac River Resource Protection Overlay District, which was passed last month. The controversial ordinance covers much of Stafford east of Interstate 95.
Runoff and sediment from erosion after storms has also been cited as a major problem in the Rappahannock River.
Thomas R. Schueler, coordinator of the Chesapeake Bay Stormwater Network, noted that from 1990 to 2000, population in the Bay watershed increased by 8 percent, but sprawling development increased by 40 percent.
"We have the opportunity to get ahead of the next wave of development," he said.
That can be done by requiring developers to adhere to low-impact development techniques that reduce the amount of runoff, and encouraging homeowners to do their part by adding rain gardens and the like.
The conservancy is calling for the following actions in the coming year:
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and the state's Soil and Water Conservation Board approve proposed new storm-water regulations.
The Environmental Protection Agency's new leadership and states require that new or reissued storm-water permits be at least as restrictive as new measures in Montgomery County, Md., and Washington.
That grant money be funneled toward encouraging low-impact development engineering and construction.
Potomac Conservancy, potomac .orgRusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
| The Potomac Conservancy has these tips for homeowners:
Get a rain barrel to collect storm water. Install a rain garden or green roof to slow runoff. Advocate strong storm-water regulations at the state and county level. Do not fertilize your lawn, or use organic alternatives sparingly. Replace unnecessary lawn with natural plantings. Don't wash your car in the driveway, and change your oil at a commercial operation. Replace driveways and sidewalks with permeable alternatives.
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| A survey of Washington, D.C.-area residents found that they are relatively uncertain as to the causes of water pollution in local streams and rivers.
Although there's awareness of the overall problem, there's little familiarity with potential solutions. Sixty percent of respondents incorrectly identified industrial waste as the primary source of water pollution. Respondents correctly assumed that rainwater runoff went directly into streams and rivers untreated.
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