The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
today released draft guidance for federal lands management in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that describes the most
effective tools and practices to reduce water pollution. In addition to federal
lands, the guidance addresses a variety of nonpoint sources, including
agricultural lands, urban and suburban areas, and septic systems.
The draft guidance, which is required by
the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order, provides federal land managers with a guide
to implementing the best proven tools and practices to restore and protect the
region’s waterways and the Bay. The same techniques can be utilized by states,
local governments, conservation districts, watershed organizations, developers,
farmers and citizens in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed.
The cost-effective tools and practices
outlined in the document are indicated by current scientific and technical
literature to be the most state-of-the-art approaches to reduce water pollution
from nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
“EPA expects the tools and practices described
in this draft guidance to help the federal government lead by example at its
facilities and on its land in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Peter S. Silva. “States can also
use this guidance as a valuable tool to help determine the most effective
measures to achieve the pollution reduction goals of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.”
Public comment on the draft guidance will
be accepted for 30 days. EPA will then revise the document for release with a
strategy for Chesapeake Bay protection and
restoration in May 2010. The draft guidance is available at http://www.epa.gov/nps/chesbay502/
The key areas in which the Executive Order draft guidance defines
next-generation tools and practices are:
Agricultural on Federal Lands: The draft
guidance focuses on significantly expanding on practices and actions that control
the delivery of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment from agriculture by employing
a whole-farm nutrient management planning approach, including source control
and avoidance, in-field control, and edge-of-field trapping and treatment. The tools
and practices presented build from the most recent, state-of-the-art literature
in nutrient management planning and provide information on reducing pollution
from both livestock production on animal feeding operations and row crop
agricultural lands.
Development on Federal Lands: In the
draft guidance, EPA emphasizes that hydrology is the principal driver of water
quality impairments in developed and developing areas. EPA establishes a
primary focus on maintaining and restoring predevelopment hydrology to the
maximum extent technically feasible. The draft guidance presents background
information, data, examples and resources that demonstrate how to implement
low-impact development and other green infrastructure techniques that infiltrate,
evapotranspire and use stormwater onsite.
Reducing nonpoint source pollution is one
of the greatest challenges to restoring water quality in the region’s streams,
creeks and rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. Some
relevant facts include:
- In addition to
contributing 31 percent of phosphorus loads and 11 percent of nitrogen loads
to the bay, urban and suburban runoff and stormwater sources are the only
significant pollutant source that is increasing.
- On a per-acre
basis, construction sites can contribute the most sediment of all land
uses – as much as 10 to 20 times that of agricultural lands.
- Almost half of
all the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution delivered to the Chesapeake Bay are from agricultural sources, including
both livestock production and row crop land.