Columbia puts focus on watershed management

But Columbia officials are hoping a watershed management plan will help residents change their routines to help protect the area’s waterways.

“What we do affects streams, lakes, ponds, the Chesapeake Bay, the ocean,” said Chick Rhodehamel, vice president of open space management for the Columbia Association.

The CA has crafted a framework for creating a watershed management plan, including a timeline and a two-year $2.8 million budget.

A CA board of directors committee approved the framework last week, and it will go to the full board for a vote.

Public outreach is a major piece of the plan. Landowners must understand the importance of ponds, rain gardens and barrels for collecting water, the plan states.

The CA should demonstrate these techniques and, where appropriate, buy rain barrels for residential and commercial use, which could cost $1.25 million each year, according to the plan.

The plan also includes spending $300,000 in fiscal 2009 to hire a consulting firm.

The need for a watershed management plan has surfaced as the organization is planning an $11 million project to dredge Lake Kittamaqundi and Lake Elkhorn.

An effective plan would help reduce how often the lakes are dredged, Rhodehamel said.

The state requires new developments to have techniques in place to mitigate the impacts of development on the watershed, said Howard Saltzman, chief of stormwater management at the county’s Department of Public Works.

For existing developments, the county has created a management plan, which includes ways to improve the conditions of the watershed such as restoring a stream wall or building a pond.

County officials also have to consider public education, especially because much of the land is privately owned. From directing roof downspouts onto the lawns or using a rain barrel, residents often have to incorporate practices they didn’t know about or might not want to do, Saltzman said.

“It’s up to the homeowners,” he said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com