The Potomac Highlands Watershed School 

Stream Cleaner Environmental Forum 2011

Developer POV & TD Navigation

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Comments for All Developers

Response        MMM Cheese Homeowners - homeowner - NHHS

                                                                                                                        4/1/2011

              Dear everybody,   I have seen the errors of my ways. I have done some

              research and, I still believe that the bay doesn’t impact me. On the upper side, I

              will change my ways. “Nitrogen pollution is the most serious pollution problem for

              the Bay because it causes algae blooms that consume oxygen. The blooms lower

              dissolved oxygen levels so severely that fish and shellfish die.” I found that on

              the Chesapeake Bay Foundation website. I do not want to be the one responsible

              for killing all of the estuary animals. I will help all of you clean up the bay. I will

              start recycling, and buying reusable bags, and I will get a more environmentally

              helpful car to drive. i won’t even fertilize my lawn.  I hope that you all will accept

              my apology and forgive me. Sincerely, MMM Cheese Homeowners.

Comment from: WET CLUB Volunteers - CBP_Fed - MslmnHS

Our mission as a Watershed and Environmental Team (in response to my last post), is to raise awareness of environmental problems in the Chesapeake Bay area. Knowing the facts that we do as a club, we can provide information to the people who actually care about what they can do to help, what a watershed is, and what we do as a team to help. People are constantly criticizing those people with the lack of knowledge about a watershed, rather than sharing their higher intellect about the subject. So allow us to shed some higher light on the subject of a Watershed, and the one we live in. :)
Watersheds for those of you who don't know, are any areas or regions drained by a river, river system, or other body of water. Our biggest problem in the Chesapeake Bay area is non-point source pollution (which for you who don't know is any pollution that runs off a surface, but cannot be traced back to a specific place). The things we can do to fix this are to; 1. Control (or attempt to) the amount of construction in an area, and how much unneccesarry dirt is pulled up, 2. Stop illegal dumping of chemicals, 3. over fertilizing the grounds; and so much more.
This a very light touch on the HIGH amount of knowledge we have from our club. If there are any questions or comments, please feel free to ask, because we will answer as quick and nicely as possible. Thank you for your time :)

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Developers   Student Developers                                                                                        James Wood HS                                                                                                                                 3/23/2011 My group is important to the Chesapeake Bay watershed because we are the group that is POV: building in this area. We also build tourist attractions which bring people to the area. We also design nature parks and also provide a way to income into the local community. All of the problems in the bay affect our group, such as pollution, run-off, and species endangerment. We have to follow certain regulations due to these problems in the bay area.   Non-point source pollution can mess up the environment around where I'm building and pollute the waters causing species to die. I think my group could make positive solutions to helping the problems we cause after building on one of our sites. We could plant grass buffers which hold the soil in place which reduces run-off, and provides a place for animals  to live. These solutions we have can cost me to lose land where I can build, it can cost me by having to plant grass buffers and tree's to hold in the soil. I think these solutions can benefit us over time after tourism and the revenue from them starts to build up providing more money into the local environment and community. Another solution we could do is for every tree we take down to clear land plant flowers or plant bushes. Developers are very important to the economic development of the bay; they provide income, enhance small ecosystems, and nature parks. We also provide ways for animals to stay alive when we repair their ecosystems and build new ones. We tend to cause anoxia, non-point/point source pollution, but then again we practice stewardship. We build a lot of impervious surfaces but with buffer zones be able to reduce the amount of pollution in that area. The main thing affected by us, which we intend to fix and repair is the riparian buffers due to the fact we clear so much land.  After development is done we could clean up the area, clean up oil spills, and fix damage done by our equipment. Finally the last solution is, for every ecosystem we hurt; we repair and create 2 small ones.     Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion     From:   W.E.T. Developer - developer - MslmnHS                                              Ask                                                                                                                         4/7/2011        Your idea is good but it could use a bit more thought. Planting a little grass isn't going        to make up for the damage that was caused while developing. However buffers are a        good way to start, they will not be enough to replace all the trees and plants that have        been removed. It all also takes a lot of money. There is a load more that effects the        project. Your idea is a good one and it's admiral that you intend to try to reduce the        pollution and damage done to the environment but what you have now is not enough.

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Developers peeler crabs                                                                                                 Rappahannock HS                                                                                                                                 3/25/2011 CONSTRUCTION ISSUES AND THE BAY.     Did you know that between 1982 and 1997 the Chesapeake Bay lost over 750,000 acres of forestland to urban development? Every year thousands of acres of land are lost to urban development. There is a 36% chance of forest land to be lost to urban development in the next 5 to 10 years. Development is not necessarily harmful to the Bay but, the way we develop the land is very harmful. We have cut into 60% of the Chesapeake's forest due to our roads, subdivisions, and farms. We are taking a lot more land than we need and one main element to our land is impervious surfaces that include parking lots, buildings, and roads. Land developers should work harder to create surfaces that drain water rather than impervious surfaces which cause erosion.     Construction sites contribute up to 10 to 20 times as much sediment as agricultural advance on a per-acre basis. Land developers and construction creates an enormous amount of erosion of sediments that leak into the bay and tributaries.  Urban development has made a big impact on the Chesapeake Bay. With growing population of people every year  the demand for roads, buildings, strip malls, etc becomes greater. This is where the land developers come in; they cut through the Cheasapeake's forest with roads, they tear down trees for buildings and suburban homes, and this is just a few examples of the roles land developers play in the Cheasapeake's  enviroment.     Deforestation and impervious surfaces are two of the main problems caused in the Cheasapeake Bay today. In the 17th-century, the Europeans arrived to the Bay region, where they found a tremendous amount of forest land taking up 95% of the watershed. By  the 1800s though, 40 to 50 percent of that forestland had been harvested for all kinds of reasons like fuel, timber, etc. Soil in forest naturally soaks up sediments washed through  by the rain into the Cheasapeake Bay. When trees are up rooted they no longer provide that infiltration for the sediments, instead, it causes erosion, which is a huge problem in the  Chesapeake Bay. Impervious surfaces also contribute to erosion. An impervious surface is a surface that water cannot penetrate.  The rainwater that flows through towns or cities through the sewage system carries water littered with trash, dirt, chemicals, etc. This water is carried out to the tributaries that lead to the Chesapeake Bay. If the land was in its natural condition like grass and forests, then most of the water would be absorbed in the soil. If 25% of a town or city's surface is impervious, the streams around that area are considered a non-supporting habitat for fish.   One solution for land developers is to help restore forests by reserving land to grow trees and mark it as a protected environment. They could try to include more natural areas that have trees and grasses such as parks and assign clean up crews to maintain the parks and recreational centers.       Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion     From:   MODERATOR - other - PHWS                                                                 Ask                                                                                                                         4/18/2011        Good job outlining the problems of impervious surfaces and sedimentation as well as        proposing BMPs for land developers such as reserve land, grow trees, maintain parks,        etc.          How would you convince other land developers and other stake holders to follow the        BMPs you recommended?

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Developers mudguppies                                                                                                   Rappahannock HS                                                                                                                                 3/25/2011   Have you ever noticed how polluted the water in the Chesapeake Bay is? Land developers pollute the water every single day. The construction industry is a major source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Impervious surfaces are the main source of runoff into the Bay. All  of the activity that takes place in urban and suburban developed land such as construction activities, impervious surfaces, sewer and septic systems, residential fertilizer use and vehicle emission. Development itself is not necessarily harmful to the Bay it is the way we develop the land - where we locate new roads and buildings and how we build them are the ways that can harm the environment.     Land development refers to altering the landscape in many ways such as changing landforms from a natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing, subdividing real estate into lots, and developing property or changing its purpose.     Impervious surfaces are mainly artificial structures. They are the main source of runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Pavements (roads, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots) that are covered impenetrable materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick and stone. The discharge from cars runoff from the roads goes into sewers then they drain into rivers that eventually go into the Chesapeake Bay.     Ways to fix this are to make the process of development better for the environment and find a way to reduce the pollution on impervious surfaces from going into the Bay. Also by reducing land development in big cities and finding a way to reduce the discharge from cars.     We need to find a way to reduce the pollution going into the Bay by working together. We need to find other places to locate our new roads and buildings and how we build them so we can make the environment a better place. Hopefully we can all work together to clean up the Chesapeake Bay without stopping land development completely.       Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion     From:   MODERATOR - other - PHWS                                                                 Ask                                                                                                                         4/18/2011        Thank you for focusing on the most pressing issue of the bay: pollution.         How would you as developers make the process of development better for the        environment while staying a viable developing company?        How, specifically, would you reduce the pollution on impervious surfaces from going        into the Bay, and convince others to do the same?  If you develop less in big cities, doe         this mean you will develop more in suburban or rural areas?

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Developers fighting seahorses                                                                                        Rappahannock HS                                                                                                                                 3/25/2011 Construction on the Coastline and in the Watershed of the Chesapeake Bay   Virginia has many complex pollution problems like commercial factories, building up rural areas, etc. Recently, one problem has become a major issue: the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay.   As landowners and builders are constructing waterfront property, they don'trealize damage they are doing to the bay itself. One major problem involved with coastal construction is sediment pollution. Soil and sediment smother and kill aquatic wildlife. When people build hotels, restaurants, etc., they don't understand that poorly controlled construction sites can harm not only nautical beings, but adjacent public roadways and drainage systems.  The pollution gets absorbed and carries other toxins that reduce water quality. Clearing land assuredly sends sediment into rivers and other bodies of water filling in wetlands. This takes away from natural water filters that can break down main pollutants before they reach other bodies of water. Thirty eight percent of people living on  the coast cause the pollution, especially the people living within one hundred kilometers of the bay.   One of the biggest factors is sediment pollution. Sediment is defined as particles derived from soil or rocks that have been transported by water or wind. The erosion of river banks  and land masses produces sediment. How does sediment pollution affect underwater life in  general? Poor light quality is the first consequence of high sediment concentration in the water: without sun light, water plants cannot develop properly due to the impossibility to make the photosynthesis and they will not provide enough food for the fish. Moreover, studies indicate that suspended sediments increase the water temperature, making the habitat unfriendly for animals and plants alike. And even if the sediment settled, it would still risk the evolution of fish eggs that get suffocated at the bottom of the rivers or lakes.     The last major factor is Nitrogen. Nitrogen pollution is a good example of the challenge of  costing these non-market transactions. Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up more than 70 percent of the innermost layer of the atmosphere. But this large reservoir of the earth's nitrogen cannot be used directly as a nutrient by plants because they cannot absorb nitrogen gas. As a result, nitrogen is often the limiting factor for the growth of plants and animals in ecosystems. This is one reason farmers use nitrogen fertilizer to support crop growth.   You may wonder what some ways to help out with the environment are or how you can be a better homeowner or business owner. One way is by using P2's. You can enforce other environmentally healthy techniques by reducing or eliminating waste at the source, promote using less toxic/non-toxic substances, and implement conservation techniques and re-using materials rather than putting them into the waste system.       Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion     From:   MODERATOR - other - PHWS                                                                 Ask                                                                                                                         4/18/2011        Good work identifying the problems that developers are causing in the bay.   What are        some things in particular that development and construction companies should do to        reduce sediment and nitrogen pollution while still remaining a profitable company?

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Developers W.E.T. Developer                                                                                             Musselman HS                                                                                                                                   4/4/2011 Musselman High School has a club called "W.ET." (Watershed Environmental Team) the POV: students in "W.E.T" club do a lot to help the environment. Volunteering is working at Musselman because of our W.E.T club. Our current project is the wetland restoration. We are working hard to make our school's campus a better environment for everyone. We are working with Ben Alexandro and the Cacapon Institute to work on restoring our wetlands.     All students working with our club are volunteers. Every one of our students is passionate about what we do for our environment. We all work hard to make our school and small town a better place to live for everyone. Along with the wetland restoration project we also have tree planting days when we have many volunteers come out and plant trees on our  school campus and other parts of town.   Our club does a lot to include not just the club members but other students in our school as well. We have found that many students are very interested in our projects and our club  has expended tremendously since we began.  There are so many students that want to volunteer and help out but just don't know how. W.E.T club makes it possible for students to get involved in our community.   This school year we have done three outreaches and have a few more scheduled for the remainder of the year. During these outreaches we go to elementary schools and do a lot of fun activities with the students there. We teach them about our environment and the effects that certain things have on it. Many of the students at these elementary schools find the activities fun and we believe it is a great way to get younger children interested in helping out as well.       Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion     From:   MODERATOR - other - PHWS                                                                 Ask                                                                                                                         4/18/2011        How have the projects at Musselman High School reduced non-point source pollution in         the Chesapeake Bay?  What lessons could other stakeholders learn from what was        done at Musselman to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed?

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Developers       Join the Thoughtful Discussion Thoughtful Discussion

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