Potomac Basin

Vol. 65 No. 4 Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin July/August 2009

Have you woken along the shores of a river to the sounds of birds andswirling waters? Climbed into a canoeinstead of a car for your day’s travel?Stopped to explore depths and shallowsto see the kinds of critters that live there?

On the 2009 Potomac River Ramble,for four days and nights, 45 curiousexplorers did just that and more. Theybecame the river’s guests, were movedby its hospitality, and gained anunderstanding of a river like never before.

This year’s Potomac River Ramblefloated the Monocacy Scenic River andthe downstream portion of the PotomacRiver. The Monocacy is Maryland’s firststate scenic river and its largest Potomactributary. The trip was the Ramble’s firston the Monocacy. The annual Ramble

Have You Ever Gotten to Know a River?2009 Potomac River Ramble

program seeks out new stretches of river inthe watershed to explore; to highlight bothits valuable resources and the issues thatthreaten them.

After spending four days and 40 mileson, in, and around a river, both its treasuresand its troubles come into focus.

The Monocacy and the Potomac Riversprovided a perfect platform for a wide arrayof educational and hands-on programs,and our valuable partners helped us deliverthem to our Ramblers. On the first day,biologists from Hood College and theMaryland Department of Natural Resourcesengaged our group in a program about theinvasive Rusty crayfish. This large,aggressive crayfish is not native to thePotomac watershed, but has found a wayinto the Monocacy River where it is out-

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Maryland Middle Potomac Tributary Team members lead the Ramblers in a wade-in along the river as aninformal test of water clarity and health.

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Our mission is toenhance, protect, andconserve the water andassociated landresources of thePotomac River and itstributaries throughregional and interstatecooperation.

ICPRBCOMMISSIONERS

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: HamidKarimi*, Anne D. Snodgrass, Alternate;John R. Wennersten, Alternate

MARYLAND: Corazon L. Dones; Gov.Martin O’Malley, Robert M. Summers*,Alternate; Minny Pohlmann, Alternate;

PENNSYLVANIA: John T. Hines*, LoriMohr, Alternate; Rep. Dan Moul; Rep.Bob Bastian, Alternate; Ronald Stanley,Roger C. Steele, Alternate

VIRGINIA: Walter Alcorn; Dann M.Sklarew, Alternate; Del. Joe T. May; Del.Jackson H. Miller, Alternate; David K.Paylor, Scott W. Kudlas*, Alternate;

WEST VIRGINIA: Randy C. Huffman,William D. Brannon*, Alternate; MartenR. Jenkins, Jr., Phyllis M. Cole,Alternate; Del. Harold K. Michael

UNITED STATES: George Reiger*, MelM. Baughman, Alternate; Jane G.Witheridge, Howard Graeffe, Alternate

*Executive Committee Member

ICPRB Officers:John T. Hines, ChairmanGeorge Reiger, Vice ChairmanJoseph K. Hoffman, Executive DirectorRobert L. Bolle, General Counsel

Commissioners and their alternates areappointed by the state’s governors, themayor of the District of Columbia, and thePresident of the United States.

competing the smaller, native Alleghenycrayfish. By studying this new crayfish in theMonocacy, the biologists hope to find cluesthat might lead to the prevention of furtherspread in our watershed.

Near the end of a beautiful first day onthe water, the group successfully navigatedthe rapids of a broken rubble dam atMichael’s Mill and paddled into the firstcamp stop at Buckeystown Park inFrederick County.

During dinner, Tim Goodfellow, aprincipal planner with Frederick County,gave an informative presentation abouthow comprehensive land-use planning canhelp manage and protect vital land andwater resources. Goodfellow also told thegroup about the new stream protectionordinance that Frederick County hasestablished to protect buffer zones aroundstreams.

The excellent weather continued for thesecond day, as the group broke camp andembarked on another day’s paddle.Several participants helped collectsmallmouth bass for a lunchtime programby Vicki Blazer of the U.S. GeologicalSurvey. Since fish kills began to beobserved in the Shenandoah River systemin 2002, Blazer has been investigatingaspects of smallmouth bass fish health. Astartling discovery was made when oocytes(immature eggs) were found growing in thetestes of male smallmouth bass, acondition called intersex, which has nowbeen found in several areas of thePotomac watershed. Although the causesof the condition and the fish kills have notbeen found, Blazer suspects that theincreased prevalence of this conditionbelow wastewater treatment plants mayindicate that chemicals and othercompounds that remain in the treatedwater are affecting the physiology ofsmallmouth bass and some other fishspecies.

At the close of the day, the Ramblerspulled out at the mouth of the MonocacyRiver and camped in the shadow of therestored C&O Canal Monocacy Aqueduct.

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Ramblers learned first hand about the river’sfull-time residents, and their roles in the river’secology.

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The evening program featured KristinMielcarek of the Canaan Valley Institute,who spoke about Maryland’s BayRestoration Fund and its septic upgradeprogram. The program provides money tocounties to help residents upgrade septicsystems with a new technology that

significantly reduces nutrient loadingscompared with traditional systems (seeSept.-Oct. 2008 Reporter).

At the start of the third day, the Ramblerswaved goodbye to the Monocacy andpaused for a group photodownstream of the MonocacyAqueduct, the largest of thehistoric aqueducts in the C&OCanal system. After turning intothe Potomac, the Ramblerspaddled a short distance to MirantMid-Atlantic’s Dickerson PowerPlant. There the Ramblerslearned about the company’sefforts to reduce the impacts ofnecessary power generationalong the river. New wetscrubbers are being installed thatwill remove most of the harmfulmercury that currently escapesout of the coal-fired plant’sstacks.

Mirant staff also highlightedother environmental efforts, including anAtlantic sturgeon hatchery and researchprogram to bring back the fish (at anotherMirant plant), and an Olympic trainingwhitewater course that uses the warm-water cooling discharge to provide a year-round training facility for competitivepaddlers.

Further downstream, a lunch stop atWhite’s Ferry provided a nice backdrop forpresentations by members of the MarylandUpper and Middle Potomac TributaryTeams, who explained how thesestakeholder groups are working as a bridgebetween state and local governments and

organizations to improve water quality.The last evening found the Ramblers

about a mile from the river at thecampsite of the Bethesda-ChevyChase chapter of the Izaak WaltonLeague of America. This nation-widenon-profit organization has many localchapters that are involved inconservation and stream monitoringand were kind enough to host thegroup. A campfire program wasprovided by Michael Rolband,President of Wetland Studies andSolutions Inc. (WSSI), where the grouplearned about their innovative andcelebrated Reston Valley StreamRestoration Bank. Using the latest

stream restoration techniques and years ofexperience, WSSI and the RestonAssociation (a homeowners associationand nonprofit community service corporationserving Reston, Va.) are restoring the

eroded stream channels in this suburbanVirginia watershed that have been damagedby years of uncontrolled stormwater runoff.

The final day provided a slower pace onthe river and time for reflecting about thetrip, the activities, people, and camaraderiethat developed over the days spent together.Never again would the Ramblers see the

C. DalpraRamblers wave goodbye to the Monocacy River after passing under the Monocacy Aqueduct.

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The Ramblers approach the Mirant generating plant, wherethey leaned about company programs to reduce itsimpacts.

A. GriggsUSGS Scientist Vicki Blazer discusses fish health problems andpossible causes at a stop along the river.

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Monocacy and the Potomac in the samelight. They had learned much about thevaluable resources the river provides andthe issues that stress its ecosystem.

The Ramblers gathered at the end of thetrip to discuss their adventure, what theyenjoyed most, how the trip could bechanged to make it even more enjoyable,and what they would take away from theirdays spent on the water. Several peoplenew to canoeing said that they would begoing again, although one Rambler notedthat they would seek out areas withoutmotorboats. Many of the Ramblers spokeof the unique nature of the trip, allowingthem to “get away from it all,” and meetingnew people to share wildlife viewing,meals along the river, and learning somuch about the river and its environs everyday.

Some very interestingcomments came fromparticipants for whom theMonocacy is their home river,noting that they frequently droveover the river during dailycommutes while having noidea of what was really flowingbelow them. They do now,another Rambler responded,noting that the daily drive overthe bridge would always bringmemories of the days spentexperiencing the river.

For more information aboutthe River Rambles, please visit

www.potomacriver.org. There you can seewhere the River Rambles have been, watchvideos of past trips, and learn where weare headed. Please think about joining usnext year as we continue to explore thePotomac watershed.

Thanks go out to all of our sponsors andpartners, including: the Potomac RiverSwim for the Environment; PEPCO Holdings;Mirant Mid-Atlantic; River and Trail Outfitters;Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.,Gainesville, Va.; the Maryland Departmentof Natural Resources; National ParkService C&O Canal National Historic Park;EU Services Printing, Rockville, Md.; andthe Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chapter, IzaakWalton League.

The Interstate Commission on thePotomac River Basin is working to restoreresponsible federal funding to help protect,preserve and restore the water quality andrelated resources of the Potomac basin.The federal government is an activeparticipating member of the ICPRB, and akey partner with respect to the waterresources of the Washington metropolitanarea of the Potomac basin, as well as theinterstate aspects of the basin. Therefore,federal support, both financially and withproject and program efforts, is critical to thehealth of the river and its watershed.

“It’s much more than the congressionallegislation consenting to the interstatecompact that created ICPRB, and directedfederal funding to assist in Potomac basinefforts,” said ICPRB Executive DirectorJoseph Hoffman. “The federal footprint inthe Potomac basin is quite large,particularly in the Washington metropolitanarea. That federal infrastructure consumesthe region’s waters, contributes towastewater treatment plant loadings, adds

River Basin Commission Urges Congress,Administration, to Restore Funding

significantly to stormwater runoff impacts,and has other primary and secondaryeffects. The federal government clearly is astrong presence in the watershed, and weneed their help in preserving and protectingthe water quality and related resources ofthe region,” Hoffman said.

The ICPRB is the only regional Potomacagency serving the state and federalgovernments in promoting sound,watershed-based management of the riverand its tributaries. It has long fosteredregional cooperation working to meetrestoration challenges that can not beeffectively addressed by the jurisdictionsworking as separate entities.

The majority of ICPRB’s operating fundscome in the form of project-specific grants,contracts, and other agreements, not fromdirect appropriations from the memberjurisdictions. While these projects benefitthe basin, they may not always address themost critical resources issues affecting theregion as a whole, because of projectscope limitations. General operating funds

A.Griggs

Ramblers shared the river with abundant wildlife, such as thisgreen heron warily eating its breakfast.

--Adam Griggs, Potomac River RambleCoordinator

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provided by directed appropriations fromthe Potomac jurisdictions and the federalgovernment, as required by the ICPRBcompact, allow direct efforts for criticalissues as part of a integrated watershed-based program. These projects andprograms include assessments ofgroundwater quality and availability, waterresources and supply planning, drinkingsource water protection strategies andcoordination, fisheries and other resourcerevitalization, development of water qualityrestoration strategies that transcend stateboundaries, and other projects related tothe water resources of the basin. TheICPRB relies on these general funds toformulate, lead, and guide the regionalinitiatives that avoid duplication of efforts,build partnerships, and protect andpreserve the resources of the Potomacbasin.

Congressional funding was providedannually under the legislation that createdICPRB until Fiscal Year 1997, whenCongress suspended payments as a cost-cutting measure. Funding was againauthorized for the ICPRB in the 2007 WaterResources Development Act. The ICPRBreceived $650,000 in the Fiscal Year 2009federal budget.

Funding for ICPRB and its two sisterriver basin commissions, the DelawareRiver Basin Commission and theSusquehanna River Basin Commission,are not included in the current versions offunding authorization bills for Fiscal Year2010. Despite efforts from the threecommissions, the outlook for inclusion inthe Fiscal Year 2010 funding authorizationis grim. The commissions were notincluded in the President’s budget, and theinclusion of funding for the commissionsby congressional action arguably wouldrequire an earmark, which is a delicate

subject with Congress at this time.The three commissions are now

working with the Obama Administration andcongressional members and staffs toinclude the commissions in the President’sbudget for Fiscal Year 2011. Federalfunding is even more critical as budgets ofthe Potomac basin states, which annuallycontribute to the commission, are facingchallenging obstacles with budget cuts andfunding shortfalls, that reduce thecapabilities of all to extend regional waterquality and resources efforts.

Although both the federal and basinjurisdiction budgets are severelyconstrained, the region cannot afford theerosion of critical resources that providedrinking water, waste removal, and otherquality of life aspects from which the regionbenefits.

“Now, more than ever, given its rapidlygrowing population and demands on thewater resources of the river and itstributaries, the Potomac River Basin needsa strong and financially viable ICPRB withthe resources necessary to address theinterstate water resources issues of thebasin,” concluded Executive DirectorHoffman.

ICPRB is exploring opportunities to usemarket-based water quality improvementtools like trading and offsets. Market-basedapproaches have been used in manywatersheds to improve water quality.Notable examples include carbon andtemperature in Washington and Oregon.These approaches work by encouragingsources with high pollution reduction coststo purchase pollution discharge creditsfrom sources where the costs are lower.This approach allows targets to beachieved more cost-effectively andefficiently than solely through regulation.Since the states manage pollution tradingprograms, they require an additionalamount of reduction to be “retired,” thus

Finding A Market-based Approachto Water Quality

leading to an overall increase in pollutionreduction.

The House climate change bill (HR2454), which passed last June, set up amarket-based program for businesses tomeet the greenhouse gas emissions cap.A recent Senate Agriculture Committeehearing on climate change legislationheard views from the White House, farmergroups and policy organizations on theimpacts of the legislation on the agriculturalsector. Under discussion was the impact ofagricultural offsets, like carbonsequestration. Maryland, Virginia, andPennsylvania have already issuedguidelines and policies on nitrogen andphosphorus trading; West Virginia has

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The Anacostia waterfront with the Capitol andwashington monument in the background. Themetropolitan area has a high concentration offederal lands.

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drafted their policy and it is available forpublic comment.

With the anticipated 2011 Chesapeake

As the Potomac basincontinues to develop and grow,the value of its water resourcesbecomes greater, and efforts toprotect those resources becomemore important. While much ofthe Potomac basin has adequatewater resources, some areasundergoing rapid developmentare putting water resources to thetest.

To assist the Potomacjurisdictions in providing waterresources of high quality formultiple uses, the ICPRB iscollaborating with the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers and TheNature Conservancy in anassessment of the surfacewaters of the middle Potomac watershed.The partners will develop informationresources and analytical tools to assesshuman and environmental uses of streamflows that will support regional planning forsustainable water resources throughoutthe basin.

The assessment will include theimpacts of current and future humanactivities on river hydrology, such as waterwithdrawals, dam operations, changes inland use and development, projectedclimate change, and how these issues canbe balanced and mitigated to bettermanage water use conflicts and ecologicaldegradation.

The project will generate a database ofbiological and water quality data, ahydrologic model based on the data, futureuse projections, an assessment of current

Collaborative Assessment willAssist Basin Planning

Bay-wide total maximum dailyload pollution reduction plan,there will be increasingdemand for ways to addressthe more stringent caps in acost-effective and efficient way.Credit sellers will still have tomeet a baseline requirementestablished by TMDLs andother regulations before theyare eligible to trade. This willlimit the availability of credits.Yet, there may be ways to helppotential credit generatorsreduce pollutants even belowthe baseline requirements ofthe trading programs.

ICPRB is working with thestates and other organizations to developideas on ways to use offsets that willimprove water quality.

and future alterations to the basin’shydrology, environmental flowrecommendations for the mainstemPotomac River, and other tools that canhelp guide future decisions about wateruse and its effects.

The ICPRB will be conducting much ofthe technical work for the project, usinginformation from previous projectsconducted in the watershed. The ICPRBhas a history of involvement in thedevelopment of water resources in thebasin. The ICPRB’s Section forCooperative Water Supply Operations onthe Potomac has for decades workedclosely with the metropolitan Washingtonwater suppliers to ensure adequatedrinking water for the region even duringthe worst droughts.

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Agricultural practices, such as fencing to deny cattle access tostreams could be part of a credit program.

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Little Falls Dam on the Potomac is part of an area that will bestudied to determine flow rates that will sustain a healthyecology.

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Watching the River FlowRain events helped the river to run

high and fast in June, sinking to belownormal in July, measured nearWashington, D.C., according toprovisional data from the U.S. GeologicalSurvey. Provisional data has not beenreviewed for accuracy.

The June flow of the Potomacaveraged about 10.4 billion gallons perday (bgd), about 67 percent more thanthe long-term June average of 6.2 bgd.Daily extremes during the month rangedfrom a high of about 24.5 bgd on June 7,and decreasing to a low of about 4.1 bgdon June 30. Water taken from the river formetropolitan water supply averagedabout 300 million gallons per day (mgd).

A drier July caused the fall of riverlevels, averaging about 2.6 bgd, or about25.9 percent less than the long-termaverage of about 3.5 bgd. The river’s flowranged from a high of about 3.8 bgd onJuly 1, falling to a low of about 2.0 bgd onJuly 21. Water taken for municipal supplyaveraged about 300 mgd.

As river levels continue to fall, theICPRB Section for Cooperative WaterSupply Operations on the Potomac willcontinue to monitor river levels, and willbe prepared if releases of stored waterare required to meet metropolitandrinking water demands whilemaintaining flows to protect the river’secology. Currently, the probability that arelease will be needed this year arebetween 8-13 percent.

The ICPRB also has worked on defininggroundwater quality and availability in partsof the watershed. The work includedexamining some areas of the watershedwhere groundwater use is high, andsought to provide tools that planners coulduse to assess groundwater supplies andtheir sustainable yields. The ICPRB alsohas assisted Pennsylvania with its waterresources planning act, which is in theprocess of assessing watersheds that will

require special attention in providingsustainable water resources.

For more information, contact CarltonHaywood at (301) 984-1908 x 105, or emailchaywood@icprb.org.

Fish kills of primarily smallmouth bassand redbreast sunfish continued thisspring and summer at a rate similar to lastyear’s kills, according to the VirginiaDepartment of Environmental Quality. Thekills, which began on segments of theShenandoah River system in 2004, havebeen the subject of much research.

The 2004 kills also led to the discoveryof male fish containing immature eggs, acondition known as intersex. A directlinkage between the kills and intersex issuspected by some researchers, but hasnot been established. Significant numbersof intersex fish, both smallmouth andlargemouth bass, were subsequentlydiscovered in parts of the Potomacmainstem and other river systems.

The kills this year were influenced by thecool, wet spring. Fish observed in theShenandoah develop skin lesions that looklike burns or sores before the kills occur,although some fish without lesions makeup part of the kills. Many of the diseasedfish recover after the water warms into the60s.

Ongoing research into the kills havepointed to a possible bacterial cause. Aknown pathogen for trout and salmon,Aeromonas salmonicida. has beenidentified in samples of the diseased fish.Research at the U.S. Geological SurveyNational Fish Health Laboratory in Leetown,W. Va., is finding that the bacteria cancause lesions even with fish living in cleanwater. It is thought that a number of differentstressors may be causing the fish tobecome more easily infected. The bacteriadoes not typically survive in warmer watertemperatures.

Other ongoing research at the laboratoryis focused on determining whether theintersex issue, as well as the disease andfish kills, can be linked to minute quantitiesof estrogen-mimicking chemicals found inthe water. Largemouth bass at the lab wereinjected with estrogen, and after exposureto bacterium, produced less hepcidin, aprotein that may have anti-microbial effects.None of the fish used in the study contracteddisease. Hepcidin is an important iron-regulating hormone in fish and amphibians.Researchers don’t know whether thehormone may deny needed iron to bacteria,or if there is a direct effect on bacteria. Thestudy is continuing.

New Stressors Identifiedfor Sick Fish

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Editors: Curtis M. Dalpra Jennifer D. Willoughby

Published six times a year by the InterstateCommission on the Potomac River Basin, 51Monroe St., Suite PE-08, Rockville, MD20850. (301) 984-1908.

(ISSN 1072-8627)

E-Mail: info@icprb.orgInternet: http://www.potomacriver.orgJoseph K. Hoffman, Executive Director

This publication does not necessarily reflectofficial Commission policies. Funds for theReporter are provided by the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency and thesignatory bodies to ICPRB: District ofColumbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia,and West Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay Program haslaunched a website that will coverdevelopments of President Obama’sExecutive Order delivered last spring thatkicked off heightened federal efforts for bayrestoration (see May/June 2009 Reporter).

The site will be a distribution point fornews, events, documents and otherinformation from several federal agenciesthat were ordered to work closely togetherto significantly raise efforts to restore theChesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The site will begin by publishing draftreports on how the federal agencies willaddress water pollution, climate change,and other issues. After public comment, thedrafts will be combined into a federalstrategy to guide restoration and protection

New Website Tracks Federal Bay Cleanup Activities

The remains of birth control pills,hormone replacements, hormones used inagricultural operations, and herbicides canbe part of runoff or from wastewatertreatment plant effluents. None of thesubstances have been found in amountsthat cause human health concerns, but the

chemicals’ impact on fish and othercreatures that live in the water are muchharder to pin down.

Angling was very good along theShenandoah this year, and reproductionlevels remain good, according to fisheriesofficials.

efforts. The site, which includes a blog andpublic comments section, is located athttp://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net.

The credit for the photograph of thePotomac and Washington Channel in theMay/June 2009 Reporter was incorrect.The photo was shot by Patrick J.Hendrickson of High Camera AerialPhotography. Hendrickson hasgraciously donated several of hisimages to ICPRB over the years.

Correction

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