When it rains, it pours – sediment into the Chesapeake Bay

March 31, 2011 | Clean Water, Stormwater & Sewage

Stacey Detwiler
Conservation Associate

I don't know about you, but I spent yesterday after work stepping over puddles along the sidewalk, dodging small streams on the streets, and wishing I had brought an umbrella to work.

The rainwater that pooled up on our roads yesterday in the Washington, DC area is a prime example of stormwater runoff. With few places for rainwater to soak into the soil, it runs along streets and parking lots until it is directed into storm drains and pipes.

But puddles in the streets aren't that big of a deal, right?

Well, a startling image from Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Eyes on the Bay program picked up by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Baltimore Sun's B'More Green blog shows just how big of an impact stormwater runoff can have.

This NASA satellite image from March 17th was taken after two inches of rain poured down on the Bay region. You can see the streaky brown areas flowing into the Bay – silt and other pollutants caught up in stormwater runoff like nitrogen and phosphorous -- that caused historic low levels of water clarity.

In other words, the brown muddy sections of the image are where these pollutants are blocking sunlight, destroying habitat for fish and other iconic Bay species like blue crabs and creating the perfect environment for dense algal blooms to grow that contribute to dead zones in the Bay.

So what can we do to protect the Bay?

This is a great reminder of the need for more innovative solutions to managing our polluted stormwater runoff. By managing rainwater where it falls, through practices like green roofs or rain barrels, we can help stop and slow the flow of pollutants from stormwater that threaten our clean water and the health of such iconic places like the Chesapeake Bay. These seemingly small steps reduce the amount of stormwater washing our streets and work with nature’s systems to collect and filter the water.

In the end, that means less pollution in our rivers and streams, and cleaner water for all of us. And that's kind of a big deal, right?

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