Howard County's largest parkland has won a grant to fund a study of urban stormwater control.
The Middle Patuxent Environmental Foundation -- an organization dedicated to preserving the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, a 1,021-acre forested parkland in Clarksville that's bordered by Route 108 to the north and Route 32 and Cedar Lane to the south -- will receive $38,000 from the Watershed Assistance Grant Program for the study, which will focus on stormwater runoff on one square mile of the park.
The study's goal is to find ways of reducing sediment and nutrients being dumped into the park's streams from surrounding urban areas. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are found in fertilizers, ultimately make their way to the Chesapeake Bay, where they feed algae blooms that contribute to the bay's infamous oxygen-deprived "dead zones."
Another goal of the study is to bring invasive species in the area, which destroy native plant communities, under control. County officials hope observations from the focus area, a square-mile of land in the Hobbit's Glen neighborhood of Columbia, can be extended to the rest of the environmental area.
"This assessment is critical in developing a comprehensive stormwater management plan for the entire [Middle Patuxent Environmental Area]," Cheryl Farfaras, who manages the Middle Patuxent's natural resources for the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, said in a statement. "This grant will also help us engage the surrounding community and develop everyday steps residents can take to limit pollution into [the area]."
The eastern portion of the environmental area, near Hobbit's Glen, has been particularly affected by runoff in recent years due to development in the area, according to the county. A county press release cited a 2007 watershed assessment that revealed the area suffers from "fair to poor biological conditions and only partial support of habitat conditions," according to a county press release.
In addition to funding the study, grant money will also be used to distribute rain barrels in the Village of Hickory Ridge and nearby communities.