Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition 9/15 update
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Transcript of Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition 9/15 update
Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition
Coastal Resilience Project: Supported by NFWF Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency
Competitive Grants ProgramFunded by Department of Interior
Urban Waters Federal Partnership Meeting 9/8/15
Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition:
Envisioning the Growth of a Connected and Protected Green Infrastructure Network in the
Heart of Maryland
• Resilience• Biodiversity• Equity• Discovery
• Sea Level Rise• Wave Impacts• Storm Surge• Flooding
Addressing the Impacts of MD Changing Climate
Green Infrastructure Solutions – Natural Networks
Green Infrastructure Solutions – “Nature-based”
Resilience: Four Principal Objectives• Map existing green infrastructure contributing to
coastal storm resilience• Prioritize and map green infrastructure enhancement
opportunities• Evaluate best governance mechanisms for managing
and protecting green infrastructure• Build a better regional green infrastructure network
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Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition & Resilience Project Area
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Resilience Project Time Line September 2014 – August 2016
Phase 1: Project Initiation and Data Collection (Fall 2014 – Spring 2015)
Phase 2: Develop Resilience Green Infrastructure (Spring 2015 – Fall 2015)
Phase 3: Prioritization of Resilience Network(Winter 2016 – Summer 2016)
Phase 4: Implementation Strategies & Toolkit(Winter 2016 – Summer 2016)
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Inventorying State, Regional, and Local Plans, Programs, Regulations, and Misc. Policies
The Policy Context for Green Infrastructure Protection & Enhancement in the Resilience Project Study Area
What We’ve Found
Metric State Local Regional Total
Agencies/Jurisdictions/Entities Contacted 4 19 6 29
Staff Members Contacted 14 48 5 67
Plans 14 161 6 181
Laws/Regulations/Intergovernmental Agreements 18 105 3 126
Programs 24 13 2 39
Other Policies 4 34 0 38
Total Policy-Related Tools 60 313 11 384
Key Takeaways• The State of Maryland’s comprehensive planning, forest
conservation, and stormwater management requirements have a large influence over local policy and action to protect or expand green infrastructure at multiple scales.
• Only four localities in the study area currently have green infrastructure network plans.
• Localities in the study area generally meet but do not exceed state thresholds for protection of environmentally sensitive features.
• There is little evidence of ongoing or sustained regional planning for green infrastructure protection or expansion.
• While several hazard mitigation/climate adaptation plans in the study area recommend using green infrastructure to enhance resilience, there is no evidence of combined hazard mitigation–green infrastructure planning processes.
What’s Next?• Identifying noteworthy plans, policies, and
implementation tools outside the study area for using green infrastructure to enhance coastal resilience• Noteworthy examples of regional green
infrastructure or climate adaptation plans• Noteworthy local green infrastructure or climate
adaptation plans• Model ordinances and noteworthy examples
of local regulations• Noteworthy regional and local programs
Increasing Resiliency in Maryland’s Greater Baltimore Wilderness
• U.S. Geological Survey Project Personnel: Jonathan J.A. Dillow, Edward J. Doheny, and John C. Hammond
• Study Area: upper and middle Patuxent River; Patapsco River; and Gunpowder River watersheds, including their tributaries.
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Role of the U.S. Geological Survey
• USGS has long-term stream gages and data in the watersheds of interest.
• USGS has access to historical information that might be useful to partner efforts to prioritize and protect infrastructure.
• USGS has the ability to create flood maps that can demonstrate potential infrastructure vulnerability under historical and more extreme flood conditions.
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• 14 study gages
• 37 additional active gages
• 35 indirect measurements
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Detailed mapping for all study gages
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Comparison with FEMA flood maps
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Green Infrastructure at multiple scales
• State Scale: MD GreenPrint
• Local Scale: County or Local Green Infrastructure
• Site Scale: Localized Green (stormwater) Infrastructure
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MD State Hubs and Corridors for Study Area
Howard County (2012)
Locally scaled Green Infrastructure
Prince George’s County (2005)
Anne Arundel County (2002)
Baltimore County (2014)
Also in development: • Montgomery County• Harford County
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Locally Defined Green Infrastructure:
• Howard County
• Prince George’s County
• Anne Arundel County
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Additional Green Infrastructure Criteria:
Contiguous tree canopy and forest blocks
Wetlands
Floodplains
Riparian buffers
Critical Habitat
Steep Slopes
Highly erodible soils
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Combining State and Local Green Infrastructure
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BMP Suitability
BMP
Site Suitability Criteria
Drainage Area (acre) Slope (%)
HydrologicalSoil Group
Water Table Depth (cm)
Road Buffer (ft)
Stream Buffer (ft) Land cover
Bioretention < 2 < 5 A–D > 61 < 100 > 100
ConstructedWetland > 25 < 15 A–D > 122 -- > 100
Dry Pond > 10 < 15 A–D > 122 -- > 100
Grassed Swale < 5 < 4 A–D > 61 < 100 --
InfiltrationBasin < 10 < 15 A–B > 122 -- > 100
InfiltrationTrench < 5 < 15 A–B > 122 -- > 100
PorousPavement < 3 < 1 A–B > 61 -- --
Sand Filter(non-surface) < 2 < 10 A–D > 61 -- > 100
Sand Filter(surface) < 10 < 10 A–D > 61 -- > 100
VegetatedFilterstrip -- < 10 A–D > 61 < 100 --
Wet Pond > 25 < 15 A–D > 122 -- > 100
Green roofs, rain barrels, and cisterns did not require site targeting.
Exclude open water, forests, wetlands, other designated sensitive areas, buildings, and roads from other BMP siting.
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Outreach
• Primary focus on local governments & agencies
• Baltimore Metropolitan Council
• BWPFS workshop – 9/22/15
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Project Next StepsActivities:
• Finish 1st DRAFT GI Network (Early Fall) • Prioritize GI investments – Fall/Winter 2015-2016
• Groundtruth GI Network (student engagement) – Fall 2015
• Develop Local Planners Workshop
• Start Planning for CPAT(s) – Fall 2015
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Project Discussion
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