SO LONG STYROFOAM
Maryland has become the first state to ban Styrofoam food and drink containers. Half of Maryland residents currently live in areas where the polystyrene is banned, but in mid-March, the House of Delegates made it official, banning the containers statewide. There will be a one-year period to phase out the material, but after that, violators will have to pay a $250 fine. In Baltimore, the city’s various trash wheels have collected more than 1 million foam containers since they began cleaning waterways in 2014.

THE BIRDS ARE BACK
In mid-March, birdwatchers along the Chesapeake Bay started to notice the reemergence of one of our state’s more surefire signs of spring: the osprey. The watershed is home to the largest breeding population of these birds of prey, who return to the local waterways each year to hunt and nest. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, on the first day of spring, the city’s famed peregrine falcon couple, Boh and Barb, laid their first egg of the year atop the Legg Mason building in Harbor East. They fledged four baby hawks last year.

STRIPED BASS BLUES
According to a new stock assessment released in February, the state’s famed striped bass are in trouble and overfished. Rockfish have had somewhat of a rocky history here in Maryland, with overharvesting in the 1980s leading to a nearly six-year, zero-catch moratorium. The populations rebounded in the late ’90s, only to decline again. Recent restrictions have not had a large enough impact on the populations, and some experts expect that this new assessment will lead to more reductions.

R.I.P. HARRY HUGHES
Harry Hughes, the 57th governor of Maryland and a pioneer of Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts, passed away earlier this month at the age of 92. Across two terms, from 1979 to 1987, Hughes would become one of the bay’s greatest champions. The Eastern Shore native initiated the multi-state-federal partnership that is the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, which continues to improve the health of our nation’s largest estuary. He cut back on pollutants, limited shoreline development, and also imposed the aforementioned moratorium on striped bass. Governor Larry Hogan called him “alongtime friend and Maryland legend whom I deeply admired.” Flags were flown at half-mast in his honor.

FUNDING IN FLUX
Meanwhile, it’s starting to feel like Groundhog’s Day again with the Trump administration once again calling for federal funding cuts for Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. For the third year in a row, budget cuts have been proposed to the Chesapeake Bay Program, which coordinates the partnership between multiple federal agencies and watershed states to monitor, assess, and improve the bay’s health. Like last year, the 2020 budget, released in mid-March, would reduce Environmental Protection Agency funding for the program by 90 percent, from $73 million to $7.3 million, providing no explanation. Governor Hogan has asked Congress to not only block the reduction but increase bay funding by $90 million.

RAMPING UP RENEWABLE ENERGY
Last week, the Maryland Senate approved legislation that would greatly increase the state’s renewable energy requirements. The Clean Jobs Act would require that half of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2030, while also increasing related jobs. The current statewide goal for renewable energy is 25 percent by 2020. In 2017, renewable energy accounted for 10 percent of Maryland’s total net electricity generation. However, after similar legislation failed in the House, it is unclear whether or not the bill will be approved in its next phase.

LIVESTREAM SEWAGE
Last week, after heavy rains, more than 22 million gallons of sewage-tainted water flowed into the Jones Falls and Herring Run. Just days before, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works announced the launch of a new live map of sewage pollution. Going forward, the DPW will issue public alerts when overflows reach or exceed 10,000 gallons to abide by state and federal environmental regulations.

Last summer it was announced that the Druid Lake Reservoir was going to be completely overhauled and revamped. Two storage water tanks will be buried under the lake in order for the city to comply with the 2006 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that require cities to create large, open reservoirs.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) had two options: cover them entirely or put extra chemicals into the water before pumping it out to the city. The director of DPW Rudy Chow chose the former.

“The tanks will preserve better water quality and lessen the required chemicals to keep the water fresh,” he said. “All this is good for the health of our citizens here in Baltimore.”

DPW recently released more details about the renovation and the scope of the project is unique. After talking with surrounding communities, the department opted to build tanks at the park, rather than in the nearby neighborhood, in order to minimize disruptions. By building a temporary dam across the reservoir, it would divide the lake into two sections, one that would remain filled with drinking water and the other that would be emptied to make space for the tanks. Draining part of the lake, instead of excavating new holes, significantly reduced the amount of time the project would take.

“When we faced the federal mandate, we were determined to get the neighbors, and those who advocate for our parks, involved in the process,” Chow said. “By doing this, we are making the park stronger and making the lake accessible to our citizens.”

The entire venture is projected to be completed by March 2022 and will cost about $140 million—paid for by the increasing bills of Baltimore’s water customers. But Mayor Catherine Pugh, who frequently jogs around the lake, says that this will all be worthwhile in the end.

“The lake will be a little bit smaller when the project is completed, but it will be well worth it,” she said in an email. “This is going to be a very, very beautiful sight.”

The decreased lake size will provide more green space with an additional 14 acres in Druid Hill Park. This will include upgraded lighting, a wider promenade, a new path for cyclists, and an amphitheater. The remainder of the 146-year-old reservoir will be available for recreational activities such as fishing and kayaking.

The current lake was completed in 1871 and included the largest earthen dam in the country at that time—119 feet high—designed to hold one billion gallons of water. The new tanks will only hold 54 million gallons of water with new pipes connecting the existing system in place.

This same model was also used for nearby projects in Towson, Lake Montebello, and Pikesville. Guilford Reservoir is currently under construction and Lake Ashburton, the final project, is underway.

The DPW doesn’t plan to turn over the project to the parks department until they reach the end of construction in the spring of 2022. In the meantime, visitors will see nothing more than bulldozers and a lot of dirt.

“We realize that this is a big project at a very important location,” Chow said. “Druid Hill Park is in many ways not just the heart of the communities that surround it, but also the heart of Baltimore.”

Access to running water is a basic human right, but some city residents are fearful of losing that right due to increasing water bills. On Wednesday night, more than 150 residents gathered at Red Emma’s Bookstore in Station North for a town hall event hosted by Food & Water Watch Maryland to discuss solutions to this problem.

The event featured a panel of local leaders and advocates—including 43rd District Delegate Mary Washington, professor of community development at the University of Baltimore Komal Vaidya, and attorney Zafar Shah—to discuss the impacts of rising water rates on Baltimoreans.

“The water affordability crisis is disproportionately affecting low-income communities and communities of color,” said panelist Komal Vaidya. “Some people in Baltimore are paying up to 6.9-percent of their income on water.”

Over the past 10 years, they city’s water rates have increased 120 percent. According to the Department of Public Works (DPW), the water and sewage charges increased 9.4 percent just this year based on the three-year rate structure approved by the Board of Estimates in 2016.

Under this new rate structure, which became effective in July, residential accounts with a typical meter would rise from $76 per month to $84—although storm water fees will not increase.

“Increasing water and sewer bills are impacting virtually every community across the country, especially cities that installed infrastructure generations ago and now need to upgrade,” said spokesman for DPW Jeffrey Raymond in an email. “Despite recent increases, Baltimore remains competitive with other cities in the cost of its water and sewer services.”

Back in the fall of 2016, DPW changed the billing cycle for nearly 200,000 accounts from quarterly to monthly in an effort to provide residents with a more accurate and detailed bill. However, during this transition, residents complained of receiving exorbitant invoices, some upwards of $80,000 for a residential home.

Although the glitches have been corrected, city residents are still troubled by the increased rates, fearing water shutoffs and loss of property for failure to pay the overwhelming bills. In Maryland, there is a process that allows a water service company to collect unpaid bills through tax liens, which ultimately leads to a tax sale of the property.

“Safe, affordable water is an inalienable human right, yet across our communities we see water shutoffs, evictions from rental properties, and families losing their home at tax sale all because of unaffordable water bills,” said Del. Mary Washington. “This simply shouldn’t be happening in our communities—these aren’t the values we hold.”

According to Vaidya from UB, water shutoffs occur more frequently in low-income communities. The members of the Baltimore Right to Water Coalition are proposing legislation to create income-based billing for residents similar to a program implemented last month in Philadelphia. This is not to be confused with the current low-income assistance discount program provided by the DPW.

“Philadelphia is similar to Baltimore in that a quarter of its residents live in poverty. An income-based program has the potential lead to more people with access to water and more total revenue for the water company,” she said. “The alternative for people not having income-based water bill is that people are living without water— they have to choose between competing essential needs.”

The town hall event on Wednesday is just the first step of many in the Food & Water Watch’s mission to tackle the affordability crisis in Baltimore. The organization is accepting volunteers to petition, canvas, and write letters to the city council to find solutions to the ever-rising water rates for residents 

“Water service is unaffordable for one-third of Baltimore’s residents, Vaidya said.  “We need a solution that will increase access to water for everyone—irrespective of income.”