8/21/2007
Volume 37, Number 300
Division of Water Resources

Contact: Lyle Jones, Watershed Assessment, phone: (302) 739-9939
or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, phone: (302) 739-9902

Upper Chesapeake Bay Basin Tributary Action Team To Meet Aug. 23; Residents/Businesses Encouraged to Attend

The Upper Chesapeake Bay Basin Tributary Action Team will meet Thursday, Aug. 23 at the Marydel Community Hall (Lions Club) on Hendersonville Road in Marydel, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The team will continue work on the development of a pollution control strategy for the Upper Chesapeake Bay Basin Watershed, in areas near Hartly and Marydel and northward into southern New Castle County.

“Most of the Chesapeake Bay Basin’s streams have degraded surface water quality,” said Lyle Jones, program manager for DNREC’s Watershed Assessment Section. “This is primarily attributed to failing septic systems and agricultural and urban runoff. We encourage residents and interested parties to come to the meeting and offer their experiences and perspectives on the best approach to address water quality issues in the watershed.”

In 2006, the Upper Chesapeake Tributary Action Team was formed which consisted of residents, business owners, farmers and others who live, work and recreate in the watershed. The team will spend several months learning about the pollution problems of the watershed and the available best management practices (BMPs) to address nutrients and bacteria. The Upper Chesapeake team will recommend both voluntary and regulatory actions to reduce phosphorus load by 40% in the Chester and Choptank Rivers in Delaware. The goals are to develop a draft pollution control strategy by late 2007 and a final strategy by early 2008.

The Chesapeake Bay Basin, at 769 square miles, is Delaware's largest, extending northward from the state's southern border, encompassing nearly half of Sussex County, crossing through the western third of Kent County, and extending up into New Castle County.

For more information, contact Lyle Jones, Division of Water Resources at 302-739-9939. To learn more about the Upper Chesapeake Bay Basin Tributary Action Team, visit DNREC’s web site, www.dnrec.delaware.gov and click on “Water Resources.” Then click on “Watershed Assessment,” then “Tributary Action Teams,” then click on “Chesapeake Basin” on the Delaware Watershed Map.
 

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