Water!

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Goedeke on March 21, 2012 at 2:43pm

Just a quick note that the Kojo Nnamdi show had an interesting show on today on "Ban the Bottle", about the mainly college campus drive to ban bottled water.  It included good discussions about more general issues, such as water privatization.

Permalink Reply by Betsy Singer on March 26, 2012 at 3:08pm

Dear Water Group: Barbara Schmeckpeper and I talked briefly and I wanted to suggest that we start our efforts with 3 aspects of water infrastructure, critical to our future:drinking water, waste water and stormwater. Doing some research on how we handle each in Howard County from a standpoint of safety, in the event of natural disaster, and sustainability would be useful to protecting our local resources and advocating for changes where necessary.
The Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Facility is relatively new and offers tours. we would learn what is incapable of being treated ( like Fracking fluid) and why garbage disposals are so awful.
We get all of our drinking water from Baltimore and WSSC. Livegreenhoward.com has a good description under "drinking water."
Residential Stormwater management refers to features like rain gardens, rain barrels, permeable surfaces and other techniques to get rain water to stay on the land and not go pouring straight into storms drains and into rivers and streams without being filtered or in a flow so strong that it causes erosion and stream degredation. Initiatives by Master Gardeners, Columbia Association, County Government and concerned residents are being planned and carried out in Howard County.
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Any comments?i

Permalink Reply by Charlie Goedeke on March 26, 2012 at 3:58pm

The topics sound right to me, and I would also be interested in the tour.

Permalink Reply by Betsy Singer on March 27, 2012 at 9:40pm

Water Group:  very interesting 90 page report (on the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant website) called "Flood Mitigation Plan."  Lots of data about geography and history of flooding in HoCo, current zoning and emergency planning programs/policies.  Factoid is that the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant is one of 2 critical facilities in the 100-year flood plain.  The other is Lisbon Fire Station 4 in Woodbine.  http://www.co.ho.md.us/departments.aspx?ID=659  Check Highlights on the right side of the website for the flood plain report.  Betsy

Permalink Reply by Margo Duesterhaus on March 27, 2012 at 10:29pm

What an amazing report - lots of good data.  Everyone should look at the 100 year flood plain map to see if they are in it. 

I am interested in the tour.  And I am interested in all of the topics mentioned.

Permalink Reply by Betsy Singer on May 3, 2012 at 3:00pm

Water - Flood Prone areas in Howard County:  Anyone want to go to this meeting on May 14 at Miller Library, either 3 to 5 pm or 7 to 9 pm??  

From Calvin Ball's Facebook post:  (The website given is blank)

To all our Howard County homeowners: FEMA has proposed new flood insurance rate maps for Howard County. These maps indicate flood prone areas in Howard County and are used by insurance agents and others to calculate appropriate flood insurance rates for buildings and their contents. A public workshop has been scheduled for Monday, May 14th 3-5pm and again 7-9pm at the Miller Library. Representatives from FEMA and the MD Dept of the Environment will be on site to answer flood plain and insurance related questions. Add'l info is available at www.howardcountymd.gov/DFIRM/htm. Residents with questions should contact the Bureau of Environmental Services at 410-313-6444.