• Strategic Plan  
• Goals & Recommendations

Strategic Plan

The development of areas in the county not currently supplied by WSSC or municipal water supply systems can lead to an increase in impervious surfaces over recharge areas, reducing the amount of recharge which can take place, and thereby adding environmental stress to overall groundwater aquifers, both for human use and as the source of baseflow for county streams.

At present, groundwater use or consumption in the county has not been assessed, requiring the development of a Groundwater Protection Strategy. Consumption can then be measured based upon an inventory of county groundwater wells and compared with the calculated recharge of the county, based on available surface area less impervious surface area. The resultant figures will then be compared with the minimum base flow requirements of the county’s streams in order to best mesh with the Countywide Stream Protection Strategy.

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Goals & Recommendations

Target: Protect the quality and quantity of groundwater in Montgomery County.

Background: Approximately 80,000 Montgomery County residents rely on groundwater as their source of drinking water. In addition, groundwater is withdrawn for agricultural uses, golf course and other horticultural irrigation, and industrial uses. Groundwater and surface water are interconnected, therefore the depletion or contamination of one affects the other. Contaminants disposed of in or on the ground may percolate to groundwater, creating a potential health problem. Contaminants in groundwater will be discharged to surface water and result in the contamination of reservoirs and drinking water.

Health Impact: The potential health impacts are dependant on the constituents contaminating the drinking water and their concentrations. They range from methemoglobinemia (or "blue baby syndrome") caused by excess nitrates, to central nervous system disorders that may be the result of the ingestion of organo-chlorine pesticides and herbicides, to the more obscure forms of cancer that have been linked to various volatile organic chemicals.

What Works: (Locally) The Countywide Stream Protection Strategy, which protects base flow (recharge/discharge) requirements. Zoning ordinances to require permits for new private wells and to ensure appropriate well-to-septic-system setbacks. Septic System inspection and upgrades to ensure protection of groundwater. (Regionally) The State of Maryland’s well head protection program. Septic Cleaner bans which prohibit the application of certain solvent septic cleaners, a known groundwater contaminant. Conservation easements, growth controls, toxic and hazardous materials handling regulations, and hazardous waste collection are activities that have been shown to benefit groundwater quality. Promoting understanding and accepting responsibility for safe groundwater quality and reasonable groundwater usage.

Programs in Place (Interventions): The county lacks a quantitative, science-based understanding of the County’s groundwater resources. Without an understanding, precious environmental resources may be irreplaceably lost or irreparably damaged. A contract was awarded in January 2000 to collect and assemble groundwater existing data, with the goal of producing GIS maps. These maps will be used to determine existing conditions. Information collected will include the location of aquifers and recharge zones in the county, groundwater elevation data, location of users, and water quality data where available. Education and outreach will follow this effort.

Groundwater water quality monitoring is conducted by various county agencies in the vicinity of its waste management and recreation facilities. Monitoring wells are located at the Oaks Landfill, Gude Landfill, Dickerson Incinerator and Yard Trim Compost facility as well as the MNCPP Bonifant Rubble fill, the Hampshire Greens Golf Course, and the South Germantown Recreation Center.

Agencies Involved: Department of Public Works and Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Parks and Recreation, Maryland National Capitol Park and Planning, Department of Health and Human Services, Maryland Department of the Environment, and US Environmental Protection Agency.

What works but is not being done: Groundwater protection legislation which dictates protective zoning is successfully implemented in other jurisdictions. In particular, aquifer recharge zones have been very successful in the west. This is the corollary to the establishment of buffers to protect stream run off. Protecting recharge areas would be more difficult because recharge areas are uplands, along which people like to build. Placing these off limits to development may not be popular. The Department of Environmental Protection should work with the Department of Permitting Services and MNCPPC to craft a groundwater protection ordinance. This ordinance should include groundwater protection areas and prohibit various land uses within these areas. Regulations should also address limiting groundwater withdrawals from protected zones that would normally be approved by the state’s appropriation program.

Recommended Actions and Responsible Parties: Advocate a County groundwater protection ordinance, which many jurisdictions already have. Continue funding the groundwater protection strategy development.