Chesapeake Bay Commanders Committed to Conservation
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081209-01
Release Date: 12/9/2008 6:21:00 AM
By Lt. Cmdr. Robert Baarson, Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the Environment
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NNS) -- Leaders from Department of Defense facilities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed gathered in Annapolis, Md., Nov. 18-19 for the biannual Chesapeake Bay Commanders Conference.
Rear Adm. Mark Boensel, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, hosted the gathering, which featured a keynote speech from James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency who spoke on national security and climate change. In addition, Larry Coffman, a nationally recognized pioneer in storm water management, discussed low-impact development (LID), an idea that was the focus of many of the conference's presentations and panel discussions.
"LID is a great concept," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the Environment Donald Schregardus. "And so simple. Rain falls. Where does it go? In developed areas, the rain washes off of roads, rooftops, driveways, etcetera, accumulating toxins and sediment along the way. The polluted runoff then either fouls a body of water directly or is collected, conveyed and treated – at substantial expense – before it can be safely deposited into a river, lake, stream or bay.
"On the other hand," he continued, "with LID, we use improved landscape design to avoid costly conventional stormwater controls, beautify our facilities and avoid stressing the environment. Using rainwater where it falls also replenishes soil moisture, reduces demand for potable water and replenishes groundwater."
Dr. Robert Summers, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, underscored the urgency of incorporating LID into public and private industry practices when he noted that, in the 1990s, impervious surfaces in the Chesapeake Bay watershed grew 41 percent, even though population grew by only 8 percent during that time.
The Department of the Navy has already mandated LID for all projects beginning in 2011 and is encouraging commanders to incorporate the design practice during the interim. The other services are developing similar policies.
"In that regard, DoD is well ahead of the curve," said Schregardus.
"A lot of people may not yet have heard of LID. But it is one of those terms that all of us must add to our environmental lexicon," explained Alex Beehler, principal deputy to the deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment. "What we do on land ultimately affects the Chesapeake Bay. Implementing a LID policy such as this will significantly limit the amount of pollutants entering our waterways and ultimately work to improve the health of the Bay."
"Even though the mandated timeline to implement LID practices is 2011, we will be incorporating LID concepts in our projects immediately across the region for all installations both inside and outside the Chesapeake Bay watershed – because it's the right thing to do," explained Capt. David Boone, commanding officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic.
"We will also be collaborating with state and local governments to share ideas on best practices to accelerate this process," he added.
Conference attendees included several members of the federal, state and municipal agencies that partner with DoD in its effort to incorporate Chesapeake Bay protection and restoration practices into the day-to-day performance of the department's national security mission.
"The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure," declared Bernie Fowler, Maryland citizen representative to the Chesapeake Bay Commission and an early pioneer in the effort to save the Bay. "But time is running out to save it," he warned, exhorting the conference attendees to remain committed to achieving DoD's ambitious Chesapeake Bay Program goals.
A veteran of World War II, Fowler regaled the conference attendees with vivid recollections of the clear waters and abundant wildlife that characterized the Bay before it began to decline in the late 1950s. Fowler's portrait of the Bay contrasted sharply with its current state, in which human-generated sediment and polluted runoff have led to algae blooms and so-called 'dead zones' in which fish are unable to survive from lack of oxygen.
According to Chesapeake Bay Program materials, the watershed encompasses an area of 64,000 square miles, is home to a population of 17 million people, and includes portions of six states and the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Bay is North America's largest and most biologically diverse estuary, home to more than 3,600 species of fish, plants, and animals. DoD operates 68 facilities and controls approximately one percent – more than 420,000 acres – of land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
For more news from the Secretary of the Navy, visit www.navy.mil/local/secnav.
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