ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 14, 2000) – Water quality in the upper Chesapeake Bay will continue to improve as the Board of Public Works announced approval of $145,000 in additional support for the Mt. Royal Stormwater Management Project in Harford County. The funding assists in the design and construction of an extended detention pond with shallow marsh features that are a component of the project.

"This is part of an on-going Statewide program that addresses stormwater runoff in urbanized areas," Governor Parris N. Glendening said. "By working to reduce sediment and other non-point source pollutants at Swan Creek, we are taking aggressive steps to protect and restore our environment for the benefit of Aberdeen residents and the entire State of Maryland."

Previously the Board has approved more than $439,900 for the project, which is estimated to cost more than $807,700. The Mt. Royal Stormwater Management Project was a recommendation of the Swan Creek Watershed Engineering Study that was completed in 1996. The project’s aim is to cease stream bank erosion and create wetlands to control runoff from a 200 acre drainage area that currently has no stormwater management facilities in place.

Rainwater runoff from farms, cities, and suburbs, known as non-point source pollution, potentially contributes as much as 70 percent of the pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater management is necessary to achieve water quality goals and ensure the vitality of life in and around the Bay.

"Harford County appreciates the Governor and the Maryland Department of the Environment’s support in encouraging projects that work to improve water quality within tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay," said Harford County Director of Public Works Jerald R. Wheeler. "This state and local partnership fosters the needed improvements to our environment. Many of the projects proposed by the county could not be completed without this support."

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