Maryland’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) builds on previous statewide and local efforts. Local goals, statewide policies, and robust engagement are essential to success, now and in the future.

For Maryland’s Phase II WIP, completed in 2012, counties and conservation districts submitted detailed plans to Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA).  Since the latest WIP development, Maryland has been working to implement State and local plans. MDE has been working closely with local jurisdictions on new stormwater permits and reporting requirements. Upgrades to major wastewater treatment plants are nearly completed and upgrades of priority minor plants have begun. The Phase III WIP continues to highlight regulated and State-funded activities to maintain implementation progress and incorporate lessons learned.

 

• Spring 2018
  MDE reviewed Maryland’s draft planning targets for the State's major river basins. These new planning targets were set based on refinements made to the most recent version of the Bay watershed model, which uses the most up-to-date land use, land cover, and monitoring data available. The improved modeling tools were used to estimate where the State is with respect to statewide and basin-level 2025 WIP goals. These analyses determined what pollution gaps remain; a necessary step before local goals could be refined.
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• May-June 2018 
  MDE and other State partners held five regional Phase III WIP meetings to inform and receive feedback from stakeholders. The agenda featured progress, funding, and lessons learned, along with opportunities to ask questions and give opinions on the proposed Phase III WIP approach. 
  
  
• Summer-Fall 2018
  MDE provided webinars with more detail on topics of interest to stakeholders.
  
  
• Summer-Fall 2018 
  In preparing Maryland’s Draft Phase III WIP, MDE and MDA worked with all stakeholders to build local goals into the State plan and refine, adapt, and adjust local plans. MDE colaborated with local governments and MDA worked with conservation districts to ensure that the most up-to-date local information is included in the statewide scenario.
  
  
• November-December 2018
  MDE and other State partners held additional regional Phase III WIP meetings to provide localized information to stakeholders.
  
  
• April 2019 
  Draft State WIPs were submitted to the EPA and posted online for public comment.
  
  
• April - May 2019 
  ​​MDE hosted regional meetings and a webinar to guide participants through the commenting process for the draft Phase III WIP.​
• ​​​Informational Sessions on the Draft Phase III WIP
  Maryland Department of the Environment held three information sessions and one webinar in April and May 2019 as part of Maryland's engagement strategy for its Phase III WIP. The meetings and webinar featured an overview of the current draft WIP and provided stakeholders opportunities to ask questions of state agency representatives.
• ​Watch MDE's WIP Informational Webinar 
  
  Please note that the webinar starts at 01:47:38 in the recorded video.
  Download Presentation
  
  
  
• August 2019 
  Final State WIPs were completed. The Phase III WIP synthesized information from multiple sources into a single scenario to demonstrates achievement of Maryland’s water quality standards and statewide load reduction targets for 2025.​​

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