Clean Water Optimization Tool - Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

The Clean Water Optimization Tool is a planning tool for Maryland Eastern Shore communities to develop more cost-effective strategies for reducing stormwater pollution to meet nutrient and sediment reduction goals.

Developed by the Center for Watershed Protection with funding from the Town Creek Foundation, the Tool allows the user to optimize best management practice (BMP) selection based on cost-effectiveness for a particular pollutant, determine the practical limits of implementation, and evaluate progress towards water quality goals.

The Tool also includes the most up-to-date crediting procedures approved by the Chesapeake Bay Program and allows the user to evaluate the impact of practices that have not yet been approved.

Case studies of four counties in Maryland are provided, detailing the purpose, procedures and results from the application of the Clean Water Optimization Tool. 

For example, in the Queen Anne County case study the Tool was used to:

  • Evaluate the costs and feasibility of implementation associated with the submitted Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) scenario
  • Help the County identify the practical limits of implementation for the most cost-effective/applicable BMPs
  • Help the County determine the nutrient and sediment reductions they can achieve and the associated cost

Using available GIS data and information gleaned from conversations with planners from Queen Anne’s County, the Center followed the guidance provided in the Clean Water Optimization Tool User Manual to estimate the maximum practical units that can be treated. The Tool was then used to run two scenarios: (1) the 2025 final WIP strategy for Queen Anne’s County; and (2) a cost-optimized scenario based on the aforementioned estimated maximum practical units treated.

 

Free downloads of the Tool and associated resources are provided on the linked Center for Watershed Protection website.
 

Publication Date: April 27, 2015

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  • Tool (general)

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