1. Cecil County,
Maryland
Land Use, Water Quality and the Chesapeake Bay
Chyanne, Christian, Hana,
Liana, Jinyi

3. Current Land Use

4. Top Land Use Goal
Encourage conservation of
agricultural land

5. Growth Management
& Projections

6. Growth Forecasts
Population growth has been rapid, will be rapid
and remains a genuine threat to the community’s
rural heritage

7. Why planning?
Efficient and Orderly Growth!

8. ● Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan
● PFA & Zoning
Components of Growth Management Program

9. Nutrient and
Sediment Loads

10. Overview of Different Sectors

11. Cecil County - Total Nitrogen Loads
Source Sector
2010
Progress
2017 Interim
Strategy
2025 Final
Strategy
Final
Target
Percentage Change
Between 2010 and
2025
Agriculture 1.001 0.807 0.750 0.614 25.07%
Forest 0.260 0.270 0.273 0.261 5.00%
Non-Tidal Atm 0.037 0.037 0.037 0.037 0.00%
Septic 0.183 0.164 0.098 0.099 46.45%
Stormwater 0.338 0.296 0.217 0.235 35.80%
Wastewater 0.104 0.311 0.328 0.323 68.29%
Total 1.923 1.884 1.704 1.569 11.39%

12. Cecil County - Total Phosphorus Loads
Source Sector
2010
Progress
2017 Interim
Strategy
2025 Final
Strategy
Final
Target
Percentage Change
Between 2010 and
2025
Agriculture 0.069 0.054 0.050 0.055 27.54%
Forest 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.00%
Non-Tidal Atm 0.002 0.002 0.002 0.002 0.00%
Septic 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.00%
Stormwater 0.016 0.015 0.010 0.010 37.50%
Wastewater 0.013 0.016 0.018 0.020 38.46%
Total 0.106 0.093 0.086 0.093 18.87%

13. Cecil County - Total Sediment Loads
Source Sector
2010
Progress
2017 Interim
Strategy
2025 Final
Strategy
Percentage Change
Between 2010 and
2025
Agriculture 46.473 42.689 40.580 12.68%
Forest 4.230 4.480 4.533 7.16%
Non-Tidal Atm 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.00%
Septic 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.00%
Stormwater 14.918 13.364 8.050 46.04%
Wastewater 0.118 0.810 2.157 1727.96%
Total 65.739 61.342 55.320 15.85%

14. Strategies
and Costs

15. Strategies for nutrient and sediment reduction
Tributary Strategy
Best Management
Practices(BMP)
Reforestation/Restoration
TMDL/Nutrient Reduction
Enhanced Biological
Phosphorus Removal (EBPR)

18. Policies and
Programs

19. Forest Conservation
Cecil County’s Board of County
Commissioners
Retention of existing forestry
No change!
Changes must align with the Code of
Maryland Natural Resource Policies
Maintain the natural resources of Cecil
County

20. Water Quality Control
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Implementation of licenses, approvals and
permits to reduce the negative impact
from land cultivation and other
agricultural activities on water quality
Farmers must abide because of soil erosion
into the Bay

21. Consumer Confidence
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Animal Health Program
Provide safe food
Animal disease control
Increased the enforcement of livestock inspection
Food Quality Assurance Program
Audits and inspections
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Good Handling Practices (GHP)
Grade analysis of eggs
Decrease their use of pesticides

22. Stormwater
Maryland Department of the Environment
Control the erosion and sediment runoff
Use rain as resource
The Stormwater Management Act of 2007
required BMP be used by all current and
future development activities

23. Water Quality
Trading

24. Current Platform

25. Potential in Cecil
Reasons:
Population growth and
competition in land use
Under TMDL, BMP,
EBPR regulations,
Costs are different
Branosky, Evan. Cy Jones, and Mindy Selman. “Comparison Tables of State Nutrient Trading Programs in the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed”. World Resource Institute Fact Sheet. Version 1. May 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2015.
http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/comparison_tables_of_state_chesapeake_bay_nutrient_trading_programs.pdf
Target:
existing permitted discharge + new growth

26. Opportunities for cost saving
Bilateral Process
Buyers:
Farmers, agribusiness
Sellers:
National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES)
point sources
http://www.mdnutrienttrading.com

27. Challenges
Transaction cost
Baseline
Trading Ratio
Data-CBWM
More Info:
Houtven, George Van, Ross Loomis, Justin Baker, Robert Beach, and Sara Casey. “Nutrient Credit Trading for the Chesapeake
Bay, An Economic Study”. MAY 2012. Web. 2 Dec 2015. Section 10 <http://www.chesbay.us/Publications/nutrient-trading-
2012.pdf>

28. Sector
Analysis

29. Cecil County Agricultural Sector
Cecil county is a predominantly
rural/agricultural area.
Large dairy cow/beef cattle farms are
common.
77% of nitrogen and 95% of
phosphorus pollution in this area
can be attributed to agriculture.

30. Northeast River Advanced WWTP(NERAWWTP) Upgrade
MDE mandated that all large WWTPs
be upgraded to Enhanced Nutrient
Removal(ENR) by Dec. 2016
NERAWWTP is the only WWTP in
Cecil County requiring an upgrade.
Previous treatment level: Biological
Nutrient Removal(BNR)
Expected project cost: $40 million.

31. Biological versus Enhanced Nutrient Removal
ENR utilizes a process known as a
Membrane Bioreactor(MBR).
Higher initial cost than alternatives,
but benefits include:
Higher water treatment level than
alternatives
Cost of future expansions is lower than
other alternatives.
Nutrient Reduction
Levels
Nutrient Biological
Nutrient
Removal
Enhanced
Nutrient
Removal
Nitrogen 8 mg/L to 10
mg/L
~3 mg/L
Phosphorus 1 mg/L to 3
mg/L
~0.3 mg/L

32. Membrane Bioreactor

33. Questions?