Liberty Reservoir Watershed Carroll County, Maryland Interim Restoration Plan 2019 Prepared by Carroll County Government Bureau of Resource Management MDE Approved: May 2020 Liberty Reservoir Watershed Restoration Plan Forward This document summarizes proposed and potential restoration strategies to meet local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements associated with the urban wasteload allocation (WLA) for Liberty Watershed within Carroll County, Maryland. This document is an ongoing, iterative process that will be updated as needed to track implementation of structural and nonstructural projects, alternative Best Management Practices (BMP’s), and any program enhancements that assist in meeting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved TMDL stormwater WLAs. Updates will evaluate the success of Carroll County’s watershed restoration efforts and document progress towards meeting approved stormwater WLAs. Some of the strategies presented in this document are considered “potential” and additional assessment will be required before any project is considered final or approved. i Liberty Reservoir Watershed Restoration Plan Table of Contents Liberty Reservoir Watershed Restoration Plan Forward ................................................................................................................................ i I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 A. Purpose and Scope .................................................................................................. 1 1. Document Organization .................................................................................... 1 B. Regulatory Setting and Requirements .................................................................... 4 1. Use Class Designations and Water Quality Standards ..................................... 4 2. Water Quality Criteria ...................................................................................... 5 3. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) ........................................................... 7 II. Background ............................................................................................................. 9 A. Location and Subwatershed Map ............................................................................ 9 B. Baseline and Current Land Cover ........................................................................... 9 1. Impervious Surfaces ....................................................................................... 10 C. Watershed Characterization .................................................................................. 14 1. Tier II Waters and Ecological Sensitive Areas ............................................... 14 2. Stream Corridor Assessment (SCA) ............................................................... 17 3. Priority Watersheds ........................................................................................ 17 III. New Development ................................................................................................ 19 A. Build-Out Analysis ............................................................................................... 19 B. Stormwater Management ...................................................................................... 19 C. County Easements ................................................................................................. 21 D. Rural Legacy Areas............................................................................................... 21 IV. Public Outreach and Education ............................................................................. 24 A. Water Resources Coordination Council................................................................ 24 1. Carroll County NPDES MS4 Team................................................................ 24 B. Environmental Advisory Council (EAC).............................................................. 25 1. Community Outreach ..................................................................................... 25 C. Public Outreach Plan............................................................................................. 25 D. Educational Venues .............................................................................................. 25 V. Restoration Implementation .................................................................................. 28 A. Stormwater Management Facilities ...................................................................... 28 ii Liberty Reservoir Watershed Restoration Plan B. Storm Drain Outfalls ............................................................................................. 31 C. Rain Gardens ......................................................................................................... 31 D. Tree Planting and Reforestation............................................................................ 33 1. Residential Buffer Plantings ........................................................................... 33 2. Municipal Plantings ........................................................................................ 34 E. Stream Restoration ................................................................................................ 36 F. Streambank Regeneration ..................................................................................... 36 G. Road Maintenance Projects................................................................................... 37 H. Septic Systems ...................................................................................................... 38 I. Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) ................................................ 38 VI. Local TMDL Project Tracking, Reporting, Modeling and Monitoring ................ 39 A. Data Reporting ...................................................................................................... 39 B. Modeling with Mapshed ....................................................................................... 39 1. Model Description .......................................................................................... 39 2. Restoration Progress: December 2019 ........................................................... 39 3. Bacteria Load Reduction ................................................................................ 43 C. Water Quality Monitoring..................................................................................... 45 1. Retrofit Monitoring......................................................................................... 45 2. Bacteria Trend Monitoring ............................................................................. 46 VII. Chesapeake Bay Restoration................................................................................. 55 A. Purpose and Scope ................................................................................................ 55 B. Background ........................................................................................................... 55 1. Water Quality Standards and Designated Uses .............................................. 55 C. River Segment Location ....................................................................................... 58 D. Restoration Progress ............................................................................................. 58 VIII. TMDL Implementation ......................................................................................... 61 A. Bacteria Implementation ....................................................................................... 61 IX. Caveats .................................................................................................................. 62 X. Public Participation ............................................................................................... 62 XI. References ............................................................................................................. 63 XII. Appendix A: Watershed Restoration Projects ...................................................... 67 XIII. Appendix B: Liberty BAT Septic Systems ........................................................... 68 iii Liberty Reservoir Watershed Restoration Plan XIV. Appendix C: Local TMDL Load Reduction Calculations with GWLF-E Land Cover Loading Rates and MDE (2014) ............................................................................ 70 XV. Appendix D: GWLF-E Modeling Assumptions ................................................... 78 1. Model Inputs ................................................................................................... 78 2. BMP Assumptions .......................................................................................... 81 XVI. Appendix E: Chesapeake Bay TMDL Edge-of-Stream Load Reduction Calculations....................................................................................................................... 84 XVII. Appendix F: Forest Buffer and Grass Buffer Protection Easements .................... 95 Figures Figure 1: Liberty Watershed and Subwatersheds Map ....................................................... 3 Figure 2: Liberty Watershed Designated Uses ................................................................... 6 Figure 3: Liberty Watershed Land Use/Land Cover ......................................................... 12 Figure 4: Liberty Watershed Impervious