Storm water management and stream cleanup are issues most Anne Arundel County political candidates agree need to be addressed, but not everyone agrees on how to pay for it.
Last week, some candidates for Anne Arundel County executive toured the county?s blighted streams ? including Holly and Sawmill creeks ? so they could see the effects of storm water runoff firsthand.
“There is at least a $400 million backlog of urgent repairs that are needed to Anne Arundel County streams to restore the watershed,” said Anne Pearson, director of the Alliance for Sustainable Communities.
Storm water runoff from impervious surfaces carries pollutants downstream and into the Chesapeake Bay. The runoff has turned the county?s streams into “bare, eroded, soured, polluted sewers,” Pearson said.
To manage storm water and clean up streams, Pearson and others have suggested a runoff fee for residents and businesses. The fee would be multiplied by the area of impervious surface owned. Pearson said fees for homeowners could be as a low as $5 a month. Other counties have implemented a policy to pay for stream cleanup. Baltimore County, for instance, has paid for the work with general fund money.
Tom Angelis, a Davidsonville Republican who is running for county executive, went on the tour Thursday. He said he thinks the county should “look at” user fees.
“It should be a bipartisan issue,” Angelis said of storm-water management. “Not only is it a health issue, it?s a business issue.”
Del. John Leopold, a Pasadena Republican who also went on the trip Thursday, said there are other ways to get money for storm-water management. He advocates a program by which the state and county could contribute funds.
“The General Assembly looks far more favorably on counties that take the initiative,” he said.
Staff writer Stephanie Tracy contributed to this story.
