The Calvert County Commissioners accepted a $17,395 grant from the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust Tuesday, July 24. The grant for fiscal year (FY) 2013 is nearly $2,400 more than money the trust gave county government for FY 2012. That money went to the Department of Planning and Zoning—now the Department of Community Planning and Building—to support water quality sampling in Calvert’s 22 sub-watersheds.

According to a memo from Department of Community Planning and Development Environmental Planner Dr. David Brownlee, the FY 2013 grant funding will support five components. They are: a small percentage of the Calvert watershed planner’s salary to lead the water quality sampling effort and administer the grant ($3,525); contracted services of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) in Solomons for water quality testing and analysis ($3,960); purchase of a velocity flow meter and wading rod to measure loadings in addition to concentrations of nutrients and sediments; supplies ($200); and an intern for two months to work with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and county government’s geographic information systems data to validate the Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) loading numbers ($3,898).

“We need all the data we can get,” said Commissioner Susan Shaw [R]. “We want to get this right.” During the staff session prior to the commissioners’ regular monthly meeting, Shaw had expressed reservations about using a portion of the grant for an intern to work with the EPA in gathering WIP-related data. Shaw indicated her concern stemmed from her belief that the EPA’s model for Calvert’s WIP “is flawed.”

“It [water quality sampling] helps the entire county,” said Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust Inc. Executive Director Robert Boxwell. “It helps with WIP.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-mandated WIP has been the source of heartburn for the Calvert County Commissioners because of its current $1.3 billion price tag over the next dozen years. The commissioners recently sent a letter to MDE officials stating the county would need more time before submitting a finalized Phase II WIP.

Mike Rudy, the president of the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust, explained the organization also provides funding for environmental research to CBL and St. Mary’s College.

“This will be the third year of funding,” said Brownlee. “We’ll continue to monitor the water quality in our sub-watersheds.”

“It [grant money] re