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State Appendix: Maryland |
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3,190
miles of tidally affected lands // Approximately 30 miles of beach coastline
40 // Coastal population
is 3,339,056 // 70% of Maryland's population resides in coastal counties |
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Appendix for Maryland Main appendix topics are: 1. Website Access 2. Beach Access 3. Water Quality 4. Armoring 5. Erosion 6. Nourishment 7. Surfing - - - - - Contact Information Maryland Department of Natural Resources Coastal Zone Management Division Tawes State Office Building, E-2 580 Taylor Avenue Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 260-8984 http://www.dnr.state.md.us/ http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/czm/index.html 1. Website Access The Maryland Coastal Zone Management Program is in the process of creating a more complete Website, but has posted an initial site where any new information will be added. This current site does not provide much information on our Beach Health Indicators, but provides links to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Program.  Go to top of page2. Beach Access Maryland's coastline consists of the Ocean City and Assateague Island beaches. Ocean City has approximately 10 miles of beaches. The beach access within the city is primarily streetend access, with parking lots and restrooms at several locations. In addition, the city has a boardwalk that runs approximately 30 blocks.41 The Assateague Island National Seashore composes the remaining 20 miles of coastline, which means Maryland's coastline is approximately two-thirds publicly owned. The island has four miles of roads, and the remaining land contains hiking trails, 4WD trails, and protected land. The park contains 300 campsites, and charges both entrance and camping fees.42 The Chesapeake Bay Program, which is a unique regional partnership that includes Maryland, has published the 2000 Chesapeake Bay, Susquehanna River and Tidal Tributaries Public Access Guide. It provides information on over 600 major public access sites in the bay area, 304 of which are in Maryland. Basic site information, such as county/city location, type of parking, and the availability of boat ramps, fishing, swimming beach, trails, and restrooms, is provided. Information sources: Ocean City Chamber of Commerce http://www.oceancity.org Assateague Island National Seashore http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/assateague.html http://www.nps.gov/asis/ Go to top of page
3. Surf Zone Water Quality Water Quality Monitoring Program The state requires counties to monitor water quality at all "permitted" beaches, which are beaches that charge entrance fees. Worcester County, which contains both Ocean City and Assateague Island, monitors water quality on a weekly basis. The decision to close or post advisories is still discretionary, and counties do not always close beaches that exceed bacteria standards.43 Maryland's Water Quality Standards are currently under review by the state. Changes to the water quality standards being considered will be posted on the Website, as they become available at http://www.mde.state.md.us/wqstandards. The state operates a Recreational Water Quality hotline from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which includes weekly sample results and notification of waterway closings. For information call: (410) 222-7999
These closure numbers can be a bit deceptive when considering water quality on the open ocean. Most of the water quality monitoring in Maryland occurs in Chesapeake Bay, not on the open ocean coast near Ocean City and Assateague Island, where the surf is. In these locations monitoring occurs once a week, every ten blocks, and in compliance with EPA standards. In fact, in 1999, Oceanside Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, was awarded a "Beach Buddy" award by the Natural Resources Defense Council for consistent monitoring, appropriate closures, and few exceedances.44 Storm Drains No information available. Sewage Outfalls Ocean City has a wastewater treatment plant that performs secondary treatment and disinfection. The plant discharges the effluent into the ocean through an outfall pipe. More information on the sewage treatment process can be found at http://www.ococean.com/ww.html Go to top of page4. Shoreline Structures Maryland's governor, Parris Glendening, recently created an Erosion Task Force to research Maryland's erosion problems and advise him on possible changes to the state's current policy;therefore the state's current policy may change in the near future. The current policy requires landowners who desire a protective device to receive approval from the Department of Natural Resources. As an overall philosophy, the state prefers "soft" options, such as beach nourishment, to hardened structures, so the permit requirements are stringent.45 State Policy Maryland's Tidal Wetlands Act, Section 16-201, gives property owners the right to protect their property from the effects of shore erosion on an individual basis. A property owner must obtain several permits and approvals at the federal, state, and local level in order to implement a shore protection project. Individual applications are filed and projects are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Permitting agencies primarily base the need for a shore protection project on the severity of the erosion problem at a specific location, and continue to give preference to the installation of non-structural measures.46 Extent of Shoreline Armoring Ocean City has a seawall that protects the boardwalk that runs through the city. In the 1940s the Army Corps of Engineers built two jetties to stabilize the Ocean City Inlet. These jetties have exacerbated the downdrift erosion of Assateague Island.47 Go to top of page5. Erosion Hotspots Erosion Information The Maryland Geological Survey (MGS) currently has two programs that assess erosion along the Maryland coast. The first is a mapping program that uses data from the past 150 years to illustrate shoreline change along the state's coast. In addition, since the early 1970s the MGS has collected beach profile data from 19 locations in Ocean City and 7 on Assateague Island. Information on the mapping project along with interactive maps can be found at: http://www.mgs.md.gov/coastal/shoreline.html Information on the beach profile data can be found at: http://www.mgs.md.gov/coastal/backbay.html According to the Shore Erosion Task Force Final Report, which was released in January 2000, approximately 31% of Maryland's 4,360 mile coastline is currently experiencing some degree of erosion. In Maryland, erosion causes the loss of about 260 acres of tidal shoreline to erosion each year, and carries 5.7 million pounds of nitrogen, 4.2 million pounds of phosphorus, and 11 million cubic yards of sediment into Chesapeake Bay, degrading water quality. Among the western coastal counties, Prince Georges County has the highest percentage of its shoreline eroding, 43%, while in the eastern counties, 54% of Dorchester County's shoreline is eroding.48 Information Source The Shore Erosion Task Force Final Report can be downloaded at http://www.dnr.state.md.us/sccreport.html. Additional information on erosion in Maryland can be found at http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/programapps/sec.html. Go to top of page6. Nourishment Information In 1988, Ocean City began a three-phase beach nourishment plan. In the first phase, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pumped sand from offshore sites onto the beach to restore beach width in the area to a uniform 67 meters, from an existing average of 40 meters. This phase required pumping approximately 1.7 million cubic meters of sand onto 8 miles of beach over a 5-month period. The cost of this phase was $13.4 million. The second phase of the nourishment project began in 1990, and involved building an 8-mile dune to protect the newly restored beach. This dune required 2.7 million cubic meters of sand and was completed in 1998. The final phase of the project is maintenance of dune and beach widths through further offshore dredging and sand placement. The original plan estimated that the area would need between 535,000 and 764,000 cubic meters of sand every four years for the next 50 years. However, severe storms near the end of the second phase accelerated the rate of sand replenishment and the amount of sand available within the state's three mile offshore boundary is now depleted, so the state is currently studying new potential sand sources.49 In addition, the recent severe storms seriously eroded the northern portion of Assateague Island, and the Corps of Engineers suggests an immediate nourishment project to stabilize the inlet mouth as well as annual maintenance projects for the area.50 Information on beach nourishment can be found at the following site: http://www.mgs.md.gov/coastal/osr/ocsand1.html Go to top of page7. Surfing Areas There are 12 well-known surf spots in Maryland, which range in good to fair condition. Among the concerns is Ocean City Inlet's blockage of sand (littoral drift), which is causing beach erosion at Assateague Island. On a larger scale, frequent storms, particularly nor'easters, keep the beaches in constant flux and necessitate sand replenishment. Since tourism is a large part of the economy, the coastal cities and state of Maryland value these surfing areas and beaches as recreational resources, and have instituted various conservation programs, e.g. dune stabilization and beach nourishment. However, both the Ocean City and Capitol Chapters report that the nourishment programs have been both a blessing and a curse, and water quality issues have received less attention. Ocean City surf spots suffer from overcrowding due to restrictions, so the chapter has been spearheading an effort to increase areas available for surfing. Local political figures have been receptive to Surfrider efforts and to the needs of surfers in general. There is a daily Ocean City surfing report available at: http://www.beach-net.com/surfreportoc.html Information Sources The summary of surfing areas comes from Surfer Magazine's The Surf Report issues for the state. Surfrider Foundation Chapters were surveyed to establish surfing conditions in the state. Beachscape Activity The Ocean City Chapter utilized the Beach Characterization forms to survey their beaches from 65th St. to 35th St. The project and photos will go into the Beachscape database and maps will be made. The Capital Chapter extensively mapped the Ocean Beach area using the original Surf Site Questionnaires and supplementing them with maps. Go to top of page |
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