de milestones

Delaware’s Plan for Clean Water: Is the State on Track? Residents in the region are starting to see the benefits of investments and improvements made inlocal waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The practices that protect and restore our waterways—treeplantings, conservation planning, septic hookups, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants—ultimately improve our quality of life by reducing flooding, securing healthier drinking water, beau-tifying our neighborhoods, and ensuring safer waters for recreation. Unfortunately, despite makingprogress, the Chesapeake Bay watershed still remains a system dangerously out of balance. Too muchnitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to run off our lawns, city streets, and farmfields into local creeks and streams and the Bay.

In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bay jurisdictions established science-based limits for these pollutants and state-specific plans to achieve them, together known as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. EPA, the states, and Washington, D.C., also committed to implementactions to achieve 60 percent of the needed reductions by 2017 and 100 percent by 2025.

To ensure these clean-water efforts stay on track, each of the states and Washington, D.C., committedto two-year goals or milestones detailing the programs and practices intended to be met in the near-term to achieve the 2017 and 2025 long-term goals. The milestones are a critical accountability tool,providing the opportunity to measure progress in the context of long-term Bay restoration efforts. Be-cause of the importance of the milestones, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose CleanWater Coalition are collaborating to evaluate and publicize pollution-reduction progress. This reportevaluates, for select practices, whether Delaware achieved its 2012/2013 two-year milestone goals andwhether or not this progress is on a trajectory to achieve 60 percent implementation by 2017 and fullimplementation by 2025.

Conclusion Delaware achieved its 2013 goals for four of the seven practices evaluated. These successes were due tostrategic funding, partnerships with non-government organizations, and outreach activities. Implement-ing newly accepted statewide septic and polluted-runoff regulations and collecting critical data relatedto agricultural practices will lead to future progress. But there is room for improvement. In 2014, Gov-ernor Markell announced his Clean Water for Delaware’s Future Initiative which, if approved, will providethe necessary funding needed to implement additional conservation and infrastructure practices andupgrades. It is now up to the legislature to pass his proposal.

June 2014

AT A GLANCE

Agriculture

Animal Waste Management

Grass Buffers

Wetland Restoration

Cover Crops

Urban/Suburban

Bioretention

Urban tree planting

Wastewater/Septic

Septic SystemConnection

See the charts on the inside ofthis sheet for more information.

For more detailed informationon all of Delaware’s milestonegoals, go to: www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/tmdl/ChesapeakeBay/EnsuringResults.html.

2012/2013 FINAL ASSESSMENT

DelawareMilestones

6 Herndon Avenue | Annapolis, Maryland 21403888/SAVEBAY | cbf.org

How this Report was CompiledWe selected a subset of implemented practices within threepollution source categories—agricultural runoff, urban/subur-ban sources, and wastewater treatment—based on their po-tential to provide substantial nitrogen, phosphorus, andsediment pollution reductions and offer important lessons forimplementation moving forward. For each practice, progress(% achievement) was evaluated by looking at incrementalprogress between the base year, 2011, and 2013, comparedto the 2013 milestone goal. Progress during this milestone pe-riod was also compared to the long-term (2017 and 2025) implementation benchmarks that the states and Washington,D.C., committed to in their Watershed Implementation Plans.Data were provided by the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office.

706 Giddings Avenue 1-B | Annapolis, Maryland 21401443/759-3400 | choosecleanwater.org

Pollution Reduction in Delaware at a GlanceDelaware’s pollution-reduction efforts have led to mixed success: It exceeded its wastewater goal but failed to meet itsoverall 2013 nitrogen and phosphorus pollution-reductiongoals. To meet long term goals, Delaware will need to increaseits focus and funding on reducing polluted runoff and imple-menting additional agricultural conservation practices.

Success StoryPartnerships between private and public entities are key to havingclean, healthy water in the Chesapeake Bay region. Rain gardens wereinstalled in four Seaford elementary schools in the Nanticoke water-shed thanks to a partnership between National Wildlife Federationand Delaware Nature Society and with funding support from EPA’sChesapeake Bay Implementation grants, the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, and Delaware’s Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Control.

In addition to treating polluted runoff from school property, the project provides an outdoor classroom for 1,870 students and teach-ers as well as the larger Seaford community. The relationships builtbetween the state and non-government organizations has provideda foundation for engaging the public in local water-quality issues.

Future plans include similar partnerships to provide opportunitiesfor the public to interact with their local waterways, including kayaking, cleanups by boat, races along waterside trails, and finding out what concerns residents have about their local waterway.These projects will empower people through education and inter-action to take action to protect their local waterways and providethem opportunities to do so.

0

1

4

2025201720132011

2025GOAL

WASTEWATER/SEPTIC

AGRICULTURE

POLLUTED RUNOFF

3

2

2017GOAL

Modeled Nitrogen Loads and Long Term Goals in Delawareby Sector (millions of pounds)

Source: Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model 5.3.2

0

50

100

300

350

2025201720132011

2025GOAL

WASTEWATER

AGRICULTURE

POLLUTED RUNOFF

250

200

150

2017GOAL

Modeled Phosphorus Loads and Long Term Goals in Delawareby Sector (thousands of pounds)

*Pollution reduction is ahead of schedule for this sector.

**

Assessment of Delaware’s Progress on Selected Pollution-Reduction Practices for 2013

Animal Waste Management System animal unitsThis practice is one of the most effective at reducing pollution andDelaware has ramped up implementation in the last couple of years.However, it missed its 2013 milestone goal. Acheiving Delaware’s

long-term pollution reduction goals will require increased effort and betterdata verification to ensure all implementation counts towards meeting goals.

0

20,000

40,000

80,000

2011 2015 2019 2021 2023

0

60,000

2013 2017 2025G

2013 PROGRESS = 104 ACRES

2013 MILESTONE = 99 ACRES

Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (animal units)

Grass Buffers acresLike many states, Delaware needs additional funding resources andoutreach efforts to incentivize the installation of grass buffers. If passed,the Governor's Clean Water for Delaware’s Future Initiative will provide

additional financial resources.

0

2,000

4,000

10,000

2011 2015 2019 2021 2023

0

8,000

2013 2017 2025G

6,000

31 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)

916 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 3%

Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (acres)

Wetland Restoration acresDelaware partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Un-limited to ensure that Nanticoke Restoration Plan projects are designedto improve water quality and wildlife habitat. They also want to maximize

resources with partners active in the watershed. Looking forward, Delaware willneed to accelerate wetland protection to meet 2017 and 2025 goals.

0

1,000

2,000

6,000

2011 2015 2019 2021 2023

0

4,000

2013 2017 2025

3,000

5,000

2,109 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)



Cover Crops acresDelaware exceeded its 2013 milestone goal, which was set below2011 implementation, albeit above 2010 implementation. Improve-ments in tracking implementation by state, federal, and local partners

help explain this apparent disconnect. Delaware is on track to meet its longterm goals if it maintains progress in cover crops.

0

20,000

100,000

2011 2015 2019 2021 2023

0

2013 2017G

2025G

40,000

80,000

60,000

49,786 (2013 PROGRESS)

36,809 (2013 MILESTONE) = 135%*


Urban Tree Planting acresFunds provided by the U.S. Forest Service, Delaware and the Non-Point Source (319) Program were used to create the “Trees for theBay” Program that offers residents a $100 tree coupon with a rain

barrel purchase. Delaware’s 2013 milestone goal was equal to 2011 imple-mentation, but this successful federal-state partnership demonstrates thatit could set more aggressive targets.

0

40

60

120

2011 2015 2019 2021 2023

100

2013 2017G

2025G

20

80


Bioretention* acresDelaware has made great progress implementing this practice, far ex-ceeding its 2013 milestone goal. Delaware’s long-term goals for thispractice are modest, but this success indicates they should consider

setting more aggressive goals.

0

40

60

80

2011 2015 2019 2021 20232013 2017G

2025G

20


Septic Connections systemsProgress partially reflects efforts to include more accurate, previouslyimplemented, septic connection data. New regulations and the Gov-ernor’s Clean Water for Delaware’s Future Initiative, if passed, will re-

sult in additional septic hookups. These new hookups are critical to meetingaggressive long-term goals.

0

4,000

6,000

8,000

2011 2015 2019 2021 20232013 2017G

2025G

2,000



Progress Relative to Long-Term Goals (systems)

AgricultureUrban/Suburban Polluted Runoff Wastewater/Septic

*Cover Crop % accomplished is calculated as 2013 Progress/2013 Milestone


3 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE) = 900%8,395 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL PROGRESS)

15,877 (2-YEAR INCREMENTAL MILESTONE)= 53%

P PROGRESS M MILESTONE

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

P

M

PM

M

P

P

M

*Bioretention acres are designed to collect and filter polluted runoff before it*reaches rivers, streams, and the Bay.

MILESTONEPROGRESS MILESTONEPROGRESS



MILESTONEPROGRESS

Delaware’s Plan for Clean Water: Is the State on Track? Residents in the region are starting to see the benefits of investments and improvements made inlocal waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The practices that protect and restore our waterways—treeplantings, conservation planning, septic hookups, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants—ultimately improve our quality of life by reducing flooding, securing healthier drinking water, beau-tifying our neighborhoods, and ensuring safer waters for recreation. Unfortunately, despite makingprogress, the Chesapeake Bay watershed still remains a system dangerously out of balance. Too muchnitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to run off our lawns, city streets, and farmfields into local creeks and streams and the Bay.

In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bay jurisdictions established science-based limits for these pollutants and state-specific plans to achieve them, together known as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. EPA, the states, and Washington, D.C., also committed to implementactions to achieve 60 percent of the needed reductions by 2017 and 100 percent by 2025.

To ensure these clean-water efforts stay on track, each of the states and Washington, D.C., committedto two-year goals or milestones detailing the programs and practices intended to be met in the near-term to achieve the 2017 and 2025 long-term goals. The milestones are a critical accountability tool,providing the opportunity to measure progress in the context of long-term Bay restoration efforts. Be-cause of the importance of the milestones, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose CleanWater Coalition are collaborating to evaluate and publicize pollution-reduction progress. This reportevaluates, for select practices, whether Delaware achieved its 2012/2013 two-year milestone goals andwhether or not this progress is on a trajectory to achieve 60 percent implementation by 2017 and fullimplementation by 2025.

Conclusion Delaware achieved its 2013 goals for four of the seven practices evaluated. These successes were due tostrategic funding, partnerships with non-government organizations, and outreach activities. Implement-ing newly accepted statewide septic and polluted-runoff regulations and collecting critical data relatedto agricultural practices will lead to future progress. But there is room for improvement. In 2014, Gov-ernor Markell announced his Clean Water for Delaware’s Future Initiative which, if approved, will providethe necessary funding needed to implement additional conservation and infrastructure practices andupgrades. It is now up to the legislature to pass his proposal.

June 2014

AT A GLANCE

Agriculture

Animal Waste Management

Grass Buffers

Wetland Restoration

Cover Crops

Urban/Suburban

Bioretention

Urban tree planting

Wastewater/Septic

Septic SystemConnection

See the charts on the inside ofthis sheet for more information.

For more detailed informationon all of Delaware’s milestonegoals, go to: www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/tmdl/ChesapeakeBay/EnsuringResults.html.

2012/2013 FINAL ASSESSMENT

DelawareMilestones

6 Herndon Avenue | Annapolis, Maryland 21403888/SAVEBAY | cbf.org

How this Report was CompiledWe selected a subset of implemented practices within threepollution source categories—agricultural runoff, urban/subur-ban sources, and wastewater treatment—based on their po-tential to provide substantial nitrogen, phosphorus, andsediment pollution reductions and offer important lessons forimplementation moving forward. For each practice, progress(% achievement) was evaluated by looking at incrementalprogress between the base year, 2011, and 2013, comparedto the 2013 milestone goal. Progress during this milestone pe-riod was also compared to the long-term (2017 and 2025) implementation benchmarks that the states and Washington,D.C., committed to in their Watershed Implementation Plans.Data were provided by the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office.

706 Giddings Avenue 1-B | Annapolis, Maryland 21401443/759-3400 | choosecleanwater.org

Pollution Reduction in Delaware at a GlanceDelaware’s pollution-reduction efforts have led to mixed success: It exceeded its wastewater goal but failed to meet itsoverall 2013 nitrogen and phosphorus pollution-reductiongoals. To meet long term goals, Delaware will need to increaseits focus and funding on reducing polluted runoff and imple-menting additional agricultural conservation practices.

Success StoryPartnerships between private and public entities are key to havingclean, healthy water in the Chesapeake Bay region. Rain gardens wereinstalled in four Seaford elementary schools in the Nanticoke water-shed thanks to a partnership between National Wildlife Federationand Delaware Nature Society and with funding support from EPA’sChesapeake Bay Implementation grants, the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, and Delaware’s Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Control.

In addition to treating polluted runoff from school property, the project provides an outdoor classroom for 1,870 students and teach-ers as well as the larger Seaford community. The relationships builtbetween the state and non-government organizations has provideda foundation for engaging the public in local water-quality issues.

Future plans include similar partnerships to provide opportunitiesfor the public to interact with their local waterways, including kayaking, cleanups by boat, races along waterside trails, and finding out what concerns residents have about their local waterway.These projects will empower people through education and inter-action to take action to protect their local waterways and providethem opportunities to do so.

0

1

4

2025201720132011

2025GOAL

WASTEWATER/SEPTIC

AGRICULTURE

POLLUTED RUNOFF

3

2

2017GOAL

Modeled Nitrogen Loads and Long Term Goals in Delawareby Sector (millions of pounds)

Source: Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model 5.3.2

0

50

100

300

350

2025201720132011

2025GOAL

WASTEWATER

AGRICULTURE

POLLUTED RUNOFF

250

200

150

2017GOAL

Modeled Phosphorus Loads and Long Term Goals in Delawareby Sector (thousands of pounds)

*Pollution reduction is ahead of schedule for this sector.

**

de milestones

Technology

pollutionreduction progress

chesapeake bay region

chesapeake bay watershed

chesapeake bay foundation

cleanwater efforts

delawares milestone

bay jurisdictions

clean water coalition