Rainwater Pollution In The Chesapeake Bay

Rainwater pollution is a problem that affects anyone that benefits economically, residentially, or recreationally from the Chesapeake Bay. This includes people that have businesses that rely on how many aquatic organism they capture to either sell or serve as a meal in their restaurant. Runoff is caused by rainwater that does not percolate into the soil, and it carries chemicals and waste that are then drained into the Bay through the storm drains (“Stormwater Runoff”). Plant nutrients like fertilizers are one of the chemicals that are carried by runoff. The rainwater dumps out nitrogen and phosphorus from the fertilizers into the water. These contaminants directly harm aquatic life by causing eutrophication. The growth of algae is enhanced
by the nutrients which leads to blocking of sunlight to the lower level plants, reducing photosynthesis, dissolved oxygen levels, and consequently leading to inhabitable conditions for the fish and other aquatic organisms. Runoff of nutrients is not the only thing that is caused by rainwater pollution.
Rainwater also carries contaminants like trash, car oil, and animal fecal waste from the streets and roads into the storm drains (“Stormwater Runoff”). All of these pollutants also eventually lead into the Bay. Many of the aquatic organisms may be intoxicated or trapped by the oil and trash. This will lead to the depletion of their populations and consequently affect the other organisms in their food chain, and the humans that rely on them as a source of food (“Stormwater Runoff”). The chemical contaminants affect the population of all sorts of aquatic life in the Chesapeake Bay. For example, the “small bottom dwelling organisms take in the contaminants through skin contact while feeding” (“Chemical Contaminants”). Larger fish then consume the chemically contaminated fish, and accumulate the toxins in their body tissue (“Chemical Contaminants”). Mammals and other wildlife then consume these contaminated fish as the chemicals keep harming the predators of contaminated prey in the food chain (“Chemical Contaminants”). Many Marylanders rely on aquatic organisms, like crab, that they fish from the Chesapeake Bay as a source of income. If the pollution of the Bay is not stopped, the disappearance and contamination of these organisms will bankrupt many entrepreneurs in the state. These aquatic organisms will not be able to survive from the continuous exponential growth of toxins in their ecosystem.
The extinction of the indigenous fish an aquatic life in the Bay is both ethically wrong and economically impactful. Water that is polluted by runoff of contaminants will not only be hazardous to the organisms living in it, but the people that recreation in the water. People that go boating, swimming, or kayaking will be exposed to these toxins which are harmful to their health. The concern does not only come from the amount or location of impervious surfaces, but by the substances that are picked up by rainwater runoff which lead to contamination and intoxication (“Stormwater Runoff”).
Some of the sources of pollution come from the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus, which definitely do not come from very populated and dense areas because they do not have space to grow crops and apply these chemically based fertilizers. Agricultural runoff, wastewater, and storm water runoff all play a role in the contamination of the Bay (“Chemical Contaminants”). Therefore, this tax should not only apply to the populous areas, but the agricultural ones as well, which are the ones that input the chemicals that are carried by the runoff on the impervious
surfaces. Basing this on a county level will be efficient because many counties, like Montgomery county, feature municipalities that are not only the most populous, but also very productive agricultural regions. Much of Poolesville forms part of the country’s agricultural reserve (“The Office”). While Rockville, which is within the same county limits, is one of the most populous cities in the area, with a population of 61,209 citizens (“Maryland Counties”). Fertilizer use in agriculture is a non point source that delivers these into the rainwater runoff as a result of excessive or careless use. This runoff then goes through urbanized populous areas that have a lot of impervious material and eventually lead into the Bay. Montgomery county is a perfect example of how it is not just the counties that are the most urbanized and populous that are contributing to this contamination. It is the counties like Montgomery or Frederick County that feature both profitable agriculture, and urbanized cities. The non point sources of contamination are currently the biggest threat today because they are the unknown sources that lead to the uncontrollable rates of contamination and aquatic life death. One of the other successful components of this tax is that is it not uniform throughout the state. It is up to the discretion of each individual county to determine the tax, and it seems have been a solution beneficiary to the amount of funds collected. It would have been unfair for the state to determine this tax because each municipality has a different numbers in population and income, if they did it would have been a economical burden on some, and a joke to others. Counties have determined the tax on the basis of their population, and susceptibility to contaminated runoff. For example, Frederick county was able to collect $482 from charging each one of their tax payer an additional $0.01 (“Rain Tax”). Howard county has decided to include all types of properties including: residential, commercial, industrial, nonprofit, private schools, federal properties, and vacant properties (“Rain Tax”). Their fee is at $15 per 500 square feet of impervious surface, which will generate an estimated $18 million per year (“Rain Tax”). The funds collected from this tax will contribute to the decrease of environmental degradation. People are not being charged for whenever it rains, rather they are paying for how either the urbanization or agriculture in their area contributes to the contamination of our Chesapeake Bay. This is tax is part of a cost of living. Paying for what we use, how we use it, and for what the consequences of the use; like paying for utilities.