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News

Industrial Solar in the Reserve  ZTA 20-01 Work Group Convened

12/24/2020

 
Update: 12.17- Though only given 4 meetings to discuss possible amendments to the ZTA, the work group will continue to meet. In the absence of the County's infrastructure to host this virtual meeting and make it open to the public, MCA has stepped up to do so.  Please plan to join us on Tuesday Dec. 29th at 6:30pm for the next work group zoom. 

Update: This week is the last scheduled work group session on this ZTA. We are endeavoring, as Ag Reserve architect Royce Hanson has said "Do no Harm" by the Ag Reserve by making sure solar is properly sited in Montgomery County in a way that protects forests, productive soils and water quality. Read on about how to join this zoom session. 

The public can attend the workgroup sessions on Zoom.
The sessions are:
December 2, 6:30-8:30pm
December 10, 6:30-8:30pm
December 16, 6:30-8:30pm

Members of the public can log in and watch the workgroup sessions and comment in the chat but must RSVP by email to Carmen Kaarid (Carmen.Kaarid@montgomerycountymd.gov) of Council President Katz’s office to get the link.
All the documents for the workgroup including the recording of the first workgroup session can be found right here. See all previous sessions here. 
ZTA 20-01 would allow 3 square miles of commercial solar in the Ag Reserve with scant protections for productive soils, water quality, forests or habitat. There are deep concerns about this provision - the Ag community is unanimous against it and a wide coalition of civic organizations and residents both up and down county have made their concerns known (much more here).  The council had decided in October to gather more stakeholder input, along with the "town hall" that took place virtually on 11/5, a working group is being convened to discuss possible changes to this provision. 

We are dedicated to getting solar right in Montgomery County and will be digging in to our role on this working group.

However, the make up of the group, seen below, could be improved by adding a representative of a Community Solar company that sells directly to consumers and moreover by adding representation of different types of farming (table crops, livestock, orchards, etc). 

As it says below, there are opportunities for the public to weigh in during this working group process between now and January. Please read on to see how you can continue to submit your concerns, and please stay tuned!

Farm Solar Stakeholder Workgroup
 
Task/Scope
Discuss any amendments to ZTA 20-01 and identify whether there are amendments that are agreeable to all participants; produce a memorandum or report by January 1, 2021 summarizing deliberations. 
 
Membership
Agriculture
Randy Stabler ( Ag Reserve Commodity Producer)
Doug Lechlider (Ag Reserve Commodity Producer)

Preservation
Caroline Taylor (MCA's Executive Director)
Lauren Greenberger (Sugarloaf Citizens Association) 

Environment
Doug Boucher (Solar Advocate)
Al Bartlett ( Montgomery County Sierra Club (in favor of the ZTA)) 

Industry
Leslie Elder (Coalition for Community Solar Access)
Frances Yuhas (Project Development at TurningPoint Energy)

 
Leadership
Workgroup members will elect two co-chairs to form agendas and lead the meetings. Council staff will assist the workgroup.
 
Meeting Schedule
All meetings will be held virtually (Zoom). Members of the public are welcome to attend and listen, but will be asked to RSVP by email to Carmen Kaarid (Carmen.Kaarid@montgomerycountymd.gov) of Council President Katz’s office. 
 
November 17, 6:30-8:30pm
December 2, 6:30-8:30pm
December 10, 6:30-8:30pm
December 16, 6:30-8:30pm (if necessary)
 
Documents for Deliberations
Stakeholder workgroup documents will be posted to a Google Drive folder accessible to the public. Visit the Stakeholder Workgroup Google Drive >>
 
Public Comments
Members of the public are encouraged to provide recommended amendments and any supporting analysis for the workgroup to review by emailing County Council staff member Jeffrey Zyontz at Jeffrey.Zyontz@montgomerycountymd.gov. Comments received by Mr. Zyontz will also be shared with the Joint Committee in the background memorandum for the meeting.
 
Staff Contacts
County Council staff: Jeffrey Zyontz, Jeffrey.Zyontz@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember Riemer’s office: Tommy Heyboer, tommy.heyboer@montgomerycountymd.gov
Council President Katz’s office: Laurie Edberg, Laurie.Edberg@montgomerycountymd.gov 
Council President Katz’s office (for scheduling issues): Carmen Kaarid, Carmen.Kaarid@montgomerycountymd.gov 

Winter CSA Shares - Lower Temps, Sweeter Greens

12/23/2020

 
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Frost kissed crops at Farm at Our House in Brookeville
We've remarked before on how farmers have stepped up in the pandemic to provide more and more local food to hungry neighbors as local becomes the new normal. This increased activity has not stopped despite the coming of winter. Farmers are using season extension structures, both low and high tunnels to keep snow off plants. As we round the calendar to a new year, the low temperatures only concentrate the sugars and improve the taste of winter veggies - broccoli, kale, collards and root veggies. 
MoCo Farms One Acre Farm and also Farm at Our House are offering winter shares of their CSA programs (Community Supported Agriculture). Many Farmers Markets continue all year round as well. 

Chesapeake Bay Found. "Where Solar Shouldn't Go is as critical as where it should go"

12/17/2020

 
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As written, the ZTA only protects Class I soils, (shown here in red) much of which are in the middle of the River and not currently farmed. All areas in orange and peach (Class II and III soils) are considered productive soils that are host to the 500+ farms in the Agricultural Reserve. 
MCA has been productively engaged with farmers, other civic orgs and solar industry representatives in a work group to amend ZTA 20-01. As currently written this proposal will allow 3 square miles of commercial solar arrays in the Agricultural Reserve with scant protections for productive soils, forests and water quality. (full fact sheet here)
A number of local environmental groups have been engaged to urge that solar siting in the county take protection of natural resources into account. Adding to the list, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The most recent copy of Bay Journal has an illuminating piece from long time land use expert Lee Epstein, the director of Lands programs at CBF.  It reads in part: 
"​Clearing forests, wetlands, or prime farmland for solar farms can degrade wildlife habitat and diminish the land’s ability to naturally filter and clean water, adding more pollution to rivers and streams. Such actions can also undermine the effort to fight climate change. Forests and wetlands capture and store carbon in their own right, and they provide important buffers against extreme weather".
This article is one of many documents in the google drive for the solar working group. Though only given 4 meetings to discuss possible amendments to the ZTA, the work group will continue to meet. In the absence of the County's infrastructure to host this virtual meeting and make it open to the public, MCA has stepped up to do so. Please stay tuned. 

Zero Waste Update

12/14/2020

 
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MCA’s work on County executive appointed Zero Waste Task Force conducted over 2 years starting in Summer of 2018 was fruitful. Task force chair Chaz Miller with MC Department of Environmental Protection presented On December 7 a summary of the recommendations that are incorporated in the draft Ten Year Solid Waste Plan.
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Video of the hearing here. 

The Coming Droughts - And How To Cope

12/11/2020

 
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Sign at Little Seneca Lake - back up drinking water supply for 4.3 Million. Even our backup supplies may not be enough to meet coming demand in times of drought. 
​Noted water research scientist, Dr. Ahmed Kettab declared in April of this year that “Water for everyone is everyone’s business.” He and other world scientist were responding to dire climate change forecasts that predict that by 2030 water scarcity will affect 40% of the world’s populace. Currently 25% of global population is in severe water stress. By 2050 demand for water will increase by 40%.
Even though we know intuitively that the worlds water endlessly cycles and does not know boundaries of any sort - one could ask - what does all this  dire news mean to us? 
Closer to home, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, ICPRB, released its report: Demand and Resource Availability for the Year 2050. It is a sobering read that details the potential impact of climate change and increased water demand on the Washington Metropolitan Area water supply. It was conducted on behalf of the Fairfax County Water Authority, WSSC and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Water Aqueduct Division.
The ICPRB has known for some time that our region’s water supply will be faced with significant challenges in meeting demand during projected periods of drought. They are diligently working to address this. The system of existing reservoirs will be called to use more frequently and will not provide enough water in times of stress and so 4 new proposed reservoirs are in the works:
Travilah Quarry in Potomac and Luck Stone Quarry B in Loudon County and the Vulcan and Milston Quarries. 

The ICPRB reports warns that even with the addition of these new quarries which will add 13 billion gallons of water storage capacity, coupled with water restrictions and demand management we may not be able to meet our water needs during the predicted future periods of extreme drought. The report also warns that without the addition of the 7.8 million gallon Travilah Quarry the WMA may experience periodic failures by 2040. 

And yet, despite this dire forecast for our region, we continue to practice business as usual, no where more so than in the siting of development which has an impact on both the speed aquifers are recharged and the quality of the water in our streams. The Friends of Ten Mile Creek are leading the charge to enforce impervious caps in the fragile Ten Mile Creek watershed where the build out of Clarksburg is continuing without regard for the master plan.  The Thrive 2050 plan that will chart the County's land use for the coming generation also needs to be taking this water- strapped reality into account. For our part at MCA we, are reforesting stream buffers to clean water before it reached the reservoir through our Re-Leaf the Reserve program. 
Learn More:
-The case of the communicating wells - a Poolesville Story
- All about the federally designated sole source aquifer that much of the Reserve relies upon for well water. 
-Journal of Nature Communications - Impacts of Climate Change on Groundwater
-USGS - Impacts of Climate Variation on Groundwater
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-Journal of Hydrology - Groundwater Impacts and Adaptation

Protecting farmland and water quality in an uncertain future are imperatives. Since 2001, Montgomery Countryside Alliance has been the boots on the ground with a hyper-local focus on Montgomery County's farmland, open space and water quality. We have once again been named "One of the Best" small nonprofits in the DC Region by the Catalogue for Philanthropy and would be honored by your tax-deductible support.  ​
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Climate Change Shifts National Food Production - to MoCo?

12/11/2020

 
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Shelves in March in the first weeks of the pandemic
Landmark new reporting shows that we won't able to count on food from the South and West coast for much longer. Enter the Ag Reserve. 
A new exhaustive study from Pro Publica has yielded the next in a series of alarming maps about climate change. This time, interactive maps and charts show where the threats of climate change will be felt most acutely in the near term - as soon as 2040. 
Of note - the map that shows the shift in table crop production. Away from the South and California, areas we have relied on for out of season produce and vegetables, and toward our own backyard in the mid-Atlantic.  (Purple means decline in yields, green means increase - darker= higher decline or gain). 
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If the flavor, transportation costs, carbon savings and economic benefits of local food were not enough, climate change is making food trucked in from elsewhere simply unavailable - and we need to be ready. ​
Montgomery County had the foresight to protect 1/3 of it's land mass for agriculture 40 years ago and the fortitude to maintain the primacy of farming in the zone since then. MCA has matched new and expanding farmers with over 500 acres of land in Montgomery County to grow the next generation of farmers through our Land Link program.  We need each and every new table crop operation we can get growing to add to the generations of expertise and production our legacy farmers offer if the Ag Reserve is going to fulfill its promise of bountiful local food production. 

Yet, at this time where the food growing potential (and water quality protection, more dire projections here)  of the Reserve is more important than ever, the singular purpose of the Agriculture Reserve is being questioned. ZTA 20-01 would allow 3 square miles of commercial solar arrays with no real protections for forests, productive soils or water quality. What's more - the economic impact won't even be studied as part of this proposal - even though landowners report offers for their land 10-20 times what farmers are paying and some farmers are reporting  the loss  of lease contracts as the result of this ZTA even being proposed.  (60% of Reserve farming is done on leased land). 

The Reserve has a role to play in meeting carbon mitigation goals, including reforestation efforts and scaling up regenerative agriculture practices. But as the threats of warming become more and more concrete, this area set aside for Agriculture is a strategic investment in just that - growing our food in a rapidly warming world. 

Protecting farmland and water quality in an uncertain future are imperatives. Since 2001, Montgomery Countryside Alliance has been the boots on the ground with a hyper-local focus on Montgomery County's farmland, open space and water quality. We have once again been named "One of the Best" small nonprofits in the DC Region by the Catalogue for Philanthropy and would be honored by your tax-deductible support.  
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Ten Mile Creek Again in Peril

12/8/2020

 
Despite compelling evidence provided by Friends of Ten Mile Creek and other partners (MCA's testimony here) that the newest round of development in Clarksburg  will result in significant degradation of two of the most sensitive portions of the Ten Mile Creek watershed, Planning Board chair Casey Anderson prefaced his vote in favor of the project by saying that while he did not like the project, the board had no jurisdiction to alter the proposal. Planning Board member Tina Patterson, citing concerns over cumulative impacts these developments will have on important water resources, was the lone dissenting vote. For the specifics of the concerns raised with this "Creekside" Development, please read on below.

From our Partners at Friends of Ten Mile Creek - concerns yet again that the impervious surfaces (pavement) of proposed development projects in Clarksburg will foul the source of back up drinking water for 4.3 Million in our region. 
The Planning Board hearing for the proposed Pulte Development "Creekside at Cabin Branch" is now scheduled for December 3, 2020. This hearing will determine the development plans that Pulte has put forward. Your letters and support for the preservation of the Ten Mile Creek Watershed are truly needed if we have any chance of reducing this poorly conceived development.Our concerns are the following:
  • According to the county Master Plan, impervious levels (the amount of pavement that allows runoff into streams) in this fragile headwaters area of the watershed can not go above 5% impervious surface without serious degradation of Ten Mile Creek and the reservoir. An investigation of the project shows impervious levels will reach between 7-12%.
  • The 5% cap enshrined in the Master Plan is based on decades of water quality monitoring. Development projects in this fragile area must be curtailed to preserve our drinking water supply. Pulte's "Creekside" project must be reduced in scale by 50% and remove the two portions that plunge deeply into the watershed.
  • Adjacent Cabin Branch Creek also feeds the reservoir and has impaired water quality as the result of a massive development. We have the opportunity to avoid this mistake in the County's most fragile watershed.
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Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​info@mocoalliance.org
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MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
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