Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan – Phase I

Draft Phase I Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) were due to EPA on Sept. 1, 2010. Final plans were submitted on Nov. 29, 2010.

Cover of Delaware's Phase One Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan.

Following the release of Delaware’s Draft Phase I WIP, numerous comments and questions from both EPA and various stakeholder groups within the watershed were submitted. As a result of comments and questions, significant revisions to plan were made. The final approved plan was used to develop the EPA Chesapeake Bay watershed-wide Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) that was released in December 2010.

The most important criticism from EPA was that the draft plan did not achieve load reduction goals for nitrogen or phosphorus. As a result, EPA indicated their intention to institute backstop allocations (more stringent limits and actions on wastewater treatment plants, municipal stormwater, and regulated agriculture) – if the State was unable in the final plan to achieve the necessary load reduction goals and provide reasonable assurance that these goals could be achieved.

Stakeholder comments and questions often focused on the costs of implementing certain actions and the potential impacts on local businesses.

The final Phase I WIP documents are available below for download.

Delaware’s FINAL Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan

Full Plan with Appendices

Full Plan without Appendices

Appendix A: Public Talk – Real Choices
Appendix B: Interagency Workgroup and Subcommittee Members
Appendix C: Delaware’s Nonpoint Source Best Management Practice Quality Assurance Project Plan
Appendix D: Seaford’s Washington Street Stormwater Retrofit Project
Appendix E: DRAFT University of Delaware Report – The Modeling of Land Use Activities within the Delaware Segment of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Appendix F: Scope of Work: Modifying Delaware’s Nutrient Budget Protocol for Use as an Offset Tracking Tool in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Appendix G: 2017 & 2025 Agriculture Best Management Practice Implementation Levels
Appendix H: Nutrient Management Annual Report Form for the Choptank Watershed
Appendix I: Final University of Delaware Report – Socioeconomic Value of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in Delaware

Input Decks

An input deck is a spreadsheet formatted specifically for inclusion in the Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed model for analyzing future “what if” scenarios by the EPA. The spreadsheet contains information about the type and amount of best management practices that may be implemented, the associated units, the land uses or fish and wildlife the management practices apply to, and where these BMPs will be located.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Input Deck

Nonpoint Source Best Management Practice Input Deck