“NBC Learn, an educational division of the television network, came to Baltimore recently to report on how the physical alteration of streams in urban areas makes it that much harder for them to handle polluted storm-water runoff. It highlights research on area streams that’s being led by Claire Welty, a hydrologist at University of Maryland Baltimore County,” writes Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun.

Welty, the Director, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) and professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering takes NBC Learn on a tour of Baltimore’s streams.

“With NBC correspondent Anne Thompson narrating, Welty shows and tells how the loss of vegetation along stream banks and their channeling through concrete culverts deprives them of natural ability to filter out the pollution that causes algae blooms locally and dead zones far downstream in the Chesapeake Bay. The culprits are nutrients – notably nitrates from fertilizer, animal waste and even fallout from air pollution – washed off city streets, parking lots and yards whenever it rains,” continues Wheeler.

You may watch the video here:
http://science360.gov/obj/tkn-video/f535d962-4086-4e01-8e0f-2a57f810738b/sustainability-water-baltimores-urban-streams

Sustainability: Water - Baltimore's Urban Streams

Baltimore, Maryland is a major city situated on the Chesapeake Bay- a sprawling 64,000 square mile watershed. Currently, the Chesapeake is facing an environmental crisis due to pollutants. Scientist Claire Welty of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County is monitoring the travel times of pollutants in the urban streams in and around Baltimore. Through her research, she hopes to gain an understanding of the urban water cycle, and how municipalities can better prevent pollutants from contaminating the greater watershed.

Provided by the National Science Foundation & NBC Learn

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