Contact
Renee Bourassa, Communications Director
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
rbourassa@icprb.org | 301.417.4371 | ICPRB

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Event Aims to Raise Awareness of the Negative Impacts of Winter Salt

ROCKVILLE, MD (Jan. 23, 202) – The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the Izaak Walton League of America Salt Watch Program, the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, and the Center for Watershed Protection invites the public to learn about winter salt’s impacts on our drinking water, aquatic ecosystems, and infrastructure during the upcoming Winter Salt Awareness Week, January 27-31, 2025.

Winter salt keeps our roads and sidewalks safe, but too much winter salt pollutes our waterways and ends up in our drinking water.

Winter Salt Awareness Week includes a series of webinars featuring speakers and topics focused on the actual cost of winter salt and how to be winter salt smart.

Chloride concentrations have risen almost 10-fold in the past 80 years. (Source: ICPRB)

National speakers include Abby Hileman (Izaak Walton League of America), Jess Hua (University of Wisconsin), Ted Diers (New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Cara Hardesty (Ohio Environmental Protection Agency), and Bryan Gruidi (City of Bloomington, Minnesota).

Regional Events

Webinar: Perspectives from the DMV -— A regionally-focused webinar on Wednesday, January 29 at 2:30 pm will feature local speakers Rebecca Murphy (Northern Virginia Regional Commission), Allison Lee (Center for Watershed Protection, Inc.), and Jason Swope (Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council).  Register in advance or watch the recording on the Salt Wise YouTube Channel. Registrants will receive a calendar invite after registration.

Winter Road Salt Awareness Week Open House — Join the Izaak Walton League of America, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, and Montgomery County Department of the Environment on Friday, January 31, from 1:00-3:00 pm to monitor the local waterways in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for road salt pollution, and to learn how salt affects our health and freshwater ecosystems, what’s being done, and how we can support local efforts. Members of the media, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, and members of the public are invited to attend. The event is free, but registration is requested.

The Impacts of Too Much Salt

Although salt keeps our roads safe during winter, using more salt than needed comes at a price to our waterways, infrastructure, and drinking water. Winter salt runs off the roads and becomes a permanent pollutant in our waterways. According to the Izaak Walton League of America, only one teaspoon of winter salt permanently pollutes five gallons of water.

Data compiled by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin shows a 10-fold increase in chloride (a chemical released from the breakdown of winter salt) in the Potomac River at Great Falls over the past 80 years.

There are 28 streams in Maryland considered impaired by chloride and 6 in Virginia.

“Regional and state organizations are working to reduce their winter salt use and improve water quality. Winter Salt Awareness Week is a time to learn more about their important work and give the public the tools to make a difference in their own watershed,” shared Rebecca Murphy, Coastal Program Manager for the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

“We are seeing an increase in chloride levels in the Potomac River, the source of drinking water to over 5 million people in the D.C. Metropolitan region. Beyond polluting drinking water, it impacts sensitive aquatic life and breaks down infrastructure such as roads and bridges. A bag of salt may be cheap, but nationwide, winter salt costs 5 billion dollars in damage to our infrastructure each year,” said Michael Nardolilli, Executive Director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

How to be Winter Salt Smart

Follow these steps to protect our waterways:

Only 1 mug of salt is needed for 10 sidewalk squares.

• Shovel first and often. Salt should not be used to melt snow.
• Scatter sparingly: When using salt, scatter it so there are least 3 inches between the grains. A 12-ounce coffee mug of salt is enough to treat an entire 20-foot driveway or 10 sidewalk squares.
• Sweep it up after the storm is over. Reuse it for the next storm.

Learn more on ICPRB’s Winter Salt Smart website.

MD/VA/DC Reduction Efforts

• The Maryland Department of the Environment is piloting a training program for winter maintenance professionals to ensure they maintain safety without overusing winter salt.
• Smart salting training was developed for the District of Columbia’s Snow Team.
• Northern Virginia Regional Commission is implementing the Virginia Salt Management Strategy through ongoing outreach and engagement with private contractors, property owners, and the broader public.

Learn more about regional efforts to protect our waterways at the Perspectives from the DMV Webinar at 2:30 on January 29, 2025.

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Click here for a PDF of News Release: Event Aims to Raise Awareness of the Negative Impacts of Winter Salt >>>

The river’s year in review, the warmest year on record, snow in the forecast, and more, in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir – Jan 2, 2025 >>>

River Report: Year in Review

If you are one of those who typically only look at the graphs in our weekly River Reports, we have a lot of eye candy for you this week as we look at the year in review.

As Ian Livingston of the Washington Post notes, the year “will be remembered for persistent and record-breaking warmth, recurrent drought, and several significant weather events…”

(1) The adjusted flow at Little Falls gives us a good idea of where the river’s flow was in regards to the average. The spring storms kept the flow above the 50th percentile. However, once we moved out of the wet spring into the dry summer, the flow dipped below the 10th percentile. A few storms blew in after the summer which kept the flow (mostly) above the 10th percentile.

(2) The river’s flow at Point of Rocks shows the flashiness of the river. This means the river moves quickly from low flows to high flows and back again.

(3) According to the National Weather Service’s Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center (MARFC), the Potomac River above Little Falls received precipitation of 1.4 inches below average during 2024. Although we were close to an average amount of rain, much of the rain was in short, heavy bursts (as seen in the previous graphs). There were extended periods without rain during the year.

(4) There were record-breaking temperatures.

(5) The U.S. Drought Monitor is ending the year with over half of the Potomac watershed in Moderate Drought status (56%), while the remaining areas are either Abnormally Dry or in Severe Drought.

We will have a more in-depth Potomac River Year in Review in our 2024 Annual Report, which will be published soon. Stay tuned!

(1) Adjusted flow at Little Falls (2024 flow is in black).

(2) A year of flow at the USGS Point of Rocks Gage.

(3) MARFC observed precipitation above Little Falls for 2024.

(4) Annual average temperature since 1872. Source: Ian Livingston/Washington Post

(5) U.S. Drought Monitor Map, released Dec. 31, 2024.

Remy Says, “Just a Pinch!”

Back in October, ICPRB’s director of communications, Renee Bourassa, in partnership with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Izaak Walton League of America, led a workshop at the Chesapeake Watershed Forum on communications around the impacts of winter salt on water quality.

As part of the workshop, attendees teamed up to design their own salt box art. What is “salt box art”, you ask? Salt boxes are icons of winter in Baltimore. The yellow boxes filled with winter salt provide residents the opportunity to salt their own sidewalks and roads before the city is able to service them. A recent art movement has seen the boxes getting fun and interesting refurbishments. What better place to communicate smart winter salting practices to protect our waterways?

At the forum, workshop attendees teamed up to create their own salt box panel. One lucky team’s art would be sketched by Baltimore artist and business-owner, Juliet Ames.

We are excited to announce that Ames has installed the art just in time for the region’s first real winter storm of the season. See more photos on her Threads and Instagram account.

Learn more about the impacts of winter salt in the region on ICPRB’s Winter Salt Smart page >>>

Be winter salt smart in 3 easy steps:

❄️ Shovel first

🧂 Salt lightly

🧹 Sweep it up after the storm (save it for a future storm!)

Winter Salt Awareness Week is coming up January 27-31. Join national and regional webinars and in-person events to learn more about what is being done on this important issue. ICPRB and partners will be speaking on regional efforts at 2:30pm on January 29. Enter you state when registering and you will receive a calendar invite for the webinar.

REMINDER: ICPRB is hiring for an Ecological Technician position as well as several spring/summer internships. Applications due January 10.

We have recently moved offices and downsized our office space. In turn, we have a number of paintings and framed photographs that will not fit in our new space. If you believe that a particular painting or photo is your personal property, please contact us. We will be happy to pass the piece along if you can identify the art and give some details about how it came into the possession of ICPRB. Please let us know by January 15, 2025.

New records set, burn bans across the region, drought watch still in effect, and more, in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir – Nov. 14, 2024 >>>

River Report: October was one of the warmest and driest on record

Our record-breaking streak of 38 days without rain was broken on Sunday. We’ve been dry ever since. A small chance of rain is in the forecast for the coming days. Experts say that we will need an extended period of soaking rain to ease us out of the dry conditions that have caused authorities to enact burn bans as wildfires are popping up throughout the region.

According to NOAA, October was the second-warmest and second-driest on record. Recent USGS research indicates warmer temperatures may have more severe impacts on drought than previously known due to the heat-induced moisture loss. According to the authors, “droughts will last longer, cover wider areas, and become more severe as the climate warms.”

Due to the persistent dry conditions, staff in ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations (CO-OP) released a November Water Supply Outlook earlier this week.

Highlights from the report:

• CO-OP commenced its fourth “Drought Monitoring” period of the year on November 1.
• The Potomac basin upstream of Washington, D.C., received 0.8 inches of rain in October, which is 2.2 inches below normal.
• Streamflow is currently below normal.
• Groundwater levels are below normal in many observation wells in the basin.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor Map released today (see below), the amount of the Potomac watershed in Moderate Drought jumped by 22% in the past week.

ICPRB’s Webinar: Integrating Climate and Resilience with Equity

Join ICPRB at noon on December 6 for the next installment of our webinar series. Integrating Climate and Resilience with Equity will highlight data and tools to better understand and characterize climate and flooding threats, focusing on vulnerable and underserved communities. We will also explore funding opportunities to support resilient communities.

This webinar will be helpful to policymakers, government agencies, community Green Teams, HOAs, and anyone interested in creating a more resilient community. Click here to register >>>

This webinar series for land use decision-makers is produced by ICPRB as part of the implementation of the Potomac basin-wide comprehensive plan. Find previous webinars on our YouTube page.