Cardin Holds Hearing on Conowingo Dam

Officials say concerns about the sediment-filtering capacity of a dam on the lower Susquehanna River in northeast Maryland must be addressed in the broader context of trying to improve water quality efforts throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Construction of the Conowingo Dam in the late 1920s created a detainment area for some of the sediments and nutrients flowing down the Susquehanna toward the bay.

But officials say the ability of the reservoir to hold additional sediment is reaching capacity, and heavy rain events sometimes send sediment and pollutants flowing through the dam toward the bay.

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin says a field hearing he conducted Monday on environmental issues involving the dam reinforced the need to take a comprehensive approach to protecting and improving water quality in the bay.