Dorchester Co. Leadership Discusses Conowingo Dam Plan

(CAMBRIDGE, Md) – A major Maryland dam has been a point of concern for Dorchester County’s leadership.

The county council met with the Maryland Department of the Environment in its most recent meeting, speaking about the Conowingo Dam and a long-term plan.

County leaders are not on board with current ideas because of the potential impacts.

Council president, Lenny Pfeffer tells WMDT, “While $341 million is a lot of money, we feel items such as dredging, which they’ve only allotted $18 million for dredging studies and no actual dredging. We think that dredging is very important for the project at the Conowingo Dam.”

Department of the Environment officials said the project would have impacts on Dorchester County, and the plan would take place over decades.

“So, part of the agreement is to help make sure that migratory species can get back and forth. So they’ve committed, to spending millions on, upgrading those systems as well,” says Maryland Department of the Environment Deputy Secretary, Adam Ortiz.

Another concern: It’s a 50 year agreement on a dam that’s already over 100 years old.

Pfeffer cites long-term concerns.

He says, “There’s nothing in this deal also that deals with the safety of the dam because there are some problems. There’s some leaks, some cracks, some other issues, and there’s nothing in the deal that would reopen this deal if new technology came about.”

The Department of the Environment says that despite being in the works for over a decade, the dam project will lead to an improvement in the Chesapeake.

Ortiz says, “It will have a big impact on improving water quality. As we know, the Bay has been, getting better, getting healthier. But it’s slower than a lot of us want. So this will be a big impact.”

The entire Conowingo Dam Project is expected to cost over 341 million dollars.