DARLINGTON, Md. - When it comes to the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay, the Conowingo Dam has been at the center of debate for quite some time. The dam is located on the Susquehanna River in Cecil County not far from Havre de Grace and just a few miles south of the Pennsylvania state line.
The water flows down the Susequenna from Eastern Pennsylvania into Maryland. Once it passes through the Conowingo, it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. This Summer, Pennsylvania saw a lot of rain, adding to water flowing down south, bringing with it massive amounts of debris and runoff. Environmentalists say it's the most they've seen in 20 years.
Earlier this week, engineers opened the gates of the Conowingo Dam. The increase discharge means high water levels and pollution. On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated 271,000 cubic feet of water flowed into the lower Susquehanna River per second.
The opened dam spewed tons of water, drowning some nearby trees and overflowing roadways.
Dave Nemazie, a marine scientist at Horn Point Lab, says all sediment and nutrients in the water is no good for the Bay.
"This appears to be an event that may occur every few years," Nemazie said. "We think the Bay itself should stabilize in a couple weeks from it, but obviously that influx of nutrients and sediment isn't good for the Bay, but that's what happens when we get these big storms."
But watermen, like Rob Newberry of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, disagrees.
"If the dam keeps opening, it could put progress back by five years in the Northern Bay," Newberry said in a statement. "This is catastrophic to the health of the Bay and devastating to the watermen in that region."
The dam is powered by Exelon Corporation, which has been working on cleaning up the massive amounts of debris found there. In 2014, the state ordered Exelon to pay more than $3 million to fund studies on the dam's effects on the Susquehanna River and the Bay.
Some like Johnny Shockley of the Hooper's Island Oyster Company believe it's time to hold Exelon even more accountable.
"Over the years, things haven't been managed with that dam the way it should've been," Shockley said. "We're at a point in time where we're at less than one percent of the oysters that we had in the Bay when our founders came ashore. Now is the time to put this trend backwards."
WBOC reached out to Exelon for comment but did not hear back.
