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Montgomery County and Sandy Spring Builders have a unique opportunity to advance stormwater control and prevent further damage to Cabin John Creek when plans are approved for three new homes on a hilltop site in Bethesda's Greenwich Forest neighborhood. This nearly two-acre site consisted of one house, recently torn down, and is surrounded by extensive gardens and tree cover that act as a giant sponge and filter to slow down and soak up rainfall.

Next year, new state regulations will require builders to contain more stormwater on site. The goal is to use rainwater as a resource by infiltrating more of it into the ground rather than channeling it into our streams, or onto nearby properties where flooding can result. Current regulations have proven woefully inadequate in down-county neighborhoods where infill and teardowns have resulted in the loss of trees and an increase in hard, impervious surfaces.

Instead of relying on current regulations, county experts and Sandy Spring Builders should work together to anticipate the new rules and implement a plan using rain gardens, tree groves, pervious driveway pavers, rain barrels and other environmental site design techniques to capture more rainwater from the Greenwich Forest site, which is on the edge of the extensive Cabin John watershed. The county and state in fact are working on stabilizing parts of the Cabin John tributary that receives stormwater from Greenwich Forest — a tributary that is rated in poor biological condition by the county. The Chesapeake Bay also suffers from sediment pollution and pesticide/fertilizer runoff originating in tributaries like this one. Stream channel restoration costs range from $100,000 to $1 million per mile of waterways "blown out" by torrents of stormwater.

Montgomery County should also insist on minimal disturbance of the tree-covered, two block right-of-way that adjoins the Greenwich Forest property, and should retrofit that right-of-way to absorb more stormwater. The result could be a model development that sets the bar higher for future residential and commercial construction throughout the county.

Steve Dryden, Bethesda

The writer is co-chair of the Montgomery Stormwater Partners Network.