Maryland counties are rich with water, both in terms of waterfront access and in sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure. Counties benefit from this — but along with these assets come great responsibilities and risks.

At the MACo Summer Conference session, Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water: Know Your Water Law, attendees learned about how conflicts that arise over responsibilities for water-related assets cannot often be shrugged off as “water under the bridge,” but require proactive planning and protection.

Attorney General Brian Frosh kicked off the session by discussing the myriad of moves he has taken, both as an attorney general and as a legislator, to protect Maryland’s environment, and specifically, the Chesapeake Bay. One of his proudest achievements on the Senate, he stressed, was championing legislation to prohibit offshore drilling.

Lisa Ochsenhirt, Esquire, Attorney, AquaLaw PLC provided a deeply informative overview on the legal challenges facing Maryland’s 100 or so water and sewer systems – and how meeting those challenges is only getting harder.

Dana Cooper, Esquire, Attorney, Cooper Moores LLC discussed what happens when counties get flushed down into issues concerning those systems, and how she worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revise the Baltimore City sewer system’s consent decree.

Finally, John Mattingly, Esquire, County Attorney’s Office for Calvert County brought us back from the bowels of troubled waters by teaching county officials about how they can use riparian rights as a tool to protect their waterfronts’ aesthetic.

The presentation took place on Thursday, August 16, 2018 at 3:30 pm. The Honorable Brian Frosh, Maryland Attorney General moderated the session.

The 2018 MACo Summer Conference, “Water, Water Everywhere,” was held August 15-18 at the Rowland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland.