County Council ponders stormwater solutions

All appears well when one takes a quick look at the stormwater pond off Barrensdale Drive in Severna Park. The fenced-in, grass-lined, pond sits ready to do what it was designed for, hold rain water running off the surrounding neighborhood after a storm.

But step into the woods just beyond the pond, where the drainpipe sits, and it is evident all is not well - by a long shot.

The failed outfall has allowed a flood of stormwater to gouge out the creek bed, causing a large tulip poplar to fall across eroding banks that send silt and pollutants downstream.

A majority of the County Council saw that and three other sites on a...