INDIAN HEAD — INDIAN HEAD -- Every spring, ribbons of yellow perch eggs flutter in Mattawoman Creek like golden silk stockings. Each comprises thousands of eggs, glassy orbs holding tiny embryos.
The Southern Maryland stream is one of the most fertile fish breeding grounds in the Chesapeake Bay region. But state and federal officials warn that it could be destroyed if Charles County carries out its plan to build a four-lane highway across the creek to help serve at least 8,000 new homes planned in the area.
"There would be dire consequences on the quality of life in the stream," said Paul Wettlaufer, a manager with the Baltimore branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $60 million road project and the houses are likely to increase runoff pollution in the creek by 50 percent, killing fish in an important Potomac River tributary, according to state and federal officials.
But the county's commissioners are determined to proceed. They say the east-west connector has been planned for more than a decade and would help prevent traffic congestion as exurbia inevitably marches south from Washington.
"We can't stop growth, but we can guide growth," said Charles County Commissioner Gary V. Hodge. "And this is where we want the development focused."
To some current and former state officials, the case highlights weaknesses in state laws designed to control suburban sprawl and protect the Chesapeake Bay. During the past 30 years, the state has bought more than 4,700 acres around Mattawoman Creek in an effort to stop development, protect water quality and shelter wildlife.
But some areas that the state has recommended for protection are being targeted by Charles County for future development. When the growth goals of local governments clash with state conservation efforts, the system is designed to give more power to the local governments.
One of the rare opportunities for state and federal oversight will be tested in coming weeks when the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Army Corps of Engineers decide whether to grant a permit allowing Charles County to destroy seven acres of wetlands around the creek to build a key six-mile section of the Cross County Connector. The four-lane, limited access road would replace 74 acres of forest with a strip of blacktop as it links proposed subdivisions to the malls in Waldorf.
