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Oct 14
2011
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Columbus Day was a busy day in the South River Watershed! The Chesapeake Conservation Corps (CCC), a career and leadership training program funded through the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT), held their All Hands on Deck project at Historic London Town and Gardens. The All Hands on Deck project was a competitive $2,000 CBT mini grant available to CCC volunteers to complete a large scale project and training opportunity for all CCCs to attend. The South River Federation’s CCC volunteer, Jennifer Carr, joined forces with the Watershed Steward Academy’s CCC volunteer, Megan Wickless, to create a stormwater-themed day of learning and service at Historic London Town and Gardens. In the end, partnering up paid off and they were selected for the grant!
The day kicked off with educational activities led by the Watershed Stewards Academy aimed to increase the CCC volunteers’ knowledge of stormwater. The Corps, under the guidance of Master Watershed Stewards, performed a whole-scale site assessment of London Town’s property. As a result, they were able to give recommendations on how to move forward with other stormwater related projects.
In the afternoon, the Corps volunteers rotated between three different service learning stations. The first stop was on board the boat, Remedy, with the South RIVERKEEPER, Diana Muller, and Dr. Andrew Muller, a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. The Corps soaked in the issues of water quality and stormwater facing the South River and the rest of the Bay. They were given the opportunity to use equipment such as the Hydrolab to monitor water quality and a secchi disk to measure depth. Other topics covered included land use, shoreline restoration, and impacts of sewer and septic systems on the river.
The next stop, CCC volunteers got hands-on experience installing rain barrels around London Town’s new museum and archaeology lab. These beautiful rain barrels from Rain Barrels of Annapolis will catch about two-thirds of the rain events over the course of a year. The barrels will capture the water allowing the stormwater to cool down and be released slowly into the ground.
The final stop, stressed the importance of maintenance on any restoration project. The Corps certainly got their hands dirty on this one as they worked hard to clear out a thick layer of silt that had been deposited into a series of step pools. The step pools serve to slow down stormwater allowing it to infiltrate the ground instead of flowing directly into the river.
The project was a great success thanks to all the organizations and sponsors involved!
The Chesapeake Bay Trust funded the project and most importantly runs the Chesapeake Conservation Corps Program.
The South River Federation and Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA) organized the day’s events.
Historic London Town and Gardens hosted the event and worked very closely with the Federation and WSA.
Rain Barrels of Annapolis provided the beautiful rain barrels at a low cost, making the project possible.
Chipotle and Rita’s of Edgewater donated a delicious lunch for the volunteers and guests.






