Federation Blog

EPA Unveils Chesapeake Bay Restoration Strategy

 The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Strategy is now out as presented by Lisa Jackson (EPA administrator) yesterday.  She stated that only thing needed is money and resources.

I would like to include Three more things:

1)  The absolute old fashion American CAN DO.  With out the can do/will do we will not have anything.

2 ) Much better enforcement,  marinas have put large piers/bulkhead/and pilings into the South River and have only received a 43,000.00 fine, and they did not have to take out the structures that were installed.  So, in reality the company folded the fine into the cost of doing the construction.  The State and Federal agencies need to not only have greater fines but mandate that these structures be removed! 

3)  I would also like to include more education on the true causes of the destruction of the Chesapeake Bay and the South River.  I speak beyond the choir quite often and have learned that most adults really do not know what stormwater runoff it,  they do not know how fertilizer can harm the Bay/River,  they do not realize how poor the infrastructure of our septic and sewer systems is.  I see very well educated folks over-fertilize their lawns in order to get the Crayola crayon green color, instead of managing their lawns in a River-friendly way.

http://wjz.com/local/Bay.foundation.epa.2.1689773.html

Meeting with a landowner last week, I came across this 1970s era photo of their farm above Bacon Ridge Branch. The photo is taken looking southeast towards the river, with St. Stephen's Church Road in the lower right-hand corner.  It really gives a great sense of how little development there was in the headwaters during that time, and just how rolling and dramatic the topography is throughout that entire area.

As luck would have it, a couple of weeks ago I was talking with the Choptank Riverkeeper (and former South Riverkeeper) Drew Koslow about a huge stand of wild rice (Zizania aquatica) I thought I saw while driving over the Choptank.  Drew confirmed that what I saw was, in fact, wild rice, near the Route 404 crossing of the river, and we chatted a bit about how I had seen patches of it on Flat Creek and elsewhere around the river.

Within minutes of hanging up, Drew called back.  He was crossing the headwaters on Route 450 and looking north up Bacon Ridge Branch he saw acres of wild rice stretching as far as the eye could see.  We were both audibly excited (we're kind of odd that way) and I told him I'd check it out next time I had the chance.  Well, today, out for a living shoreline site visit with Diana, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves and it was pretty beautiful (see below).

You may be saying to yourself at this point, "What's so special about wild rice?"  Well, among other things, it's not that common a site in the watershed, but historically it was quite abundant and was a very important food source for both waterfowl and humans.  The native Americans considered it a very important part of their culture and in many places today it is considered a culinary delicacy. That's to say nothing of the beauty of the plant's showy seed heads (below).

It also tends to occur side-by-side with phragmites, and I hold out some hope that eventually it may be able to crowd out the invasive wetland plant. 

Want to join field experts in identifying the plant and animal communities present in the headwaters of the South River?  Come spend some time during 24 hours of botanizing, birdwatching, and butterfly chasing.  From noon on June 27th to noon on June 28th, volunteers will be out scouring the South River greenway, cataloging all the insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and plants they come across.   

This area is very rich in wildlife and was designated as an important bird area by the MD/DC Audubon Society.

For more information or to get involved, contact: Alyssa Domzal, South River Greenway Coordinator for the Scenic Rivers Land Trust, alyssa@srlt.org or (248) 860-7635.

Below is the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), one of the forest interior dwelling birds that rely on large tracts of forest like those found in the greenway.

 The above picture was taken while water quality sampling under Rt50 bridge on the South River on May 29, 2009.  Notice the green-brown water color;  this happened to be a mixture of suspended sediment and an algae bloom.  The Secchi depth was only 0.2 meters or about 6 inches, meaning that sunlight could not penetrate below 1 foot.  The cause:  Stormwater runoff from the previous day's light rain bringing suspended sediment and nutrients from the headwaters (Bacon Ridge Branch and North River).   

I perform weekly water quality monitoring on the South River for dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, conductivity, water clarity, turbidity and nutrients.  Since early May I have seen a drastic drop in water clarity and dissolved oxygen, this is very disturbing considering the hot weather is not here yet- what are we going to see this summer? 

Diana

Route 450 runs right across the headwaters of the South River, crossing Bacon Ridge Branch, and running alongside the floodplain of much of the North River.  The photo below is taken from 450 looking north up Bacon Ridge Branch. 

On Sunday, Diana and a Riverwatcher came across breeding least brook lampreys (Lampetra aepyptera) in Bacon Ridge Branch.  Unlike some of their toothier cousins, these eel-like fish are not parasitic. They are indicators of relatively good water quality though, as silt can suffocate the young.