Federation Blog

The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes young women who make a difference in their communities.  The South River Watershed was lucky enough to be a beneficiary of a Girl Scout Gold Award last fall!  When Girl Scout Sarah Walsh applied for a $500 matching grant from the South River Federation for her Gold Award erosion and stabilization project at Camp Woodlands, we were thrilled to support her!

From the time she was in first grade, Sarah has gone to Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center where she has developed a deep appreciation for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Learning about the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the impact of society on the Bay’s ecosystem encouraged Sarah to dedicate her Girl Scout Gold Award Project to the preservation of the Bay.  Working with Ashley Jarvis of Arlington Echo as her advisor, she decided to focus her efforts on an area of Camp Woodlands along Broad Creek designated as a “critical area” for stabilization.

Working with Arlington Echo, a swale was designed and installed through volunteer labor.  In early September, volunteers lead by Sarah spread 400 cubic feet of mulch along the path to catch water not contained by the swale.  In October, they built the swale lined with weedblock and river jack to slow the flow of water coming downhill.  By the end of October, Sarah and her team of volunteers planted a variety of native trees and shrubs including: hackberry, serviceberry, tulip poplars, white oak, inkberry, highbush blueberry, and Atlantic white cedar. Sarah has plans to create an informational kiosk explaining the project and offering information on erosion control. In the long-term, a ranger at Camp Woodlands will continue to monitor the swale.

The leadership skills required for this project taught Sarah just how difficult it is to plan and execute these types of projects and gave her a new level of respect for people doing conservation work.  Recruiting volunteers to do physically demanding labor and communicating with so many different organizations and people proved to be one of the more challenging aspects of the project.  When the project was finally completed, Sarah said, “seeing everything come together made it worth all the headaches along the way.”

Sarah learned much more beyond project management, especially in regards to erosion. “I knew erosion was bad, but it was incredible to learn how shorelines are disappearing and how the pH of the Bay has changed. For me, the most amusing thing to learn was that rocks can be native. I thought that any kind of cheap rock would be fine for the swale. I was wrong. I had to research native Bay rocks because these rocks do not alter the pH of rainwater, and even have some filtration properties.”  Sarah feels that small projects to prevent erosion are important for our watershed. The change may not necessarily be visible, but the reduction of runoff will make the Bay healthier and create an environment more conducive to our native flora and fauna.

Sarah will continue to have a life-long appreciate for the Chesapeake Bay and plans on becoming a surgeon!  The South River Federation was proud to be able to support Sarah in her project and wishes her the best of luck in all of her future endeavors.  Although the grant program is geared towards Watershed Stewards, we are happy to work with Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts on their Eagle and Gold Award projects.

 

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. on the South River

To honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., President Bill Clinton signed into law federal legislation transforming MLK Day into a day of citizen action volunteer service on August 23, 1994. The South River Federation was proud to be a part of this national day of service this year. On a chilly but beautiful winter day, 20 South River Federation volunteers came together to clean up the headwaters of Broad Creek along Harry S. Truman Parkway in Annapolis. Volunteers spent two hours picking up whatever trash they could find along the length of Truman Parkway from Riva Road to South Haven Road. In total, volunteers picked up over 30 bags of trash and recyclables along with four tires and even a stroller! We send a big thank you out to all the volunteers and Master Watershed Stewards that made the day a success along with Starbucks of Edgewater for donating the coffee. We hope to see even more of you at the next South River Federation event!

This morning (Oct 7, 2011) I took my first flight in a small aircraft in 32 years. I rode with my collegue and board member Lynn Buehl over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Bay Bridge Aiport and the whole drive I was fraught with excitment and trepedation. I always have been nervous about heights and have always been a nervous flyer. Lynn and I meet our pilot that flew down from New Jersey to take us on our adventure over the South River Watershed. Pilot Mr. Mike McNamara is one of many volunteer pilots for a non-profit group called LightHawk. This is a great organization set-up to provide flights to other non-profits or academics for research and advocay. I submitted a proposal to search for SAV, clean-water plumes, and 5 legacy landfills. As I first got in the plane, my thought was "oh my goodness, I am not going to make it". But, as we tore down the runway toward the Chesapeake Bay and delicately lifted off into the air and over the Bay Bridge- I became totally filled with excitement and started taking pictures. Being in a small plane over the Chesapeake Bay and the South River is indescribably amazing. I was horrified at the amounts of debris still in the Bay. Then, as we approach the South River- both Lynn and I became very distressed at how our beatiful South River looked. Sediment plumes and oil plumes everywhere- brown water all over. Then as week approached South River Farm Park, where Pam Wood of the Capitol and I kayaked looking for our Submerged Aquatic Vegetation- the planes wings tipped and there is was. Our SAV survived Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee!! What a blessing that our grasses survived such storms!! I am showing 300 pictures, and although I am not a professional photographer, I hope you enjoy them.----Diana, South Riverkeeper

#	Site	8/3/2011
SR1	Hillsmere Shores	20
SR2	Glen Isle Community Association	4
SR3	Harbor Hills Association	14
SR4	South River Manor	10
SR5	Pine Whiff Community Association	174
SR6	South River Park Comm. Ass.	110
SR7	Selby Community Association	140
SR8	Londontown Beach 5	44
SR11	Wilelinor Community Association	390
SR12	Shoreham Beach Citizens Association	144

 

As you drive ovet the South River bridge, you will notice a large Red Flag- this flag represents that the majority of the stations on the South River are high in bacteria

 

The bacteria results are very indicative of the rain event that we had yesterday morning coupled with the Canada Goose problem in a couple of communities.

Above is the Enterococci bacteria results from 8-3-2011 sampling, as per the EPA BEACHs Act guidance document and the Maryland Department of the Environment's bacteria sampling; the concentration must be lower 104 (cfu/100ml) colony forming units/100ml. The bacteria results for several areas are above the limit of 104 colony forming units/100ml. Please remember that the guidance the State of Maryland gives is that there should be no primary contact with the South River after a rain event such as the one earlier this week, so please everyone take the proper precautions, shower after swimming, cover or do not go into the river with open wounds. The most at risk are children, elderly, immune compromised, and pregnant.

On a separate note: As the temperature of the water increases Vibrio growth as well- there has been a case recently of a elderly man with a Vibrio infection last week. Please use caution when recreating in the South River. If you do acquire a suspicious infection, see your doctor immediately as it is important to treat this infection as quickly as possible. If you or someone you know happens to get sick or gets an infection as a result of swimming in the water, please let us know and fill out the attached form and return it to us. The AA County Health Department has a great fact sheet on Vibrio, which is attached. Vibrio is found naturally occurring in all waters, but as the temperature increases so does the concentration of this bacteria.

With the extremely hot temperatures bacteria concentrations may proliferate in areas that are already contaminated. Please, pick up your pet waste and do not feed the ducks or geese. Leaving the shoreline un-mowed and using items that are sparkly will deter the waterfowl from coming ashore causing the bacteria contamination.

Take Care Swimming or Recreating,

Sincerely,

Diana

Good Morning All,

This weeks bacteria data had two communites that were above the allowable limit of 104cfu/100ml. These were Hillsmere and Pine Whiff. Congrats to the Glen Isle community for defeting the Canada Geese, I hope the deterants work all summer!!

Diana, South RIVERKEEPER

Enterococci (cfu/100ml)
#	Site	7/13/2011
SR1	Hillsmere Shores	1016
SR2	Glen Isle Community Association	12
SR3	Harbor Hills Association	14
SR4	South River Manor	28
SR5	Pine Whiff Community Association	196
SR6	South River Park Comm. Ass.	36
SR7	Selby Community Association	24
SR8	Londontown Beach 5	6
SR11	Wilelinor Community Association	84
SR12	Shoreham Beach Citizens Association	16

 

#	Site	cfu/100ml
SR1	Hillsmere Shores	84
SR2	Glen Isle	272
SR3	Harbor Hills	56
SR4	South River Manor	X
SR6	South River Park Comm. Ass.	20
SR11	Wilelinor Stream Restoration	32
SR12	Shorham Beach Citizens Association	184

The above resutls are from Wednesday May 18, 2011 Bacteria sampling. The concentration for Enterococci is not to be above 104 cfu/100ml (colony forming units). Due to the heavy rain events this past week a couple of site were well above the allowable limit.

If you would like more information on Operation Clearwater or would like you community to be sampled please contact our office at 410-224-3802.

---Diana

From the mouth of the South River all the way to Bacon Ridge Branch, over 40 South River Federation volunteers participated in the 7^th Annual South River Snapshot.  Volunteers spread out across the entire South River watershed on the morning of Saturday, April 9^th and conducted water quality tests to assess the River’s health.   Although the data represents just a “snapshot” in time, collecting the data from over 40 sites around the River simultaneously, and doing it at about the same time each year, gives a good general barometer of the relative health of our streams and creeks.  While most of the sites had safe or normal bacteria levels, a few sites did have high levels.  You can see the bacteria results on Diana’s blog. 
Patch.com wrote a nice article on the Snapshot!  Click here to read it.

The Enterococci data is now ready from this last Saturday's South River Federation's 7th Annual Snapshot.

On Friday the short rain event was only 0.38 inches of rain, but even with that small amount there were some spikes of bacteria in our watershed.  For a single sampling event the criteria is 104 cfu/100ml (colony forming units/100milliliters).  Therefore in the map above, anything in orange or red is higher than the State of Maryland's limit.

Thanks to our great volunteers I am now going back through the past 7 years of data and preparing a 'trend" analysis to find why our hot spot are HOT.  One stations is HIL 1, this is located in the Hillsmere community and is consistently high every year- now that we have the data to prove that there is a problem (thanks to our volunteers)- We can see what we can do to fix the issues.---Diana