Federation Blog

The South River Federation's Riverkeeper Tidal Water Quality montoring is in mid-season currently.  Some of you may have see us out there sampling the water quality.  I have been ask many questions about when and where we sample.  I have provided a GIS map of our current tidal stations.  I have 7 main stem stations, then 14 stations in each of the tidal creeks.  

 

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

 

Temperatures are rising, the osprey are back, and frogs, turtles, and snakes are out of hibernation.  On a walk through a tributary to Church Creek yesterday, I spotted at least 10 eastern painted turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) basking on a log, soaking up the warmth of the sun.   We also spotted a brown water snake, and more green frogs (Rana clamitans) than we could count.

 

The Federation is working with a local landowner to undertake a massive restoration effort on the headwaters of Church Creek, just about Route 665 (Aris T. Allen Blvd).  As part of that effort, we have hired an environmental consulting firm to design and permit plans for the project.   Earlier this morning, I met out at the site with the consultant to walk the property and get a sense of the lay of the land.

Currently, the property is at the confluence of two streams (below), one coming from Route 2 and one from Old Forest Dr. (by the Allen Apartments) than drain some of the most heavily urbanized and paved portions of the South River watershed.  The restoration plan is to create a stream and wetland system that will trap and process sediment and nutrients from upstream and provide high quality habitat for fish, birds, and amphibians.

As was the case yesterday with Flat Creek, because the marsh was frozen much more solidly than usual, we were able to get down to tidewater where we found a pleasant surprise: Beavers!  This beaver lodge had clear signs of recent activity. 

 Not far downstream, I came across the biggest of several dams.  It's approximately 40' long by about 18" high, and is probably close to underwater at high tide.  Right now, you can see that it is impounding quite a bit of water in an area that would normally be dry.

 There are historic signs that beaver have been present further up the system, but the thinking is that perhaps, carrying the stormwater from Parole, Harbor Center, the Festival at Riva, and Old Forest Drive, the stream is too "flashy" and high energy  for their dams to remain stable in that location.  The hope is that through restoration we will have a stream and wetland complex that encourages beaver and other wildlife to once again inhabit this green corridor.

Well, not really.   It's just that the combination of a low tide and strong wind blowing out towards the Bay have de-watered the river and its creeks substantially, leaving water level several feet below the usual low tide mark.

Diana and I were out at the Wilelinor restoration project taking water quality samples and stumbled upon a beautiful, bushy red fox (Vulpes vulpes) who quickly scattered as soon as we came along (below).  Perhaps he was scavenging for small fish or shellfish that had been exposed by the low tide.   We've seen quite a bit of evidence of fox throughout the watershed recently.

Most of the aquatic beds at Wilelinor are frozen over several inches thick, but at each of the stone grade controls, where water is still running through the system, spectacular stalagmites of ice form where spray hits the cold, winter air.

Did you know that in the period before the Revolutionary War Catholic churches were illegal?  Apparently one of the earliest Catholic Churches in the region stood near the old graveyard on Priest's Farm near where Route 2 (Solomons Island Road) crosses the South River.  According to "A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland: Adapted for Use in the Schools." (1905). By Samuel Elihu Riley, the Farm bordered what is now called Church Creek and gave the creek its name.

The church that once stood on the shores of Church Creek may have looked something like the one shown above.

As part of the development of the Homeport Farm property, Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks received approximately 25 acres of land alongside Church Creek for future use as a County park.  The advisory committee for the park consists of representatives from the surrounding communities and user groups such as the Chesapeake Paddlers, the Annapolis Rowing Club (below), the Anne Arundel Sierra Club, and the Federation.

 Thankfully, all of these groups support keeping the park largely in its natural state, with some opportunities for passive recreation and low impact activities.  Eventually, the plan is for the park to have a natural surface hiking loop, a launch for canoes and kayaks, and several community garden plots.  In addition, the plan calls for reforesting something on the order of 7 or 8 acres of the property which are currently fallow farmland.  

Last weekend, volunteers from the Federation, the Rowing Club, the Sierra Club, and the County came out, in the driving rain, to plant 400 trees and shrubs and begin the reforestation effort.  Thanks to all the volunteers who came out and put in a few hours to help improve the health of the river.

 From left to right: County forester, Bud Reeves; County Executive, John Leopold; Federation Executive Director, Erik Michelsen; Sierra Club Chair, David Prosten; County Parks Manager, Karyn Molines.

This weekend, we received reports from two different sources, one on Flat Creek and one on Church Creek, of hundreds of dead fish.  The species found included menhaden (shown below), catfish, rockfish, and croakers. 

Chances are, the fish died as a result of the very low dissolved oxygen (DO) in the river.  Diana has been finding extrememly low DO since early June, which is the result of nutrient-charged algae blooms decomposing and the aerobic bacteria consuming them pulling all of the oxygen from the water column.  Please report any fish kills that you come across on the river, and pictures are always appreciated.  

 Below are several of the croakers and catfish found dead on Church Creek. Necropsies performed by Diana indicate that they died as a result of suffocation.

On Monday morning, Kevin Smith and Ken Yetman from DNR shocked the Wilelinor Stream Valley Restoration project to see what fish and other aquatic organisms have moved up into the system  four years after the completion of the project.

Among the species spotted were several brown water snakes, an eastern painted turtle  (Chrysemys picta picta), and lots of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) elvers.  Two of the fish species found at the site were channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus), pictured below.

 

Believe it or not, there are carnivorous plants in the watershed.  The Wilenor stream valley restoration project contains a significant population of swollen bladderwort (Utricularia inflata), a floating plant that has small vacuoles (i.e. bladders) under the water surface that it uses to capture insect larvae as in the animation below.

Once trapped within the vacuole, the plant secretes digestive enzymes and dissolves the insect and absorbs it for its nutritional needs.  This time of year, this unique little pest controller sends up a single yellow flower mounted atop its pinwheel flotation structure as in the photo below.