Federation Blog

If you thought keeping up with the Kardashians was tough, try keeping up with Kudzu! Also known as the Foot-a-Night-Vine and the Vine that ate the South, this Japanese native can grow up to a foot a day. Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) is an incredibly invasive woody vine that will consume the landscape from the ground to the top of the trees.

Kudzu was first brought to the States in 1876 to be displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, better known as the World Fair. After that, kudzu grew in popularity as an ornamental plant, soil conservation ground cover, and livestock feed. (Source: Sierra Club) By 1976, the USDA declared kudzu a noxious weed.

Keeping up with kudzu is certainly a challenge but that didn’t deter Master Watershed Stewards Nancy Tait and Leslie Riddle from teaming up with Edgewater Beach Citizen’s Association’s Joan Scott to remove the kudzu in their community. The team was awarded a mini grant from the South River Federation and also received funding from the Forestry Board and their community.

The process began back in the fall by first spraying the area, a steep hill overlooking the South River, with an herbicide. After the vines died back, community volunteers removed five large truckloads of kudzu and took it to the County landfill. Annual rye grass was then planted on the hill. Watershed Stewards Leslie and Nancy along with Joan plan to reassess the area this spring and will continue to battle the kudzu until the hill is reclaimed by native plants.

    

At Left: Master Watershed Steward Leslie Riddle chopping down the thick, woody kudzu vine.

At Right: Edgewater Beach community members removing the dead kudzu

The Wilelinor restoration site received some holiday cheer over the weekend! On a beautiful December morning, a team of South River Federation volunteers came together to do maintenance work on the site. Volunteers began the day by spreading 15 bales of peat moss under the Atlantic white cedars (Chamaecyparis thyoides) lining the stream and wetland pool. The peat moss served as a soil amendment to adjust the pH value. We hope that by spreading peat moss around the cedars, there will be an increase in germination and seedlings.

Next, volunteers armed with limb saws and loppers, tackled and removed sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and sycamore (Plantanus occidentalis) trees. Why would we want to remove these trees? Many had begun to grow close to the cedars, blocking out the full sunlight that the cedars need to grow. The shade makes it especially difficult for new seedlings to survive.

Atlantic white cedars were specially chosen for this restoration site because of their efficiency and effectiveness at processing pollution and removing nutrients. Cedars also tend to do well in acidic wetland environments and provide important habitat for wildlife. For example, in North Carolina, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that over 39 species of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians and over 46 species of birds were reported to use Atlantic white cedar wetlands.

While most of the group was hard at work tackling the sweetgum trees, others removed invasive vines and cleared out a large section of invasive green bamboo. Thank you to all of our volunteers and South River Watershed Stewards for making this day a success! We could not have done it without your hard work. Thank you Edgewater Starbucks for donating coffee to keep us warm and motivated!

What and Where is Wilelinor?

This beautiful site located right off of Route 2 across from Admiral Cochrane Drive. This area is one of the headwaters for the southern branch of Church Creek, a tributary to the South River. Located near large areas of impervious surfaces, this restoration site is able to properly convey stormwater going into Church Creek. This project has enhanced water quality, aquatic habitat, and ecological functions. Routine maintenance, such as this volunteer event on Saturday, is important to keep this site functioning properly.

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

From drab to fab, we rescued the Lincoln Drive rain garden with the help of 24 volunteers!  Why is this rain garden so special you may ask?   Installed in the spring of 2007 with help from the South River Federation, the Lincoln Drive rain garden treats runoff from 1.6 acres of impervious surface in the Spa Creek watershed.  With a storage volume of 2,001 cubic feet, this garden can handle 80.5% of a 1.2 inch rain storm and cleans an estimated 60% of each rainfall before it reaches Spa Creek.  This amounts to a little over 2 million gallons of stormwater treated each year!

How is the one on Lincoln Drive different from any other garden?  Rain gardens are bio-retention sites specially designed to handle and treat stormwater.  First, the area is excavated to remove existing soils and pavement.   Once removed, the area is filled with a 50% sand and compost mixture.  Storm drains are cut to fit high water levels.  You want the storm drains to sit above ground level so that the stormwater stays in the garden and does not go directly down the drain.  The stormwater drains only catch the rain during higher water levels.  On the upper slope of the garden, a rock diaphragm lined with filter cloth is placed to dissipate the force of water entering the garden.  A rock-lined swale is also placed between the sidewalk and parking lot to handle water coming from that direction.  Finally, the garden is planted with native plants that help to absorb stormwater.   With all the hard work that went into making this garden, we want to keep up with the maintenance!

For three hours, volunteers braved the hot summer sun and removed invasive plants and vines that had taken over the garden.   The rain garden looked beautiful afterwards – almost unrecognizable thanks to all the great groups involved.  Coordinated by the South River Federation, volunteers from the Spa Creek Conservancy and Watershed Steward Academy guided volunteers as to what plants needed to be removed and what could stay.  This was a great crash course in invasive species identification!  We even had a hard working group from the Family Service Foundation come out to help us clean up all the weeds that were removed.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this day possible!

Enjoy the slideshow!

 

Project Clean Stream 2011 was a great success thanks to the 42 hard working volunteers that came out to support this annual event organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. The South River Federation and its volunteers cleaned up a portion of Church Creek, bordered by Rt. 2, Forest Dr., and the Forest Plaza parking lot. Notorious for illegal dumping and prone to trash run-off from nearby roads and parking lots, this creek was in desperate need of attention. Our dedicated group of volunteers picked up 83 bags of trash, up to 50% of which was plastic bottles and bags. Other interesting items included: part of a Lazy-Boy, TV, sink, two filled trash cans, 6 tires, and a vacuum cleaner. In total, the volunteers picked up 1.38 tons of trash!  Needless to say, after all this was removed, Church Creek looked beautiful!

We would like to thank our generous local sponsors who helped make this event a success:

Home Depot donated 10 boxes of eco-friendly heavy duty contractor bags, allowed us to use their trash-grabbers, and recruited eight Home Depot Associates and Managers to help with the cleanup.

Bertucci’s generously donated eight delicious pizzas for the volunteers to enjoy as a thank you for their hard work.

Keeper Springs Natural Spring Water provided water bottles to keep the hard working volunteers hydrated.

We also received great media coverage from Patch.com and the Capital. Enjoy the slideshow below!

Last week, Erik went into Annapolis to lobby in support of HB 1034, better known to me as the “bag bill.”  When I found this out, my interest was perked and I wanted to find out more information.  When it comes down to it, the gist of the bill is to reduce the amount of plastic bags that end up as trash in Maryland’s waterways, like the South River. 

Already, Washington D.C. has instituted a 5 cent tax on bags and it has had positive impacts on both the environment and business fronts.  I was reading over some of the stats and the figures were quite impressive.  For example, before the bill passed in D.C. plastic bags accounted for 47% of trash in the Anacostia River.  After the bill passed, 66% fewer bags were pulled from the Anacostia River in 2010 versus 2009.  Next, the number of plastic bags sold dropped from 270 million in 2009 to 55 million in 2010 that is an 80% reduction.  Since there was a concern that the bag tax would affect businesses, it was interesting to find out that 78% of businesses reported that the bag bill had either a positive effect or no effect at all on business. 

With Project Clean Stream this Saturday, it will be interesting to see the amount of bags we pull out from behind Home Depot.  I know it might sound funny to say “I like this tax”, but I do.  In my opinion, the bill will make people think twice.  They might think, do I really need this bag or maybe they will take into consideration the environmental impact bags have on the waterways and the wildlife living in it.  Either way, it makes a consumer pause and think even if it’s just for a moment. 

If you’re interested in finding out more information on the bill click here to read the entire HB 1034 bill or check out the Sierra Club website for more information on ways you can contact your representative. 

Looking for something to do on Saturday? 

Join the South River Federation’s 2011 Project Clean Stream!

 

Saturday, April 2^nd from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Home Depot, 55 Forest Plaza, Annapolis

 

Project Clean Stream, coordinated by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and partnering watershed organizations, is an annual stream and shoreline clean up. This event is held the first Saturday of April and engages community volunteers throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  By engaging volunteers in stream clean ups, we are promoting and reinforcing the direct relationship that cleaner, litter-free streams and woodlands result in a healthier, more beautiful Bay.

 

In 2010, more than 3,600 volunteers helped out at 140 cleanup sites, including a site hosted by the South River Federation along Beards Creek, to remove an estimated 118,000 pounds of trash and debris from streams and wooded areas throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  This year, the goal is to have 4,000 volunteers remove 150,000 lbs of trash at 165 different sites.  
 

Be one of the 4,000 people volunteering to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed on Saturday.  Email Jennifer to signup and help clean up an area around Church Creek.

 

Special thanks to Home Depot for donating trash bags and to Bertucci’s for donating pizza for our volunteers to enjoy.

 

 

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

 

 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

 This morning, over 25 Federation volunteers cleaned-up along Chesterfield Road, in the Bacon Ridge Branch area, and along the headwaters of Church Creek in Annapolis.  The picture below is of the haul at Church Creek, which included about 50 yards (over a full dumpster) of metal and other recyclables (including a couple of shopping cars), about 10 yards of trash, and between 50 and 60 tires.  Thanks to all the volunteers who came out and made the event a success and to the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works for providing the dumpsters.