Maryland Local News

September 2009 -- Thirty-two environmental restoration and protection projects from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been awarded more than $2.8 million in grants from the Chesapeake Bay Program and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help clean up local streams, creeks and rivers that flow to the Bay.

The funding was awarded through the Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations and local governments working to improve the condition of their local watershed.

The 2009 Small Watershed Grant recipients will develop conservation plans, preserve valuable natural lands and implement on-the-ground restoration practices throughout the Bay's six-state watershed. A sampling of this year's grant recipients includes:

• The Spa Creek Conservancy will use its $109,240 grant to install pollution-reducing practices such as rain gardens at St. Martin's Evangelical Church and School in Annapolis, Md.
• The Piedmont Environmental Council will use its $75,000 grant to increase financial incentives for farmers to install livestock-exclusion fencing and forest buffers along Virginia's Upper Hazel River, a tributary of the Rappahannock River.
• GreenTreks Network received a $75,000 grant to implement the "Reign in the Rain" social marketing campaign in the Cedar Run and Paxton Creek watersheds near Harrisburg, Pa. The campaign will use videos to promote practices that reduce polluted runoff to these local waterways and the Susquehanna River.
• Ducks Unlimited received $20,333 to restore 473 acres of wetlands, including 84 acres of globally rare Atlantic white cedar, in the headwaters of the Nanticoke and Pocomoke river watersheds in Delaware.

"When considered collectively, these 32 projects will have a tremendous positive impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed," said Chesapeake Bay Program Director Jeffrey Lape. "This year's projects will restore 620 acres of wetlands, plant 32 rain gardens and 172 acres of streamside forest buffers, and fence off 23 miles of streams to exclude livestock."

Since 2000, the Small Watershed Grants program has provided $23.6 million to support 587 projects. These grants have been used to leverage an additional $68.4 million from other funding sources, resulting in more than $92 million being invested in Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration efforts.

"Federal funding for projects like these will help protect and restore critical aquatic ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay," said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee. "One of my top priorities is to improve the health of streams, creeks and rivers that make up the Bay's watershed and that sustain its natural habitat."

The Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and funded primarily by the U.S. EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program Office, the USDA Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Other funding partners include Perdue Farms and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office. Additional funding for this year's grants is from community service payments due to a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney General District of Maryland in a case involving the illegal discharge of oil-contaminated bilge.

For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program and a full list of this year's grant recipients, visit the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's website.

May 2009 -- On May 12, President Obama signed an Executive Order that calls on the federal government to lead the effort to control pollution that flows to the Chesapeake Bay and protect wildlife habitats in the region.

The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order establishes a Federal Leadership Committee that will oversee the development and coordination of reporting, data management and other programs and activities by agencies involved with Bay restoration. The committee will be chaired by the EPA and include senior representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, the Interior, Transportation and others.

The Executive Order requires that these agencies prepare and submit within 120 days draft reports that make recommendations to:

Define the next generation of tools and actions to clean up the Bay and describe the changes to be made to regulations, programs and policies to implement these actions.
Target resources to better protect the Bay and its rivers.
Strengthen stormwater management practices for federal facilities and federal land within the Bay watershed and develop a best practices guide for reducing polluted runoff.

• Assess the impacts of climate change on the Bay and develop a strategy for adapting to these impacts.

• Expand public access to the Bay and its rivers on federal lands.

• Expand environmental research, monitoring and observation to strengthen scientific support for decision-making on Bay restoration issues.

• Develop focused and coordinated habitat and research activities.

• Federal agencies will work extensively with the state governments of the seven Bay jurisdictions -- Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia -- in preparing their reports and strategies.

Beginning in 2010, the Federal Leadership Committee will publish an annual Chesapeake Bay Action Plan that describes how federal funding will be put toward Bay restoration in the upcoming year.

Health of the Magothy River

February 2009 -- The health of the Magothy River, located just north of Annapolis in Anne Arundel County, Md., fell in 2008 to a score of 30 percent, the lowest value since scorekeeping began six years ago, according to the latest Magothy River Index.

The Magothy River Index, an annual collection of scores on the river’s health, was released by the Magothy River Association (MRA) and prepared by Dr. Peter Bergstrom, a fishery biologist with the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. Bergstrom, a MRA volunteer since 1992, provides technical assistance on monitoring and health "report cards" to several local watershed groups as part of his work at NOAA.

“The continuing decline in aquatic health in 2008 shows that we all need to do more to improve Magothy water quality,” said Bergstrom.

Underwater bay grass acreage in the Magothy River increased slightly from 83 acres in 2007 to 90 acres in 2008, according toannual survey data from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) (click on "Reports" at the top of the page). But it’s a far cry from the river’s 579-acre bay grass restoration goal.

”Based on the ground surveys I did last year, I thought the 2008 area would be lower than 2007,” said Bergstrom. “I was encouraged to learn that the VIMS survey, which uses aerial photos, showed a slight increase in area.”

Underwater bay grasses require clear water so sunlight can pass through the water’s surface and reach the grasses at the bottom. Only about 20 percent of the river met water clarity goals in 2008, a sharp drop from 2007. This was probably caused by severe, persistent mahogany tides in several Magothy creeks. (Learn more about mahogany tides.)

The 2008 Magothy River Index also included the first results from a new program to collect water clarity data from more sites along the river and involve more area residents in the MRA’s monitoring efforts. Of all the sites monitored by the MRA’s “Creek Watchers Surf Team” in 2008, those with the best water clarity also had underwater bay grasses growing nearby, showing the correlation between water clarity and bay grass growth.

Dissolved oxygen levels in the Magothy also fell in 2008, though not as significantly as water clarity. In general, algae blooms like mahogany tides can reduce oxygen levels when algae die, fall to the bottom and decompose.

A bit of good news for the Magothy in 2008 was its bacteria levels, which were below “action levels.” This is the first year the index included bacteria results.