Blog entries

Operation Clearwater Results June 12th, 2013

Jennifer Carr — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:19:42 +0100

Good Afternoon,
These bacteria results are for the samples were collected the morning of 6-12-2013. Four of the locations were above the instantaneous concentration of 104 cfu/100ml. This area received a fair amount of rain last week and that may explain the higher numbers. The acceptable concentration of bacteria for swimming and other direct water contact determined by EPA, Maryland Department of the Environment and Anne Arundel County Department of Health is 104 colo...

Operation Clearwater Results June 6th, 2013

Jennifer Carr — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:26:47 +0100

Good Afternoon,
These bacteria results are for the samples were collected the morning of 5-29-2013. Most locations, except 3, are within the instantaneous concentration of 104 cfu/100ml. The acceptable concentration of bacteria for swimming and other direct water contact determined by EPA, Maryland Department of the Environment and Anne Arundel County Department of Health is 104 colony forming units/...

Operation Clearwater Results May 30th, 2013

Jennifer Carr — Thu, 30 May 2013 23:15:05 +0100

Operation Clearwater Results 5/22/2013

Jennifer Carr — Thu, 23 May 2013 23:51:15 +0100

Good Afternoon,
These bacteria results are for the samples were collected the morning of 5-22-2013. All locations are except 2 are within the instantaneous concentration of 104 cfu/100ml. The acceptable concentration of bacteria for swimming and other direct water contact determined by EPA, Maryland Department of the Environment and Anne Arundel County Department of Health is 104 colony forming units/100ml. A...

Swim Safe this Summer with Operation Clearwater and the Swim App

Jennifer Carr — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:55:50 +0100

Summer is almost here! Grab your sunscreen, hat, beach towel, and check the Swim Guide for your Operation Clearwater Results! Wait, Swim Guide? You heard me right! Before swimming, water-skiing, or tubing in the river, make sure it is safe to swim.

Now, there is an easy way to stay healthy and informed. First, make sure your communit...

Spring Cleaning along the South River

Jennifer Carr — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:26:13 +0100

Spring just wouldn’t be the same without cleaning up the Edgewater Elementary bog. We were excited to be able to team up with an enthusiastic 4th grade class for the fourth time. Thanks to great support from the school, we are able to do this event twice a year. Each time, we take one 4th grade class out to explore and clean the bog. We do fun and interactive educational activities relating to the Chesapeake Bay with the other classes.

Bogs were historically a comm...

2013 South River Snapshot

Jennifer Carr — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:32:14 +0100

From the mouth of the South River all the way to Bacon Ridge Branch, volunteers ventured into 40 non-tidal sites throughout the South River watershed as part of our annual Snapshot on April 13th. The volunteers collected data, as well as, nutrient and bacteria samples, to give us a “snapshot”of the South River. Although the data represents just a “snapshot” in time, by collecting data from 40 sites around the South River, and doing it at about the same time each ...

Boy Scouts help South River Federation Plant a Rain Garden

Jennifer Carr — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:04:04 +0100

Thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Unity Gardens, and hardworking Boy Scouts, the South River Federation and Oak Grove Marina now have a beautiful new rain garden and a growing bio-retention area. The new 400 square foot rain garden captures polluted stormwater runoff from the adjacent parking lot. The garden was completed in April with the help of an enthusiastic troop of Boy Scouts, their parents, and siblings. The Scouts came out after school and worked hard to plant as ...

Thank You for Making our Auction One Shell of a Party!

Jennifer Carr — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:05:54 +0100

On Saturday, March 23rd, Homestead Gardens was the place to be in the South River watershed. Thank you to Homestead Gardens for hosting “One Shell of a Party” during their Spring Open House, which was appropriately themed Cherish the Chesapeake. Surrounded by a Chesapeake Bay mural, flowers, music, auction items, and great music, 300+ South River Federation supporters had an enjoyable evening bidding on a wide variety of items graciously donated to help us raise funds to co...

Green Roof Springs up on the South River

Jennifer Carr — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:52:03 +0100

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Every once in a while you get a unique opportunity you just can’t pass up. We could not turn down the chance to engage local school children in the planting of a green roof. Wait, kids on a roof? Don’t worry, it was much safer than it sounds. Historic London Town and Gardens received a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to install a ground level green roof over their underground museum. The ...

Cleaning Up Church Creek

Jennifer Carr — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:17:43 +0100

Project Clean Stream 2013 was our most successful year to date thanks to the 70+ volunteers that came out on Saturday, April 6th! Project Clean Stream is an annual event organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and sponsored locally by the Home Depot and Bertuccis of Annapolis. 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-of...

Recovering Our Waterways, Rebuilding Our Infrastructure

Jennifer Carr — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:16:52 +0100

Anne Arundel County stands on the cusp of taking the most important step to clean up its streams, creeks, and rivers in the county’s history. After years of debate and discussion, planning and preparation, the county is poised to create a dedicated, protected account for the restoration of our waterways, funded by a modest charge on the surfaces that channel stormwater into our rivers after every storm.

Unlike “de...

January Go Green Project of the Month: Restoring Our Shorelines

Jennifer Carr — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:54:47 +0100

The South River is a beautiful place to live. However, this beauty can often be overshadowed by our miles of eroding shorelines. Brenda Boultwood of Edgwater lives along Church Creek, one of the most degraded creeks in the South River. The shoreline along her property had very visible erosion that needed to be addressed.

One option would have been to install a wooden bulkhead or stone barrier along the shoreline. Considering that wooden or ston...

Honey I Shrunk the Lawn: December Go Green Project of the Month

Jennifer Carr — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:23:32 +0100

What do you do with that large grassy area that no one uses and is annoying to mow? Turn it into a forest! That’s just what the Segelhorsts of Gambrills did!

John Segelhorst met Lara Mulvaney, a Master Watershed Steward, through their sons’ boy scout troop. They talked about how he was spending a lot time to maintain an unused portion of his lawn. Lara suggested that he return the grass to the woods. Since it was fall and a gr...

A Big Thank You to St. Andrews 5th Graders

Sarah Boynton — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:25:01 +0100

On behalf of the South River Federation, a big thank you goes out to the 5th Graders of St. Andrews United Methodist day school.

On Tuesday, November 13th, they put in a lot of hardwork at Homestead Gardens. All of them deserve a gold star for a job well done! At the end of the day, they helped plant 150 plants around the new Homestead Gardens Wetland Restoration site! We were thrilled with how much they accomplished!

Not only did they plant trees and shrubs, but also they ...

Preserving Family Lands in Anne Arundel County

Jennifer Carr — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:17:49 +0100

Land preservation offers families an opportunity to protect the lands they cherish. Few people want to see their properties further developed, but financial challenges may force their hand. Some have a general inclination toward land preservation, but they want a strong financial incentive to give up their development rights. The preservation of forests and other open spaces is critical to the health of our rivers and our quality of life in Anne...

Fall Federation Celebration Kayak and Picnic

Sarah Boynton — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:01:13 +0100

Each season brings something different to the table. Winter is snow, spring brings rain and flowers, summer is all about pool time and surviving the heat, and then there is fall. Fall is my favorite season for many reasons, it’s starting to cool off, there is crispness in the air, my birthday, and of course the change of colors. Now I may be biased, but I think the East Coast has the best fall colors and that was definitely seen and proven this past Saturday for our Fall Federation C...

Move Over Mower: Making Room for Meadow: Go Green Project of the Month

Jennifer Carr — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 04:33:34 +0100

We all seem to have that part of our yard. You know what I’m talking about: the section we hate to mow partly because it’s a difficult area and partly because we never use it. Master Watershed Steward Candidate Ted Hall and his wife Caryn Jackson were no exception to this. While they have a beautiful forested lot in Davidsonville, they had an awkward steep slope in front of their yard. The area was too steep for the kids to play on and not an ideal location...

Fall Water Quality Monitoring

Diana Muller — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:19:27 +0100

Today was a beautiful day performing water quality monitoring!!
The fall leaves are at their peak, the water clarity and dissolved oxygen has improved. I will get the data out to you all soon!!
Sincerely,
Captn. Diana Muller, South RIVERKEEPER

Tackling Erosion with Girl Power

Jennifer Carr — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:24:43 +0100

On a beautiful fall day, 75 Girl Scouts and their family members teamed up with the South River Federation and Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA) to give back to Camp Woodlands. The Girl Scouts worked hard in shifts over a four hour period to reduce erosion by spreading mulch and woodchips. They mulched commonly used areas around some of the main buildings, along trails, and even helped to lay cobble in an area m...