The Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy released its third annual report card for Eastern Bay, Choptank, Miles and Wye Rivers to an audience of well over 150 people in Easton, Maryland at our State of the Rivers Spring Party.
During 2012, with our partners Midshore Creekwatchers, we sampled water quality more than 500 times at over 100 various sites in the Choptank, its major tributaries, and the Miles and Wye Rivers. This year we have added new sampling sites within the Eastern Bay watershed as well as the Tuckahoe River. Our testers measured water clarity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH salinity and sample for nitrogen, phosphorus and chlorophyll A. We use analysis protocol developed in collaboration with the Maryland Tributary Assessment Coalition to analyze this data to come up with our grades.
The results for overall health in 2011 were:
• The Choptank River scored 54%, a C;
• The Miles River scored 41% C-;
• The Wye River scored 65% and the Wye East 51%, a C+.
The results for overall health in 2012 were:
• The Choptank River scored 54% a C;
• The Miles River scored 53% a C;
• The Wye River Complex scored 53% a C;
• Eastern Bay scored 66% a B.
Drew Koslow, the Choptank Riverkeeper, said drought conditions, like the ones faced in 2012, usually make for better water quality because of less run-off, more underwater grasses and strong oyster production. Year 2012 was a bit odd in that the Choptank experienced a slight decline in underwater grasses and had high phosphorus levels. Underwater grasses, however, were still more abundant than in typical years past. Koslow hypothesizes that the high phosphorus levels are due to legacy nutrients in slow moving groundwater.
The Choptank River watershed comprises 700 square miles, approximately 60% of which is in agricultural land use. “When you hear the majority of pollution and nutrients are coming from agriculture, it makes sense as it is the dominant land use in our watershed,” Koslow said. ‘We’re right now working with farmers to put projects in the ground to reduce pollution. If we lose agriculture, we’re going to have sprawl development and we’re going to lose our quality of life.’
“Harris Creek, an oyster sanctuary, saw an improved grade of a B in 2012, stemming from improved nitrogen levels,” Koslow said. Though Koslow said he couldn’t pinpoint where the nitrogen is coming from, a big reason nitrogen levels improved in 2012 was probably because of the cover crop program. “After three years of cover crops, you start seeing the big reduction. It’s not a stretch to say that the reason we’re seeing improvements in nitrogen is because of the cover crops the farmers are planting,” Koslow said.
The overall grade for the Miles River improved from 41% to 53% in the past year, with substantial improvement in water clarity. Tom Leigh, Miles-Wye Riverkeeper believes the improved water clarity is due to decreased nitrogen levels leading to less algal blooms.
This was the first year that Eastern Bay was included in our testing and got a B grade. It’s better grades are not surprising in that the Eastern Bay is a well-flushed body of water, open to the tidal flows of the Bay and has less proportionate influence from land based runoff and groundwater. This result underscores a key truth: the excess of nutrients and sediments that degrade our rivers comes primarily from surrounding land, not from the Chesapeake or the Susquehanna. Thus, in order for us to reduce these pollution threats, we must address the conditions on the land that surrounds our rivers.
Tom Leigh, Miles-Wye Riverkeeper, concluded his presentation with a statement that we all need to pay attention to. “Somebody lives downstream from you, and guess what, somebody lives upstream from you, and keep that in mind,” Leigh said. “Shout it from the treetops; shout it loud and shout it often and it will get heard; it will get noticed and it will get the job done”.
MRC staff and volunteers are continuing to work at every level to ensure these grades improve over time. It will not happen overnight. But with the support of our community, we truly can restore our waterways such that they are rich with life, health, beauty and vitality. Please join us in this effort!
For more information please contact:
• Tim Junkin, Executive Director: 301 980 0634 (cell)
• Drew Koslow, Choptank Riverkeeper: 410 533 2753 (cell)
• Tom Leigh, Miles-Wye Riverkeeper: 443 995 5570 (cell)