Nanticoke Spring | 2021 currents CONSERVING THE NATUR AL, CULTURAL, AND RECREATIONAL RESOURCES OF THE NANTICOKE RI V E R W ATERSHED Residential Plantings for People & Pollinators Workshops

Register for one (or both) of our 2021 Residential Plantings for People and Pollinators workshops. Find out more on page 5!

Hike the Nanticoke

Hike the Nanticoke, our newest addition to our Paddle the

Nanticoke website, is live! Are you looking for some new trails to hike? Check out our trail guides on the Hike the Nanticoke website. Read more on pages 8-9.

Optical Brightener Testing in the Nanticoke

We have started a new water sampling project in the portion of the Nanticoke River watershed, testing the water for the presence of optical brighteners. Read more on pages 10-11. Creekwatchers Update And just like that, our fourteenth full season of water quality monitoring is upon us! If you’ve thought about becoming a Creekwatcher but haven’t registered for training, there’s still time. Creekwatchers is the perfect way to get some serious Vitamin D, engage in valuable data collection about the health of our local waterways, and (eventually) meet new people—all in a safe, socially-distanced package!

Join us on March 20 for a hybrid training session with AM “classroom” sessions on Zoom followed by a PM hands-on session (by appointment) at Trap Pond State Park. Due to the structure of training this year, we will be getting started early online at 8AM to ensure that we have time that afternoon to accommodate all hands-on appointments. Register at https://nanticokeriver.org/creekwatchers2021/ to receive the link to the Zoom meeting and last minute updates.

Although not yet complete, Nanticoke Creekwatchers data (from 2017 to 2020) has begun to migrate from the Chesapeake Data Explorer to the Program's Data Hub (http://data.chesapeakebay.net/WaterQuality)! This is something we’ve anticipated and worked toward for a long time (as in, since the early days of the program), and it cements our efforts to gather and to make available the highest quality data possible. Now, as part of the “Non-traditional/ Volunteer” data prong, our data will be even more accessible to agencies, scientists, academics, and others. (You can also continue to use the Data Explorer to download and view Creekwatchers data at https://cmc.vims.edu, which also provides some visualization tools such as charts and a map.) Thanks to all our Nanticoke Creekwatchers volunteers, the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative, and the Bay Program for making this happen.

Is your property 1-acre or larger?

Find out how to help protect our local waterways with our new Home- owner Guide, Healthy Yards for Rural Homes! Click the cover below to read the guide.

Plants for People and Pollinators Workshops 2021 Register for one (or both) of our 2021 Residential Plantings for People and Pollinators workshops. Both workshops will be held on Zoom, and we’ll send a link to the email address that you register with. If you are interested in attending, please click here to register!

Small Spaces Saturday, April 10, 10a—12p “Small Spaces” focuses on renters and owners of small lots in-town. Presentations include:

• Pots for Pollinators

• For the Birds

• Shrubs for Small Spaces

Big Places Saturday, April 17, 10a-12p Large property owners will want to attend “Big Places”. Presentations include:

• It’s A Match!

• Tree-rific Homes

• Massive Meadows Wildflower Wednesdays Make a Return in 2021

Starting on January 6, we have been sharing #WildflowerWednesday posts to our so- cial media accounts every week. So far, we have covered ten different wild- flowers: aster, black-eyed Susan, solidago (or goldenrod), butterfly weed, scarlet beebalm, spotted beebalm, blue mistflower, swamp milkweed, cardinal flower, and purple coneflower. Each post comes with an in-depth paragraph about the wildflower. In this paragraph, we typically mention the bloom time of the plant, as well as its height. However, what makes each post unique are the fun facts, me- dicinal histories, and etymologies.

You may already know that black-eyed Susan is the official state flower of . But, did you know that the black and gold color scheme bears a similarity to Maryland’s state cat (calico cat)? Did you even know Maryland had a state cat? We certainly didn’t before we researched the flower. Another fun fact is that black-eyed Susans are a symbol of A pearl crescent sitting on a black-eyed Susan. justice, encouragement, and motivation. It is neat information like this that you can expect to see with our wildflower Wednesday posts. If you missed any, we highly recommend checking our Instagram to view past posts. You can a l s o s e e t h e m o n our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Purple coneflower Our most popular post on Facebook is butterfly weed. The wildflower is a herbaceous, perennial flowering plant native to eastern and southwestern North America. It is known as butterfly weed because butterflies are attracted to its color and nectar. It also serves as a food source for queen and monarch butterflies, dogbane tiger moths, hummingbirds, and bees, Butterfly weed and a monarch. among other species.

Wildflower Wednesday posts allow us to share some fascinating information as well as spark gardening ideas for homeowners. Additionally, wildflowers play a crucial role in providing habitats for pollinators and other wildlife. We can also highlight wildflowers that are throughout the Nanticoke River watershed. To learn more about wildflowers, check out Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at https:// www.wildflower.org/ and Prairie Moon Nursery (https://www.prairiemoon.com/). Scarlet beebalm

Hike the Nanticoke, Our Newest Addition to the Paddle the Nanticoke Website!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to spend a lot more time indoors. We have also spent more time looking at screens than we’d like to. However, as the weather warms up and we get closer to spring, we hope that people can get outdoors and explore the Nanticoke watershed region. To accommodate your expeditions, NWA has recently added a “Hike the Nan- ticoke” section of our Paddle the Nanticoke website! Here, you can use an interactive map to discover 13 trails throughout the Nanticoke watershed region. Additionally, each trail has a unique profile full of photos, trail information, and local history.

Trails are sorted by location within the watershed region. For instance, Barnes

Woods Nature Preserve near Seaford falls under the “Upper Nanticoke (Delaware)” section. There are trails as far east as Redden State Forest in Georgetown and as far west as Tubman Road Trail in Church Creek. Tubman Road Trail is one of two

trails that are part of the vast and beautiful Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Many trails are right along local waterways, such as Federalsburg Nature Trail, Linkwood Wildlife Management Area, and Marshyhope Bird Trail. Also included on the website is the very popular Trap Pond State Park.

Did you know, in 1951, Trap Pond became established as Delaware’s first state park? Or that Seaford High School’s cross country As a whole, you can expect a wide variety of hikes between the 13 trails. For instance, many trail paths have consistent terrains while a few others are more diverse, such as Idylwild Nature Trail. This trail includes forests, open fields, and sandy areas. There are very short trails such as Woodland Park and Nutter’s Neck that take around 15 minutes to complete. Also, there are much longer, expansive trails such as Idylwild Nature Trail and Trap Pond State Park.

Since its launch, Hike the Nanticoke has received a lot of great engagement on social media. After going live on March 1st, we started our #13DayOfHikeTheNanticoke campaign where, for 13 days, we highlighted a new trail each day. If you decide to visit any of these trails, we would love for you to mention us and use #HikeTheNanticoke in your post. The region has so much to offer, and we’re so excited to share this new section of our website with you.

Idylwild Nature Trail A view of the pond bridge on the Federalsburg Nature Trail.

Optical Brightener Testing in the Nanticoke

We have started a new water sampling project in the Delaware portion of the Nanticoke River watershed, testing the water for the presence of optical brighteners. Optical brighteners are dyes present in most laundry detergents sold in the . They are added to detergent to make clothes look whiter and brighter. The presence of optical brighteners indicates there are problems with infrastructure having to do with wastewater. Such systems include those that take wastewater from your home (washing machine, toilet, dishwasher, and showers). Additionally, they can be used as tracers for the source of pollution. Optical brighteners are also often found in connection with other contaminants, such as E. coli, found in human waste.

One of the major issues with water quality is an overabundance of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. There are several ways that these nutrients find their way into waterways including through agriculture, septic systems, and outdated or faulty wastewater treatment plants. A healthy watershed plays an important role in the health of both human and aquatic life. The quality of water found in a creek, river, or other body of water reflects the land uses and natural factors found in its watershed. The increasing impacts of human activities on the land can directly reflect the health of a particular waterway.

Older sewage plants and septic systems were designed primarily to reduce bacteria, but not nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are found in waste. With However, there is some good news. Since 2010, when the Regional Bay Clean-up Plan, also called the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint was established, the wastewater sector has cut nitrogen levels from 52 million pounds to 36 million pounds annually, as of 20181.

Untreated sewage wastewater in our waterways poses several risks. First, human sewage, containing fecal matter

rich in nitrogen, contributes to algal blooms. Second, the bacteria in the water poses a health risk to people using

contaminated waters for recreational purposes such as

fishing and swimming.

Nanticoke Watershed Alliance is using the results for educational purposes, we can compare the optical brightener test results along with collected bacteria samples to locate the possible source of pollution. For example, if you find optical brighteners in storm drain runoff water upstream of a treatment plant outfall, it is an indication that some wastewater is bypassing treatment. Untreated water may be bypassing the treatment plant either by faulty sewage pipe connections or by leaky sewer pipes.

NWA staff will continue conducting these studies throughout the spring and summer of 2021. We have plans to test about 50 different sites on the Nanticoke in Delaware. Stay tuned for updates!

1 Sewage & Septic systems. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2021, from https://www.cbf.org/issues/sewage- septic-systems/

Cleaning the Nanticoke One Compost Bin at a Time

Composting is a fun and easy way to turn kitchen and yard scraps into fertile organic matter. Commonly known as black gold, compost can give your garden the nutrients it needs to flourish. Compost helps plants by adding nutrient-dense organic matter to its soil and by increasing the soil’s capacity to hold water. Using compost to help plant and soil health reduces the need to use chemical pesticides and fertilizers that can wash into the Nanticoke River, causing algae blooms and dead zones.

Composting relies on decomposition. This happens naturally as leaves fall and recycle their nutrients back into the soil. Depending on the size, compost can be started in a bin, a heap on the ground, or in a wooden crate enclosure. The process of composting is driven mostly by Mother Nature and time. To ensure our compost is happy and successful, we have to feed it the right ingredients.

Compost consists of two basic ingredients: greens and browns. Greens are things like kitchen scraps, peels, vegetables, and fresh grass clippings. They are used to provide nutrients and moisture to compost. Browns are things like leaves, twigs, paper, coffee grounds, and egg shells. In order to make really good compost you have to get the balance right between the greens and the browns. If the compost looks too dry, liven it up with some of the “Green” materials or add water to keep it moist. If it looks wet and soupy, put more “Brown” materials in. Don’t put any meat, dairy, dog poop, cat poop, glass, metal, plastic, or weeds into your compost. You’ll also find that gardeners might use cow, horse, or sheep manure in their composts. Manure is so nutrient dense that it has the ability to correct both clay and sandy soil conditions.

Knowing the right materials to compost will put you on the right track to success. The only other thing you have to do is mix it. You should turn your compost every 3 to 7 days. This can be done with a shovel, rake, or pitch fork. Aerating the compost helps speed up decomposition, reduce smell, and avoid pest infestations. After it’s all said and done, composting itself is like a miracle: nature can turn something useless into something richly fertile. You don’t have to take our word for it though, you can see for yourself! An economic study from the University of Delaware found that the Nanticoke River watershed contributes over $3.7 billion annually to the region’s economy. To ensure this resource remains useful, we have to be smart about how we dispose our waste and how we amend our gardens. Together we can keep the Nanticoke River clean, one compost heap at a time.

The Nanticoke Watershed Alliance and guest speakers discussed the environmental and economic benefits of the Nanticoke River in our Economics and the Environment in the Nanticoke Webinar. By conducting one of the first economic studies in the region, researchers from the University of Delaware Water Resources Center were able to conclude that the water, natural resources, and ecosystems of the Nanticoke River watershed contribute $3.7 billion annually to the region’s economy. Watch the webinar on our YouTube page and find out more information about the Nanticoke economy on our website. Presentations include:

Economic Value of the Nanticoke Watershed, Gerald J. Kauffman & Andrew Homsey, University of Delaware, Water Resource Center.

Birding Economic Impacts, Jim Rapp, Conservation Community Cons.

Chickens and the Delmarva Economy, Holly Porter, Delmarva Chicken Association.

Anaerobic Digestion – Waste Management & Economic Development, Peter Ettinger, Bioenergy Devco.

Economic Impacts of Local Fisheries, Fred Pomeroy, Waterman & Farmer.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2021 PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION

Richard Ball, President Avery Hall Insurance Layton’s Chance Vineyard & Dorchester Citizens for Planned Company Winery Growth Bank of Delmarva Mid Atlantic Farm Credit

Stephen L. Marsh, Secretary Bath Fitter Nanticoke River Arts Council George, Miles & Buhr, Chesapeake Bay NRG Alan Girard, Treasurer Foundation Chesapeake Bay Foundation Procino Enterprises Crystal Steel Fabricators, Inc. Christina Darby Ridge to Reefs Friends of the Nanticoke River Chesapeake Utilities Trap Pond Partners JoJo Wingrove Corporation Trap Pond State Park Envirocorp Labs Chicone Ruritan Club

Tri-Gas & Oil Brittney Sturgis Commissioners of Bridgeville Delaware Department of Natural Salisbury University Resources Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. Tami Ransom University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science Salisbury University DNREC

Weisner Real Estate, Inc. Richard E. Hall Dorchester Citizens for New Castle County Planned Growth William Russ, CPA

Doug Marshall Dorchester Soil Conservation Marshall Auction Company District Matt Holloway Doug Stephens, Coldwell

Baywater Farms Banker Real Estate Agent Carol Dunahoo Envirocorp Labs WET & Friends of the Nanticoke First Shore Federal Saving & Loans

The Forestland Group STAFF Now, more than ever, The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Lisa Wool your donation is urgently Perdue Foundation Executive Director needed. Beth Wasden Friends of Blackwater Volunteer & Outreach Coordi. National Wildlife Refuge Sydney Williams Friends of the Nanticoke To donate to the NWA Education Coordinator River please visit: Max Horan AmeriCorps Member George, Miles, and Buhr, LLC www.NanticokeRiver.org Robin Weber Hebron Savings Bank or go to our Facebook Americorps Member Laurel Redevelopment Corp. and click “Donate.”

CONSERVING THE NATUR AL, CULTURAL, AND RECREATIONAL RESOURCES OF THE NANTICOKE RI VER WATERSHED