River CHOPTANK RIVERKEEPER® MILES WYE RIVERKEEPER® CSpringhampion 2017 Newsletter Annual Report Founder’s Notes by Tim Junkin Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures were the materializes at the North Pole every winter—has never been warmest since modern recordkeeping began observed at lower levels. Rising oceans inundated the East Coast of the United States, impeding tourism at Miami Beach. Parts of in 1880, according to two independent and separate Dorchester County, Maryland are permanently under water. analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), released in January. NASA’s analysis As this was first reported, the new director of the EPA, Scott incorporates temperature measurements from 6,300 weather Pruitt, was undergoing confirmation hearings. Pruitt, while the stations around the globe. The 2016 temperatures continue a attorney general of Oklahoma, filed an amicus brief supporting long-term warming trend, driven by increased carbon dioxide the legal attack on the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Clean Water and other manmade emissions into the atmosphere. Blueprint, a challenge brought by the American Farm Bureau and other industry conglomerates in federal court. MRC was a Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 party to that lawsuit, on the opposite side from Pruitt, having warmest years on record occurring since 2001. intervened on behalf of the EPA. Fortunately, the attack failed. Last year also saw hundreds of miles of Australia’s Great Barrier Pruitt, with no training in science, actually sued the EPA fourteen Reef bleached and destroyed, the worst die-off ever observed times during his tenure as attorney general. On his own website in recorded history. Arctic sea ice—the continent of white that he prides himself as being “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.” (continued on page 2) Can we hold the line to protect our rivers? Timothy Junkin, Founder | Jeffrey Horstman, Executive Director and Miles-Wye RIVERKEEPER® | Matthew Pluta, Choptank RIVERKEEPER® (Founder’s Notes continued from page 1) It appears that for the foreseeable future there will be little poultry and agricultural communities, and with policymakers progress on conservation issues at the federal level. The in the legislature and state agencies. MRC’s education program question will be, can we hold the line, hold back the forces has never been stronger and continues growing, reaching aligned with powerful industry interests that seek to undo thousands of students. Our restoration efforts have exceeded all much of our progressive accomplishments? This is a particularly expectations. Over a two-year period, extending through 2017, urgent question today, for we confront it just as we are seeing MRC will manage the design and installation of over two million significant positive turnarounds in our rivers: underwater grasses dollars’ worth of pollution-reducing projects, mostly with money rebounding, clearer water than in decades, crabs and rockfish in raised from outside our area. And importantly, MRC works with abundance, less pollution. well over 1,000 volunteers annually. Many believe that the line will be drawn and held at the local So yes, our community has responded, and it has done so level, not just here on the Eastern Shore, but throughout the overwhelmingly. Which is what gives us hope and strength state of Maryland and the country. Which is why organizations going forward, gives us the confidence that we will not only like MRC are more important than ever, as we stand in the hold the line, but will continue to make progress in restoring, vanguard of the fight. All of us within the MRC community are protecting, and preserving our waterways. With all the ready for this. We cut our teeth on adversity, have learned to challenges we now face, seemingly from every direction— prevail as the underdog. political challenges, climate deniers, anti-regulation hysteria —there is nonetheless and unquestionably, a powerful urge and Back in 2008, when MRC was founded, with no structure in place, movement within and among our own citizens to protect our no board and no membership base, the question of the day, the home, the place we live, our rivers, our Earth. one that would be determinative of whether the effort could succeed, was how our community would respond. In the pages that follow, we highlight just some of the projects that are underway at MRC. We also include in this issue our Would our community support Annual Report. And with great appreciation, we recognize and a river protection program? thank our many 2016 supporters. Today, just eight years later, MRC has thousands of supporting Those of us who have the privilege of working here are members, an unparalleled staff of ten professionals comprised keenly aware, every day, that it is the entire MRC community of scientists, educators, lawyers, and Riverkeepers, a strong that enables us to do what we do. You, our supporters and and active board, and a committed advisory council. We volunteers, are the essential base from which we derive our partner with businesses, universities, school boards, places of strength and our effectiveness. We are grateful for all of your worship, other NGOs, county governments, and state agencies. support. We are confident that you will want to continue it, as Our executive director has become a leading voice from the we know how deeply committed all of you are to conservation Eastern Shore on key policy issues region-wide. A respected stewardship. So from all of us at MRC: Onward into the breach! advocate at the highest level, he is sought after for strategic committees, is working collaboratively with leaders from the And most of all, THANK YOU! Some of MRC’s more than 1,000 volunteers. 2 443.385.0511 Pollution Reports and Riverkeeper Enforcement Actions Thank you to local citizens who have brought pollution sources and clean water violations to our attention. We can’t be everywhere, and your input is invaluable in keeping our rivers healthy. Some of the issues our Riverkeepers have mitigated include: • Critical Area Violations in Denton (Choptank River) and on the Wye River: Waterfront property owners clear cutting trees without a permit and without a mitigation plan. • Tree Removal and Inadequate Erosion Controls (Miles River): Trees were cut and cleared along a drainage ditch in the right-of-way of a state road and the disturbed site was inadequately stabilized and no mitigation plan was executed. • Recurring Oil Leaks in Bellevue Marina (Choptank River): Reports of recurring oil sheens in and around the Bellevue Marina along the Tred Avon River. • Industrial Dredge Permit (Choptank River): Permit review and public hearing for a dredge permit near Easton Point along the Tred Avon River. • Sunken Derelict Boat (Choptank River): Abandoned boat sinks and leaks fuel at property owner’s dock along MRC advocates have been working in this year’s Tuckahoe Creek. legislative session to support a number of key • Four Seasons Development in Critical Area (Kent provisions including the following: Narrows): Proposed development in the Critical Area and Oyster Fisheries Management Bill—would the destruction of tidal wetlands. prohibit DNR from opening up sanctuaries for • Industrial Groundwater Permit (Choptank River): Permit harvest until the scientific stock assessment, review and public hearing for an industrial groundwater required under last year’s Sustainable Oyster discharge permit in Tuckahoe Creek watershed. Fisheries Management Act, is complete in 2018; • Unpermitted Industrial Surface Water Discharge (Choptank River): Facility discharging effluent to surface Bay Restoration Fund—advocating to retain waters of the state in Tuckahoe Creek without permit. 10 million dollars in the Bay Restoration Fund for Bay-related projects, which the governor is • Failed Erosion Controls at Golf Course (Miles River): Erosion controls used in the reconstruction of a golf course seeking to move to urban projects; fail during extreme weather. Forest Conservation Act—establish a task • Toxic Levels of Lead at Shooting Range (Wye River): force to review, study and develop findings Soils at a shooting range along the Wye River report toxic and recommendations regarding forest levels of lead. conservation in Maryland. midshoreriverkeeper.org 3 A Sampling of Projects iChesapeake College Restoration and Stormwater Projects MRC was awarded nearly $745,000 by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Chesapeake & Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund to manage the design and construction of a group of restoration and stormwater projects on the campus of Chesapeake College. This grant was then supplemented by a matching grant of $292,587 from Queen Anne’s County. This suite of projects includes a wetland restoration, bioretention facilities that filter stormwater, and a stream restoration that will reduce erosion caused by flow from both impervious surfaces on the campus and from agricultural fields on both sides of Route 50, improving water quality in the Wye River. photo credit: Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay It is scheduled for completion in 2018. hEnvision the Choptank: Collaborative Restoration for Oyster Success Envision the Choptank is a collaborative initiative with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and eight other partners to develop solutions that ensure the long-term sustainability of native oyster reefs, and support a fishable, swimmable Choptank River. With $226,582 in funds from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and matching sources, the grant partners will determine locations in the watersheds of Broad Creek, Harris Creek and the Tred Avon River where land-based restoration will provide the greatest water quality benefits. We will also increase implementation of agricultural and residential best management practices. Top photo: Greg Farley, Chesapeake College professor of biological MRC WOMEN ROCK! science and director of the Center for Leadership in Environmental Education, and MRC Director of Operations Kristin Junkin at an eroded Kristin Junkin (MRC’s own Wilma Flintstone) takes delivery of stream restoration site on the Chesapeake College campus.