More Low Health Grades for Maryland Rivers

Severn, Patuxent latest rivers to receive report cards

March 2009 -- Fred Kelly fondly looks back on his youth, when he used to fish for an iconic Bay species early each spring with his father.

"This time of year, I'd normally be out there catching yellow perch," recalled Kelly, the Severn Riverkeeper, at the release of the first annual Severn River report card, one of several "report cards" on the health of the rivers that flow to the Chesapeake Bay.

"This report card shows that we can really do a better job," said Kelly.

Overall, the Severn River received a C-, or a 45 out of 100. In addition to yellow perch, the report card lists volunteer-collected data on dissolved oxygen, water clarity and underwater bay grasses.

In 2008, volunteers detected a large "dead zone" -- an area without enough oxygen for underwater life to survive -- in Round Bay, which is located in the middle part of the Severn River. This low-oxygen area was unusual because it occurred in relatively shallow waters; the more common "dead zones" that occur in the Chesapeake are usually found in deeper waters. The exact cause of this low-oxygen area has yet to be determined, but Pierre Henkart, scientific advisor with the Severn Riverkeeper program, believes algae blooms fueled by excess nutrients were a major contributor.

In contrast with the poor oxygen conditions, Round Bay was home to the majority of the 311 acres of underwater bay grasses mapped in the Severn River in 2008. This is likely due to relatively clear waters in that area that allow sunlight to filter through and reach the grasses growing at the bottom.

"We really have the good, the bad and the ugly in Round Bay," said Henkart.

The discovery of the Round Bay dead zone is an example of the importance of local river monitoring and report cards, said Dr. Bill Dennison with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, which assisted with the Severn report card.

"We become aware of problems in areas where we do not have monitoring stations," said Dennison, noting that out of 166 monitoring stations throughout the Chesapeake, there is only one for the Severn; it's located at the mouth of the river, far from Round Bay.

Farther south, on the Patuxent River, the grade announced last week was slightly worse than that on the Severn: the Patuxent received a D- health score -- just a 23 out of 100. While very low, the score is a slight increase from the previous year.

The Patuxent report card lists growth and development as major problems fouling the river. "How we build, how we treat the soils, what we put onto the ground and in storm drains, and even what we put into our toilets shape the future of our fragile water supply," explains Fred Tutman, the Patuxent Riverkeeper, in the report card.

A common theme among this spring's crop of report cards is an emphasis on what people can do to help the Bay and their local rivers. The Severn report card features four "Solutions from the Riverkeeper": installing living shorelines, replacing traditional septic systems with enhanced nutrient-reducing ones, controlling polluted runoff with rain barrels and rain gardens, and joining the Severn Riverkeeper program. The Patuxent River report card features tips from volunteer water quality testers.

"Common people can do simple things to protect water by cutting down on fertilizers and pesticides, by recycling, and just getting out into the watershed," said one woman, who tests the waters of the Patuxent with her two young children.

Read the full Severn River report card and Patuxent River report card.