The Chesapeake Bay is immense. Stretching 200 miles from Havre de Grace, Maryland to Norfolk, Virginia, it is the largest estuary in the United States.
- Long and narrow, the bay can be imagined as a pipe that drains more than 100,000 streams, creeks, and rivers into the Atlantic. If the bay itself is a drain, then the six states that form its watershed are a large sink.
- The bay boasts 11,684 miles of shoreline, more than the entire West Coast of the United States.
- The bay holds more than 15 trillion gallons of water. It boasts a harvest of more than 500 million pounds of seafood every year.
- Seventeen million people live and play in Chesapeake Country. About 10 million live close to the shoreline of the bay and its tributaries. Estimates show that 150,000 families move into the Chesapeake watershed every year.
With these kinds of numbers in mind, it can be hard to imagine the sheer size of Chesapeake country, much less the impact that just one person can have on it. The truth is that the bay is a great treasure; one that we sometimes take for granted. Whether we talk about the value of the bay in terms of waterfront residential property, tourism, development, community space, recreation, environment or economic potential, it is only worth what we—the users who stamp it most significantly and who ultimately determine its fate—invest in its future. There are things you can do every day to save the bay, and there are things you should never do if you want to save the bay.
Dos
1
Re-Think How To Care For Your Lawn
If you admire a sprawling, perfectly green lawn, consider the impact that maintaining that yard can have on the bay. Across the watershed basin, more land is dedicated to lawns than to farms. Your lawn wants phosphate and nitrogen-—the chemicals in lawn fertilizers. But what your grass can’t use flows into the bay and is the direct cause of the massive algae blooms that appear in summer months. When the blooms die, they suck up all the oxygen in the water. “If you are anchored, like an oyster, you can’t escape the bloom or the lack of oxygen. Fish swarm together in small pockets, gasping for the last bits of oxygen in the water,” Tom Zolper of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says. “It’s like feeding a kid candy bar after candy bar. A little bit is delicious, but too much is deadly.”
Action:
Read up to learn how to purchase and use earth friendly fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides so that the inevitable runoff from your lawn is bay safe. Consider an all-natural or organic lawn. Importantly, require your landscape companies do the same. Contact the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council or other similar organizations to learn how you and your favorite landscape company can implement more bay friendly practices (www.chesapeakelandscape.org).
2
Plant Native Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers
The bay watershed loses 100 acres of forest every year. Property owners and developers like to replace foundation trees and native plants with lawn or flowering ornamentals. This decorative approach to landscaping is abetted by nurseries that promote the sale of pretty plants over functional, bay-friendly varieties. From the ground down, trees filter nutrients through the water table. They also stabilize soil to prevent the erosion that sends drain-clogging sediment into the bay. That sediment can kill bay plants and animals. From the ground up, large trees provide shade for waterways. Recent studies prove that water temperature is as closely tied to the environmental health of a stream or creek as is nutrition.
Action:
Consider planting large native shade trees. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources lists several varietieson its excellent Marylanders Plant Trees webpage.
Replace scrubby ornamental bushes with native plants.
Build a rain garden or a pollination garden to attract bees, butterflies, and bats.
If you can’t replant your own yard, join a local conservation group in a seasonal tree planting or consult the National Wildlife Federation on how to make your yard a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
3
Become an Aquaculture Specialist
If you’ve lived in Chesapeake country long enough, you probably know that healthy oyster reefs are an important indication of bay vitality. Planting oysters is a great way to learn about science in your local waterway. And parenting an oyster baby makes treasuring the Chesapeake a little more real. “If you can get a group of families on a creek growing oysters, you can eventually develop a reef and those reefs could really help filter the water in your local creek or stream,” Zolper says.
Action:
Read up on the Marylanders Grow Oysters program on the DNR website. In summer 2018, more than two million oysters were planted in sanctuary areas by the 5,000+ growers in the program. Participants learn how to grow oysters, build an oyster cage and receivea shell and tiny bitof spat (oyster babies), the precursor to what could become an actual oyster reef.
4
Join a Beach or Stream Clean Up
A beach or stream clean-up is a fun way to get down and dirty in your efforts to help the environment.
Action:
Contact local conservation groups like Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, South River Federation, Alice Ferguson Foundation, and Chesapeake Bay Trust to find a clean-up near you.
5
Obey Wake Laws
Speeding home in your powerboat after a long day on the water may not seem like a big deal. But Zolper says many studies show that wake has a tremendous impact on erosion, grass health and survival of underwater plants and animals, especially on smaller creeks.
Action:
Obey the law: slow down. The life you save might be the bay’s!
6
Practice Water Quality Protection
If your home is like most, rainwater hits the roof, travels down gutters, through downspouts, onto an asphalt driveway, and into your neighborhood’s storm drains. You don’t overthink about what happens en route from the clouds to the drain. But as it flows, stormwater picks up traces of pollutants such as petroleum and pesticides. Much stormwater runoff finds its way into groundwater, streams, creeks and rivers, and eventually to the bay, bringing all those pollutants with it. You might not be able to control aging sewer systems that contribute to major issues after rain, but you can consciously work to reduce your property’s impervious surface footprint.
Action:
Direct water flow from your roof, patio and downspouts away from concrete or impervious surfaces and toward grass or planted areas. Consider planting a rain garden to collect stormwater runoff. Use permeable pavers or a sustainable drainage system (SUDS) for driveways, sidewalks, and other hardscapes. Consider open-celled pavers filled with soil and vegetation that can catch up to 40 percent of the waterflow before it heads to the bay.
7
Attend and Promote Bay-Friendly Festivals
Have you thought about what happens to all the plastic water bottles, napkins, plates and utensils you leave behind after a carnival, fair or concert? It adds up to tons of garbage that heads to the landfill. Instead of creating more trash, why not attend greener, more sustainable festivals? Look for events that promote organic food vendors, refillable water stations, composting and recycling, and the use of technology over paper for communications.
Action:
BYO water bottle. By not purchasing single-use plastic water bottles, you can make a significant dent in the pounds of trash that can’t be recycled or that won’t decompose for generations. Carpool to events
Be sure to use the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” motto and to separate your event trash into garbage, recycling, and compost bins. BYO bags instead of grabbing yet another plastic bag.
8
Educate Yourself
There is a wealth of information about Chesapeake ecology within stepping distance from anywhere in the Delmarva region. Visit the Philip Merrill Environmental Center at Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Annapolis Maritime Museum in Annapolis, Blackwater Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, or one of any number of excellent (and free) state park visitor centers throughout the state to learn more about local ecology and how to save it.
Action:
Visit chesapeakebay.net to find out about museums and educational centers near you. Visit the booths of educational organizations at local fairs and festivals. Ask your community centers like churches and schools to host organizations near you. Work with an organization to make learning fun in your local community.
9
Foster Environmental Literacy
Anytime children or adults engage in environmentalism, we seem to grow even more love for the earth. By fostering a love for the plants, animals and landscapes that form the Chesapeake Bay, we can help grow a greater affinity and commitment to save it.
Action:
Do a fun, hands-on art, photography or music program focusing on bay issues. Could your school make art from plastic? Could your children use their phones or cameras to make a creative photo collage of your treks around the bay? What about planting a butterfly garden or a pollinator refuge? Visit baybackpack.com to learn more about student-aged lessons that foster environmental awareness and advocacy. Visit your local library to find programs and books about Bay ecology, history,and conservation.
10
Get Outside
A visit to even the smallest of streams is a direct view into the essential purpose that water has in the life of the bay. Besides, what is more fun than stomping in puddles, searching for tadpoles, spying tiny fish, or exploring the path a little stream takes to become a large river?
Action:
Just get outside. Enjoy a bay-front park close to you. There are countless under-utilized city, county, state, and federal parks in Chesapeake country. Try paddle boarding, kayaking or other sport in on or around the water. There are many public car top put-in locations throughout the area. Pack a picnic, take a hike, go geocaching, take a nap in the sunshine, stroll along your favorite waterfront esplanade.
Don'ts
1
Swim for 48 Hours After a Heavy Rainstorm
Operation Clear Water is a local effort to document the prevalence of Enterococci bacteria in area waterways. The presence of these bacteria indicates contamination with fecal waste, i.e. poop. The good news is that while a deluge of 1/2 inch or more can bring extremely high bacteria counts, just a few days of natural flow can bring clarity.
Action:
Be sure to check the Operation Clear Water website and the Anne Arundel County Department of Health Recreational Water Quality Report to see if waterways near you are safe.
Note: The Anne Arundel County Department of Health warns that all-natural bodies of water can contain bacteria, viruses or other harmful microorganisms and advises against swimming to any individual who has an ear infection, a perforated eardrum, open cuts, scratches or skin lesions, or a compromised immune system. Do not swim in water areas where there is a fish kill or where there are any dead animals.
2
Pump Out, Don’t Dump Out!
Speaking of fecal matter…the Chesapeake Bay may in theory be a drain, and it may in fact flush millions of gallons of water each day, but it is not a toilet. Most area marinas have pump out stations, many of which are free. Herrington on the Bay in southern Anne Arundel County offers mobile pump out right to your boat, so you don’t even have to dock. There are no excuses in this department: don’t pollute our community treasure with your personal waste!
Action:
Please pump! Imagine what happens when hundreds of recreationalists nonchalantly dump days’ worth of sewage directly into the water. It adds up pretty quickly!
3
Boaters like to use all sorts of soaps and conditioners to make their vessels shiny and pretty. And who doesn’t want to make sure they fill up with fuel to the very last drop possible for a day on the bay? But the harsh detergents and petrochemicals in these products drain into the water, where they kill wildlife and add to pollution. Would you like to swim, paddle board, or kayak through a chemical bath?
Action:
Use environmentally friendly boat products. Demand that your local marina do the same. And please, don’t top off and spill over!
4
Violate Fishing Regulations
We’ve all seen the sad videos of osprey caught in fishing line, turtles in nets and waterfowl unable to fly for the lines wrapped around their wings. When you cut an old line and let it drop into the water, you put wildlife at risk. It goes without saying that you diminish our resources when you take home undersize fish, keep female crabs, fish over your quota, or illegally harvest seafood.
Action:
This summer, why not try your hand at spearing a blue catfish in southern Maryland, or catching and grilling some snakehead? These two non-native species are taking over bay rivers and inlets, jeopardizing an already precarious food chain. We hear they taste delicious!
5
Underestimate the Power of a Rain Barrel
The force and volume of water pouring off roofs, driveways, sidewalks and streets during a quick and powerful mid-Atlantic rainstorm brings pollution, sediment and erosion to streams and rivers.
Action:
Install a rain barrel. There is a lot of talk about the cost of saving the bay, but rain barrels are inexpensive, easy to install and provide an immediate fix. “If you can get 30 percent homes and businesses to take some kind of moderating measures [like rain barrels], if you can get the city to take some mitigating measures, it would have a tremendous and instant healthy impact on streams,” Zolper says.
6
Be Apathetic
One person can make a difference for the bay! People naturally want to take care of a treasure they have invested in! Consider these small but important actions you could take to help the bay.
Action:
Have your home and property assessed by an Anne Arundel County Watershed Master Steward. Learn more at aaswa.org. Follow the Watershed Stewards Academy protocol for Clean Lawn Care. Next winter, contact the Department of Natural Resources to order free native trees and plants through their Backyard Buffers program. Enjoy Chesapeake seafood! Visit a Chesapeake farm and place your dollar vote for local farm products. Volunteer! There are literally countless ways to get involved.
