2010

Thanks to all the volunteers who attending the training and set out April 24 to collect their samples!!!  We were able to sample all 48 sites this year!!  We learn a lot about our watershed through the information collected on this day and we greatly appreciate your participation!  Complete results will be available as soon as Diana finishes analyzing and compiling the information.

Thanks again everyone!!!!

Each year, on a single day in spring, Federation volunteers spread out across the entire South River watershed and conduct water quality tests to assess the River’s health. Although the data represents just a “snapshot” in time, collecting the data from 40 to 50 sites around the River simultaneously, and doing it at about the same time each year gives a good general barometer of the relative health of our streams and creeks.

The 2010 Snapshot will be held on Saturday, April 24th between 9-11am.  Even if you have volunteered for this event in the past, you must still attend one of two training sessions as some of the sampling protocols may have changed and it’s also when you select your sampling site and pick up your kit. The first training is Sunday, April 18th at the Police Station in Edgewater on Stepney Lane at 1:00 and the other is on Wednesday evening, April 21 at 7:00pm at Chesapeake Bay Foundation building.  For more information, please contact Cindy at 410-224-3802.

2009 Overall Snapshot Results:

During the 2009 Snapshot, only 5% of the sites sampled failed the EPA limit for bacteria, as compared with 23% in 2008 and over 50% of the sites in 2007.  This was probably because it had not rained for several days before this year's snapshot. Water clarity was significantly better in 2009 as well, likely for similar reasons.  Nutrient levels in the river varied considerably by the areas sampled and type of nutrient examined.  For instance, nitrate levels were low coming down from the headwaters area but higher near the mouth of the river.  High nitrate levels are often associated with runoff from septic systems, wastewater treatment plants, or fertilized areas.  Phosphate levels, often associated with fertilizers, detergents, and stream bank erosion, were uniformly moderate across the river.  More detailed results are posted below:

What does this mean?

• 2009 Snapshot captured “baseline” conditions of many streams (no rain, i.e. stormwater, for a week).
• Improvement from 2008 to 2009 likely due to weather at time of sampling.
• Very little pollutants appear to be coming from forested headwaters area (Let’s preserve this area!).

Past Snapshot Results: