Swimmable ShoreRivers Program Returns, Expands Access to Results

Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards shows off one of ShoreRivers’ new informational signs at Morgnec Landing on Morgan Creek. Located at 14 sites (and counting) across the Eastern Shore, these signs provide information on bacteria in our waterways and the Swimmable ShoreRivers program, in addition to and showing users where to find weekly test results in both English and Spanish.

ShoreRivers is pleased to announce that not only will its Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program begin Thursday, May 25, but that weekly results from this annual program will be available this year in both English and Spanish.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to provide important human health risk information to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and makes public the results of that testing to let people know about current bacteria levels as they make their plans for recreating in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta holds water quality samples. This summer, ShoreRivers and a team of volunteer SwimTesters will monitor bacteria levels at sites around the region, providing a critical public health service for communities and identifying pollution hotspots for future restoration efforts.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, has been set up to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs were made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working throughout the season with local county officials to install more. Want to see one at your favorite local landing? Reach out to your Riverkeeper about adding a site, and talk to your county officials about installing one of these free and informative signs.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites have also been added in both languages.

“At ShoreRivers, we believe that access to clean water is an essential right for all of our communities,” said Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. “It was important to us to be able to offer informational access to more of our community, and we hope to continue expanding this access in the future.”

This public service provided by ShoreRivers truly is a community effort: this summer, 61 SwimTesters will monitor 46 sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester, and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks. Special thanks go to our generous site sponsors, who include towns, marinas, homeowner’s associations, and families.

Bacteria levels in our rivers and tributaries vary based on location, land use, and weather—making systematic, scientific analysis of local water quality vital. Major rain events are almost always connected to spikes in bacteria levels, and outgoing tides have a higher probability of carrying bacteria pollution. Potential chronic sources of bacteria include failing septic systems, overflows or leaks from wastewater treatment plants, waste from animal farms, or manure fertilizer.

Also returning for the 2023 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which begins running during Memorial Day weekend. The Pumpout Boat is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-October. With your help, this boat will help prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering our waters annually. To schedule a pump-out, contact Captain Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email POBCaptJim@gmail.com, or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

D.C. Court of Appeals Vacates Federal License for Conowingo Dam

See the full release from Waterkeepers Chesapeake, ShoreRivers, Earth Justice, and the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association

(Silver Spring, MD) Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion vacating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) licensing of the Conowingo Dam and remanded it back to FERC. In its decision, the court agreed with Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, ShoreRivers, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s argument that FERC exceeded its authority when it approved a 50-year license without including the Water Quality Certification that Maryland issued in 2018.

The Clean Water Act provides that no license or permit under section 401 shall be granted until certification has been obtained or has been waived by a state. The court agreed with us that “Maryland did not fail or refuse to act. Just the opposite. The state acted when it issued the 2018 certification.” Furthermore, the court stated that FERC cannot issue “a license based on a private settlement arrangement entered into by Maryland after the state had issued a certification with conditions but then changed its mind.”

In remanding the license back to FERC, the court again agreed with us that there wouldn’t be disruptive consequences, and would allow the “completion of the administrative and judicial review that was interrupted by the settlement agreement.” The court emphasized that states are the “prime bulwark in the effort to abate water pollution.” The court decision clearly shows that delays could have been avoided if Maryland and other parties involved had followed the law from the beginning.

“We applaud the court’s decision and are glad to see that Constellation Energy (formerly Exelon) will be required to pay their fair share for the harm that their dam operations have caused to the Susquehanna River and downstream communities,” said Betsy Nicholas, Executive Director Waterkeepers Chesapeake. “This decision will not only protect the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay for the next 50 years of this license term, but will also ensure that all water quality certifications for large projects can’t just be thrown out when it is politically expedient or when the state is pressured to do so. This is a big win for the Chesapeake Bay, watermen, downstream residents, and the entire Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan.”

“Vacating the unlawful 50-year license for Conowingo Dam which was conspired by the dam’s owner Constellation Energy and Maryland Department of the Environment sets national precedent in protecting our communities and upholding the statutes of the Clean Water Act,” said Ted Evgeniadis, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper. “The Susquehanna River, Chesapeake Bay, and all users of these waters felt great relief today by the court’s decision. Constellation must be held accountable to help protect this critical estuary. If they would like to produce profits from the Susquehanna River, they must accept the fact they play a huge role in protecting downstream communities and must pay to protect water quality, migratory fish species, and recreational uses. Our challenge and court ruling sets the record straight in that large corporations do not get a free pass and are held accountable to the law as written.”

“ShoreRivers applauds the court’s decision to vacate this license and protect our local communities and their fundamental right to clean water. The Eastern Shore bears the brunt of the pollution that flows through the Conowingo Dam, creating navigational hazards, shorelines choked with debris, and oyster bars and underwater grass beds smothered with sediment,” said Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher from ShoreRivers. “We’re happy that the right decision was made in this case for our maritime communities and economy, and to protect all of the restoration work that Marylanders have worked so hard to implement. Today’s decision is a major win for our watermen, boaters, community members, and everyone who works, recreates, and enjoys our Eastern Shore waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.”

“Today’s decision makes clear that project owners and states can’t do an end-run around Clean Water Act provisions that Congress put in place to protect the nation’s waters and the public interest,” said James Pew, a senior Earthjustice attorney who represented the groups in litigation. “Water quality certifications have to include all the requirements that are necessary to protect a state’s waters and they can’t be abandoned or altered in private backroom deals.”

Maryland’s 2018 certification identified the minimum steps necessary for the dam operations to protect the water quality of the Lower Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, including reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus flowing from the dam, ensuring fish and eel passage, improving the dam’s flow regime to protect downstream habitats, controlling trash and debris, providing for monitoring and undertaking other measures. Maryland can go forward with the current certification or go through the process to create a new one. The inclusion of the certification water quality protections in the dam’s license will accelerate progress on the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan (TMDL).

ShoreRivers Expands Algae Monitoring Program with Innovative Technology

ShoreRivers is utilizing cutting-edge technology and equipment to track and monitor algal blooms on Eastern Shore waterways, including this wireless field microscope (left) and an algal fluorometer (right). 

This summer, thanks to grant funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Cornell Douglas Foundation, ShoreRivers purchased two pieces of scientific monitoring equipment that significantly improve our ability to predict and monitor toxic algal blooms in real time, facilitating much faster sharing of results with the community. We are hoping that our ability to more quickly alert the public of potential health hazards will result in fewer illnesses in humans and fewer deaths in beloved pets.

ShoreRivers works for waterways that are swimmable and fishable. The Swimmable ShoreRivers program uses expert staff, state-of-the-art technology, and dedicated volunteer time to monitor bacteria levels, tidal water quality, and toxic algal blooms in our rivers. ShoreRivers strives to provide the community with these data so they can make informed decisions about whether or not to recreate in their waterways.

As part of this initiative, ShoreRivers monitors algal blooms in conjunction with the Maryland Departments of the Environment, Natural Resources, and Health, and local county health departments. Monitoring blooms can be a time-consuming process that involves multiple government agencies and requires transporting samples across the state. With traditional methods, results can take days or weeks to return, leaving community members in the dark about potentially unsafe—even deadly—algal blooms.

Algae occurs naturally in our rivers, but blooms are fueled by excess nitrogen and phosphorus running off into local rivers and streams. Excess nutrients come from agricultural and lawn fertilizers, leaking septic systems, non-native ornamental plantings, tree removal, and other human activities.

During the summer months, all of our waterways experience algal blooms with varying levels of toxicity. Blooms are becoming more toxic, longer lasting, and more frequent. Algal blooms can fluctuate rapidly depending on weather conditions, tidal phases, and time of day. Exposure to toxins can be fatal to pets within just 12 hours. In humans, these algal toxins can cause rashes, gastrointestinal illness, and neurological or liver damage, especially in children and other at-risk individuals. For all these reasons, the ability to predict potential blooms and monitor active blooms is critically important in order to keep people and pets safe.

Algal Monitoring Equipment and Technology

The first piece of new equipment is an algal fluorometer (commonly used by researchers and state agencies) that monitors phycocyanin and chlorophyll ratios—indicators of an imminent or active bloom. Chlorophyll is one of the pigments found in plants that allows them to absorb sunlight during photosynthesis. Phycocyanin is a pigment most commonly found in cyanobacteria species, like those present during certain types of harmful algal blooms. By monitoring their ratios, it is possible to predict when a bloom is about to occur. Results return in 10 seconds or less, which allows for real-time monitoring in the field and gives our staff the flexibility to take more samples, more often.

The second piece of equipment is a high-powered, wireless field microscope that syncs to a phone or tablet and provides a live view of algae cells. Using an app, Riverkeepers can quickly identify algae and calculate cell density to determine if harmful species are present in concerning amounts.

These new pieces of equipment have allowed our Riverkeepers to monitor potential blooms and respond to active ones much more quickly. Once a bloom has been confirmed to have high levels of toxin-producing algae species like Microcystis, Riverkeepers send water samples to the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment for toxin testing.

Additionally, Riverkeepers utilize other technology to enhance their monitoring program, including satellite imaging from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cyanobacteria Assessment Network Tool and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. These tools use infrared and ultraviolet lenses on satellites to pick up algal blooms around the country.

ShoreRivers Participates in Bay-Wide Research

Because of this innovative new technology, ShoreRivers was able to join a pilot program conducted by BloomOptix, a research company based in New York. Researchers from around the country are participating in this program, which has developed artificial intelligence technology that can provide algae species identification and cell counts in a matter of minutes.

ShoreRivers is also working with the Innovation Lab at Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, which captures and uploads water quality data, including water temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and phycocyanin concentrations, every 20 minutes to its website. This publicly available data, captured via remote sensor at Budds Landing on the Cecil County side of the Upper Sassafras River, is extremely useful in monitoring for potential algal blooms.

Despite this innovative and rapidly evolving technology, community participation is still vital to ShoreRivers’ work. Anyone who observes potential algal blooms should contact their local Riverkeeper, who can identify whether or not a toxic bloom is occurring. Blooms can vary in appearance, but it is generally a good idea to avoid water contact where there is visible algae, particularly if it resembles pea soup or green paint, or if it emits an odor. Pets, livestock, children, and adults with compromised immune systems are particularly sensitive to algal blooms.

For interested community members wanting to learn more, please contact Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher at zkelleher@shorerivers.org.

ShoreRivers is pleased to bring significant state and federal resources into the region to support integral work for healthy rivers on behalf of our communities. Follow the progress of these projects: @shorerivers on Facebook; @shoreriversorg on Instagram; or subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter at shorerivers.org/subscribe.