Latest news with #ChesapeakeBayJournal
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maryland oysters on the upswing, latest survey shows
A cluster of oysters grows just below the surface of Maryland's Choptank River. (Photo by Dave Harp/Chesapeake Bay Journal) By Timothy B, Wheeler The Chesapeake Bay Journal Maryland's oyster population remains in pretty good shape, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Preliminary results from DNR's annual reef survey in fall 2024 found that the state's stock of Chesapeake Bay bivalves experienced above-average reproduction last summer, and the diseases that once devastated them remain at relatively low levels. The state's oysters had a banner spawn in 2023 with baby oysters, or 'spat,' seen in great abundance throughout the Bay, even in areas that haven't had any reproduction in a generation or two. The 2024 'spatfall intensity index,' which measures the density of tiny oysters, declined but remained above the 39-year median for the fifth straight year. DNR sampled almost 300 oyster bars from Oct. 8 through Nov. 25, taking note of oyster abundance and health, including reproduction, disease intensity and mortality. The bumper crop of juvenile oysters in 2023 resulted from persistent dry weather elevating salinity levels that year. That also helps spread and intensify MSX and Dermo, the two diseases that ravaged oysters Baywide from the mid-1980s through the early 2000s. Overall, the 2024 oyster biomass — a combination of size and number of bivalves — was 62% above the long-term average and the third-highest annual figure since DNR began tracking it. Oyster survival in fall 2024 was good, the survey found, even in places like the upper Potomac River, where high freshwater flows in winter and spring had lowered salinities to levels stressful for oysters. Freshwater stunts the growth of young oysters, but the lower salinity also reduces disease levels overall. Disease and mortality are relatively low now, but they could rebound if the winter's dry weather continues into the spring, officials say. 'We really need to see some rainfall,' Chris Judy, DNR's shellfish division director, told the department's Oyster Advisory Commission on March 17.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bringing wetlands back to Baltimore's ‘forgotten waterfront'
Brad Rogers, executive director of the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, stands on a berm being built along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River to help create about 10 acres of new wetlands. (Photo by Dave Harp/Chesapeake Bay Journal) By Timothy B. Wheeler The Chesapeake Bay Journal The low, rock-covered berm juts like a crooked finger into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. It doesn't look like much now. When finished, though, this and other marine construction work under way in South Baltimore will become 10 acres of wetlands in a city desperately short of natural shoreline. Roughly three quarters of Baltimore's waterfront is lined with bulkheads, piers and brick promenades, hardening that severely limits habitat for waterfowl, fish and crabs. The Hanover Street project is the opening salvo in an ambitious effort to restore more than 50 acres of wetlands along 11 miles of shoreline in the long-neglected southern part of the city. 'A year from now, you'll see a … freshly planted wetland that extends far out into the water,' said Brad Rogers, executive director of the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. In league with the city and another nonprofit group, Parks and People Foundation, Rogers' group is spearheading the restoration effort. The Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative, as it's called, aims to protect disadvantaged communities in South Baltimore from increasingly frequent flooding and improve water quality there while also providing residents better access to the waterfront. The initiative is part of a more expansive plan called Reimagine Middle Branch, a community-driven environmental justice movement to enhance the 19 neighborhoods in the area and reconnect them to the shoreline they've been cut off from for so long. The vision, Rogers said, is to transform what's been called Baltimore's forgotten waterfront into Baltimore's next great waterfront. For as long as anyone can remember, the Middle Branch's shores have suffered from erosion, ship-channel dredging and filling of wetlands. People passing by on busy Hanover Street couldn't even see the water because their view was blocked by a forest of phragmites. 'It used to be this wide open, deltaic environment with reeds and birds,' Rogers explained as he walked along the rocky berm under construction in the river. Now, the invasive plants crowding the water's edge have been removed. The berm, once finished, is to be topped with a layer of sand and organic material, into which wetlands vegetation will be planted. The berm and its plants will help dampen wave-driven erosion from storms and nuisance flooding, protecting a vital traffic artery. Gaps left in the offshore structure will provide access to quieter near-shore water for fish and waterfowl. For the time being, a floating yellow boom stretches out from the shoreline encompassing the area undergoing a nature makeover. But even before the first blade of marsh grass gets planted, the project is drawing a crowd — of birds and fish. 'You put in this boom and suddenly you see herons, cormorants and menhaden along the shore,' Rogers said. The Hanover Street wetland is expected to be completed later this year even as construction is planned to start on three other projects. Next up is rehabilitation of a 9-acre patch of marsh between two streets that parallel the river. 'What we're doing is restoring [its] connectivity to the Patapsco and restoring it as a more ecologically functional marsh as opposed to wet soils and phragmites,' Rogers said. After that, wetlands are to be added along the shore by Medstar Harbor Hospital, where flooding-aggravated erosion threatens the Middle Branch Trail along the waterfront and is crumbling three concrete piers standing forlornly in the water. 'We want to be able to expand and enhance that and make it a much more attractive place to spend time,' Rogers said. More wetlands are planned along a tract known as Spring Gardens, the ironically named site of a BGE liquefied natural gas tank farm. The final project would restore woods and marsh at Smith Cove, where two stormwater outfalls now dump runoff from the developed uplands. A boardwalk and environmental education center are also planned there to connect with a new half-mile long waterfront park in Westport. The waterfront park is to be built in conjunction with a new housing, office and retail complex, One Westport, the first phase of which began construction last year on a 43-acre swath of waterfront that's sat barren for decades awaiting redevelopment. A coal-burning power plant once occupied part of the site, and an unknown quantity of potentially toxic ash from the facility was buried at a spot now largely paved over, according to an inventory of coal ash disposal sites. 'For the first time in history,' Rogers said, Westport residents 'will have access to their own waterfront.' Unlike many previous urban redevelopment efforts, under Reimagine Middle Branch, the South Baltimore group has worked with leaders and residents of the area's neighborhoods to plan the Westport park's amenities, including a playground, outdoor gathering space, kayak launch and a memorial to the Black Sox Negro League baseball team. 'We're not telling them how they want to develop, and we're not telling them what kind of investment they're looking for,' said Rogers. 'We're helping them choose.' In conjunction with the physical upgrades, the partnership also has sponsored a series of activities and events, including boat cruises in warm weather and ice skating in winter, to encourage residents to come to and reclaim their waterfront. The partnership has raised about $67 million just for the shoreline restoration work, with much more to be lined up for the Westport park and other elements of Reimagine Middle Branch. About $40 million of the funds provided so far came from federal agencies. With the Trump administration trying to freeze or cancel many grants and Congress looking to slash spending overall, it's unclear how much more federal financial support can be counted on. 'It is a time of uncertainty,' Rogers acknowledged, 'and everyone involved in environmental restoration or economic development … is going to have to figure out how to be flexible and adaptive.' But the need is so great, he added, 'The work can't be stopped.'
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
DNR wants to focus restoration efforts on five watersheds, but funding is in doubt
A white-tailed deer peers from the edge of a wetland on Maryland's upper Choptank River, one of four watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay system chosen by the state for focused restoration efforts. (Photo by Dave Harp/Chesapeake Bay Journal) By Timothy Wheeler The Chesapeake Bay Journal Maryland is targeting five of its ailing watersheds for a concentrated push to restore them — but the state's budget crisis has put funding for the effort in doubt . The Department of Natural Resources announced March 6 that it has selected Antietam Creek in Washington County, Baltimore Harbor, Newport Bay near Ocean City, the Severn River in Anne Arundel County and the upper Choptank River on the Eastern Shore for a 'collaborative and science-based approach' to reducing pollution and improving shallow-water habitat. The watersheds — four connected with the Chesapeake Bay and one that's part of an Atlantic coastal bay — are the first chosen under the state's Whole Watershed Act passed in 2024. The law calls for focusing 'cost-effective' water quality improvement measures over a five-year period in areas likely to show a rapid response. The legislation came in response to a 2023 scientific report that warned existing programs to curb urban and farm runoff polluting the Bay and its rivers were falling short. It recommended shifting efforts to improve habitat for fish, especially in shallow waters. 'These five watersheds, which span the state of Maryland, will usher in the next phase of Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal bays restoration,' DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said in a press release. 'By working closely with local partners and focusing on specific areas, we believe we can more quickly attain statewide clean water goals.' DNR chose the watersheds from nine proposals submitted last fall by teams made up of community organizations, local governments, private firms and other groups in each watershed. The winning proposals were selected for most closely meeting the law's requirements that they target a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas, and that at least two be in 'an overburdened or underserved community.' The lead organization on the Baltimore harbor proposal, as an example, is the nonprofit South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, which is already engaged in creating wetlands along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River to reduce flood risk and filter stormwater. The partnership is also working to improve fish habitat, plant trees, increase waterfront access and spur economic growth in South Baltimore neighborhoods like Cherry Hill and Westport. On the upper Choptank, the nonprofit ShoreRivers and its partners proposed targeting pollution management practices in four predominantly agricultural areas and also working with local governments and disenfranchised communities to address stormwater, wastewater and habitat concerns. The law calls for financing the work by pooling funding from several existing sources, including the Maryland Cost Share Program (MACS), Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF), Bay Restoration Fund, Clean Water Commerce Act fund, Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, and Waterway Improvement Fund. DNR had planned to award $2 million in the coming year to each of the selected watersheds, using money from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, Bay Restoration Fund and Clean Water Commerce Act fund. Some farm-related projects are to receive grants through funding controlled by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. But Maryland lawmakers are struggling to close a projected $3 billion state budget gap, and legislative analysts have proposed taking revenue normally earmarked for land preservation and runoff pollution reduction grants, draining at least three of the funding sources DNR had planned to use. DNR is urging lawmakers to ignore the analysts' recommendation. 'We have emphasized to state legislators, who just passed the Whole Watershed Act last year, that this funding is integral to implementing their vision to achieve watershed-scale environmental improvements and community benefits,' DNR spokesman AJ Metcalf said.
