TIMOTHY D. JUNKIN, ESQ.
FOUNDER
JEFFREY H. HORSTMAN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MILES-WYE RIVERKEEPER
MATTHEW J. PLUTA
CHOPTANK RIVERKEEPER
Recent Initiatives – AUTUMN 2016
It is often said that our rivers suffer from a thousand cuts.
At Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, we are focused on finding and
implementing a thousand solutions!
NEW PUMPOUT BOAT: In collaboration
with the Maryland Dept. of Natural
Resources and the Chesapeake Bay
Maritime Museum, MRC has launched the
Eastern Shore’s first pumpout boat, which
will operate annually from May to October.
The vessel kept over 8,000 gallons of
pollution out of our rivers. The vessel offers
free pumpout service to boaters in the Miles
and Wye Rivers. Providing pumpout
services to boaters on the Miles and Wye Rivers will significantly reduce nutrient pollution
and harmful bacteria introduced by recreational boaters. Based on studies, surveys and
analysis of other pumpout boats, we estimate we will pump out between 15,000 and 25,000
gallons of concentrated marine waste per year. Pass the word: Please Pump, Don’t Dump!
Pictured are Jeff Horstman from MRC, Donna Morrow from DNR, and Kristin Greenaway
from CBMM.
AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION: MRC is
working cooperatively with farmers to reduce
pollution. Since 2013, we have obtained
outside grant funds and successfully designed
and
constructed
innovative
woodchip
bioreactors and groundwater interceptors on
Midshore farms, the first of such projects to be
installed in the state of Maryland. These
practices take very little land out of production,
are inexpensive, require no maintenance, can
last 20 to 30 years, and can significantly reduce
nitrogen in groundwater. We have multiple
Woodchip bioreactor installation. Photo © Dave Harp additional projects underway. We have also
embarked on a rigorous testing program to
prove the efficacy of these practices so that they will be eligible for TMDL credits and state
and federal funding.
24 North Harrison Street, Easton Maryland 21601 • 443.385.0511
 GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS: Over the next 12 months, MRC will bring over 2 million
dollars in outside grant money to our communities for the design and construction of
pollution-reducing projects.

EDUCATION LEADERSHIP: MRC has developed and is teaching an innovative
conservation education program, Students for Streams, designed to meet Maryland’s new
environmental literacy graduation requirements by students participating in a Meaningful
Watershed Education Experience. During the 2015-2016 school year, over 800 students from
five high schools in three counties will participate in both classroom and field study. The
students will implement a water quality program and execute an action project that positively
impacts local water quality.

WATERSHED ASSESSMENTS:

LAWN FERTILIZER CAMPAIGN: There are 1.3 million acres of lawn in Maryland compared
MRC completed the first-ever Wye River Assessment,
identifying key pollution drivers in the watershed and developing strategies and funding sources to
address those pollution sources. The completed report identifies strategic projects to improve water
quality in the watershed. MRC has obtained committed outside grant funding to design and construct
many of those identified remediation projects. During 2012, MRC, working in partnership with
Washington College and the Town of Easton, completed an assessment of the Tanyard Branch that
flows into the Tred Avon River. The detailed 130-page report prescribes 67 retrofits to revive the
tributary.
The Town of Easton is already moving forward to implement many of the
recommendations. Supported by a large private grant, MRC installed 255 filters in 50 town storm
water drains (street gutters) in Easton. These filters will remove nutrients, hydrocarbons, and
sediments from stormwater.
to about 1.5 million acres of agricultural land. Lawn fertilizer reduction has the potential to
profoundly improve water quality. MRC has embarked on a major effort to engage groups throughout
our region and to educate our communities about this opportunity. We are developing a longterm
campaign to change thinking and behavior about lawn fertilizer use—one that will include in-depth
research into behavioral motivation and an informed approach toward creating behavior change.

ADVOCACY: Our Riverkeepers serve as advocates for our rivers at every level. We publicly
support controversial community actions such as the Southern Kent Island Sewer Extension, when
they are the best solution to improving water quality. MRC has secured outside counsel and has
intervened in the Conowingo Dam re-licensing procedure, and we are advocating for remedies to the
threats the dam poses to clean water in the Chesapeake Bay. We are utilizing outside counsel to review
point-source permits in our watersheds and to curtail illegal pollution. We were intervenors in the U.S.
Farm Bureau v. EPA lawsuit, successfully supporting EPA’s effort to uphold the Chesapeake Bay’s
new Clean Water Blueprint. During the 2016 General Assembly session, MRC successfully worked
for legislation that adopted science-based protocols for oyster fishery management. We also helped
spearhead the effort for a stronger phosphorus regulation that was adopted in 2015. MRC staff helped
lead a multi-year advocacy campaign resulting in Maryland’s ban of arsenic in chicken feed—the first
state to do so.

RIVER PATROLS AND WATER QUALITY MONITORING: MRC manages an ongoing
water quality monitoring program and conducts regular river patrols. We engage over 50 Creekwatcher
volunteers and test over 100 sites from May to October. Each spring, we publish an annual State of the
Rivers Report Card detailing the health of our waterways. We disseminate the report to thousands of
households. Beginning in 2014, we began testing for bacteria in key swimming sites on our rivers and
published a health report on our website.