Bernie Fowler and St. Mary’s River Watershed Association Board of Directors President Joe Anderson with members of the Chesapeake Charter School Chorus.
St. Mary’s City, MD – An ideal early autumn weekend included a celebration of one of the Chesapeake Bay’s most unique tributaries. Riverfest 2017 shone the spotlight on the St. Mary’s River. The five-hour festival was held in St. Mary’s City Saturday, Sept. 23 and was co-produced by the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (SMRWA) and Historic St. Mary’s City. The 22-mile long river, which intersects with the Potomac River near that longer river’s confluence with the Chesapeake Bay, is amazingly pristine. Its stewards will tell you that didn’t happen by accident or coincidence.
“We have very broad grassroots support,” said SMRWA Executive Director Bob Lewis. “We were founded on collaboration.” Lewis said all of St. Mary’s County’s local elected officials, including state lawmakers, are on board with cleaning up the river. The support includes members of the local development community.
“This river here is one of the prettiest,” said former state senator, former Calvert County commissioner and well-known Patuxent River advocate Bernie Fowler, who attended the festival and led a wade-in—similar to the one he annually hosts on the Patuxent. In addition to Fowler—sporting his familiar cowboy hat, overalls and white sneakers—waders included several students from Chesapeake Charter School and Delegate Deb Rey [R – District 29B].
“We’re really making progress on the St. Mary’s River,” said SMRWA Board of Directors President Joe Anderson, a former St. Mary’s County commissioner. According to Anderson, the St. Mary’s River has improved through “lots of work, lots of volunteers” and the planting of “millions of oysters.” Anderson told TheBayNet.com that since the State of Maryland owns several miles of shoreline and the building restrictions that are part of Maryland’s Critical Areas law, limited development along the river aids the effort to keep it clean. There are no water and sewerage treatment plants in proximity.
Still, according to the SMRWA web site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists St. Mary’s River as an “impaired tributary” due to water clarity, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen. Lewis said the association is hoping to convince the Army Corps of Engineers to include the St. Mary’s River in its Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration strategy. Three sites have reefs constructed and are seeded with baby oysters.
Rey told TheBayNet.com that she will reintroduce legislation during the 2018 session that will allow a tax credit program for recycling oyster shells to continue.
In addition to several exhibits and the reenactment of St. Mary’s River region settlers and militia, Riverfest included live entertainment by the Chesapeake Charter School Chorus, Don Kenefick, Indian Summer plus David and Joseph Norris. Some of the more popular exhibits included “Birds of Prey” and boat rides.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
