Intense thunderstorms last month brought huge chunks of hail to some areas, caused widespread flooding, and led to massive sewage overflows in the Jones Falls corridor. Raw sewage and wastewater debris exploded out of the manholes along the Jones Falls trail, settling on the path that is used every day by joggers, walkers, and cyclists….
Sediment pollution is a major challenge for Baltimore’s waterways. Last month we were soaked with 9.98 inches of rain, making it the wettest June on record for our area. These extreme rain events lead to very high stream flows and widespread flooding, which cause severe stream bank erosion. During these events, stormwater also washes over…
On Saturday, June 27 the Baltimore region was drenched with over three inches of rainfall in a matter of hours. Whenever large rainstorms like these hit Baltimore, stormwater runoff leaks into our sanitary sewer system through cracks in aging pipes. As a result, the capacity of sewage pipes is overwhelmed and causes massive sewage overflows…
On Thursday, June 4, Blue Water Baltimore and Waterfront Partnership celebrated the release of our annual Healthy Harbor Report Card and one year of the Inner Harbor Water Wheel cleaning up tons of trash before it entered Baltimore’s waterways. Report Card Findings The Report Card acknowledges that there are signs of improvement, yet our waterways…
Cleaner Water, Outstanding Volunteers, and a Successful 2014 Outfall Screening Blitz Season The 2015 monitoring season for Blue Water Baltimore’s Outfall Screening Blitz (OSB) program is almost here! Before we plunge into this year we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the many successes of the Outfall Screening Blitz Program in 2014. Over the…
Blue Water Baltimore’s new Pollution Reporting Form makes it easier than ever to pinpoint the location of pollution using GPS coordinates or a street address. In fact, accessing the form with your smartphone will automatically fill in your current GPS coordinates if you are at the site of the pollution incident. We encourage you to…
We are pleased to announce the launch of our Baltimore Harbor Water Alert website. The new website is a one-of-a-kind design that displays water quality data for Baltimore’s Harbor, rivers and streams in an interactive mapping format. The new site features: Ability to measure and map water health and pollution in the Patapsco and its…
Is there a connection between the plastic in our neighborhoods and the plastic thousands of miles across the sea? This is the question that Trash Free Maryland set out to answer when it partnered with 5 Gyres to examine plastic pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. For four days this month, they sailed around the bay,…
New water quality advisory signage may now be found at access points to rivers and streams in the Baltimore area in an effort to inform the public regarding specific health-related waterway precautions. Advisory Signage The advisory signage from Baltimore City states, “Urban streams are subject to pollutants and runoff. Contact with the water should be…
Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, David Flores, joined attorneys from Earthjustice, Khushi Desai and Jennifer Chavez, at the Baltimore City Circuit Court on September 8, to present oral argument that legally challenged the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to improve the permit that governs Baltimore City’s urban storm sewer system. The argument, presented by Earthjustice before…