While collecting water samples for the EPA Mill Corridor Study in the lower Jones Falls stream, Blue Water Baltimore Water Quality Manager Alice Volpitta and Intern Chris Bellmyer, stumbled upon something that they had never seen before — a 30-inch long American eel. American eels live in fresh water but migrate all the way out to…
The newly established Environmental Construction Team is a small and tight knit unit of veteran construction and landscaping specialists. Currently they are under contract with Baltimore Tree Trust to create tree pits for street trees in neighborhoods near Patterson Park and Highlandtown. Making Room for Trees The team saw cuts, demolishes, and disposes of existing…
The diversity of insects in Maryland is sometimes astonishing. And in a healthy environment – full of native plants and free of pesticides – complex webs of life evolve. The webs often include what gardeners sometimes refer to as “beneficial insects“, which are species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control….
[Note: Yuan Hao Wong, author of this guest post, is interning with Blue Water Baltimore this summer. Here is his story.] Hi everyone! I am Yuan Hao Wong an undergraduate majoring in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. I am elated to be interning at Blue Water Baltimore for the next two months with my…
This year, we have expanded our summer program to offer job placements for up to 14 students through the Youthworks program as well as six crew supervisors for young adults hired directly by Blue Water Baltimore. This significant effort almost doubled our capacity over last year and was made possible through the Abell Foundation, who…
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…
Did you know that much of East Baltimore is connected by a creek that is not visible above ground? Harris Creek is an underground creek in East Baltimore that runs from Clifton Park to Canton. The creek runs through the storm drain system underneath 17 neighborhoods that make up the Harris Creek Watershed. Residents and…
Blue Water Baltimore Watershed Restoration Crew and Baltimore City Forestry brought 50 street trees to the Oliver Neighborhood, all in one work day! That is an average of six trees per hour! Many thanks to the crew and forestry team for bringing Oliver an instant tree canopy, right on time for summer! We also send…
It was a sunny, mild day at Mill No. 1 as a school bus with students from Independence Local l High School pulled up to the mill entrance. In the late 1800s, Mill No. 1 was the world’s largest producer of cotton, but this spring it was home to a series of stream studies designed…