ENVISIONING A STRONGER CITY Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) is the practice of treating and replacing impermeable hardscape, like roads and roofs, with plant-based and water harvesting systems. Rain gardens, trees, rain barrels, and permeable pavers are all examples of GSI that you can see throughout Baltimore City. GSI reduces the volume of stormwater, slows its…
2019 was a big year for youth climate activism. By taking inspiration from Greta Thunberg and other young leaders, and channeling their deep concerns for the future of our planet, young Baltimoreans have been thinking globally while taking action locally. These are just a few of Blue Water Baltimore’s young advocates making waves. Joe Dubaj,…
For 23 years, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, bettering Baltimore and Maryland as a whole. When he passed last October, his legacy as a champion of inclusion, equity, and community lived on. Blue Water Baltimore, the Port of Baltimore, and HeartSmiles hosted a tree planting later that month to bring together…
Medstar Harbor Hospital (MHH), one of two waterfront hospitals in Maryland, sits on a 30-acre campus directly on the Patapsco River. An extensive lawn and numerous parking lots had for years caused rainwater and pollution to flow off the property directly into the river, and subsequently into the Chesapeake Bay. As part of a 15-year…
The Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, a program of Blue Water Baltimore, collects and analyzes water quality samples at 49 monitoring stations in Baltimore City and County. With the goal of answering “how’s the water, hon?” we share this data with the public through our interactive website Baltimore Water Watch. 2019 marks a major milestone for our…
Baltimore suffers from poor water quality due to decades of chronic sewage overflows and polluted stormwater runoff. Crumbling pipes and a century-old design allow hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage to pollute our streams and Harbor annually. Nonetheless, people fish, kayak, and recreate in the Inner Harbor and other major portions of the Patapsco River and…
One of our proudest partnerships last year was with Mount Lebanon Baptist Church (MLBC). MLBC formed their Green Team in late 2017 as part of One Water Partnership, a network of faith communities joined together to care for their waterways. Blue Water Baltimore’s Senior Manager of Stormwater Programs, Jessie Hillman, worked in partnership with the…
As a local business, Howard Bank understands the importance of investing in where you live. And they’ve done just that by partnering with Blue Water Baltimore on a creative campaign that’s a win-win-win. During two annual campaigns, Howard Bank encouraged its customers to switch from paper statements to electronic statements, which benefits both the environment…
Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore Tree Trust are both part of the TreeBaltimore partnership, an initiative of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks for all City agencies, organizations, and individuals with the common goal of increasing Baltimore’s tree canopy. As a result of this partnership, Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore Tree Trust have collaborated on a…