Love it or hate it, those of us in the northern and western reaches of the Chesapeake Bay watershed have already gotten a lot of snow and ice this December. Bing Crosby may dream of it, but according to regional biologists, heavy winter precipitation can mean more algal blooms in the Bay this summer. Runoff […]
Help us do more in 2014
December 18, 2013 by
Friends of the Downstream Project: In 2013, The Downstream Project helped many regional conservation organizations accomplish their missions. To help us do even more in 2014, please consider making a donation to The Downstream Project. We are helping them get the word out. The Downstream Project provides omnimedia services to conservation groups that protect water […]
Farm Programs Helping to Save the Bay
December 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shared some encouraging news last week: Its most recent analysis of conservation programs in the Chesapeake Bay watershed show that new farming practices are reducing sediment and nutrient loading into waterways. Federal programs promoted through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as well as state, local and private […]
We All Live Downwind
November 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The great conservationist John Muir noted that everything in the universe is connected to everything else. Now, scientists at the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science have shown how true that is for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In nine forested watersheds throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, Dr. Keith Eshleman and his research team found […]
EPA Agrees: We All Live Downstream
November 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In a draft scientific report the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed what many of us already know: That small streams – and many wetlands — substantially affect the physical, chemical and biological makeup of rivers downstream. This seemingly simple concept has big implications. For years, environmentalists, trade associations, citizens and government agencies have […]
The Downstream Project and C Spout Run to be featured at Water Summit
November 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Come to the Virginia Citizens for Water Quality (VCWQ) Water Summit this coming weekend and be inspired. The Downstream Project’s (TDP) Executive Director, Bill Howard, will be giving a keynote talk along with C Spout Run partners Nesha McCrae of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality and Seth Coffman of Trout Unlimited. They’ll outline how the […]
Water pollution? There’s an app for that.
October 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Downstream Project Executive Director (and Rotarian) Bill Howard invited Upper Potomac River Manager for the Potomac RIVERKEEPER, Brent Walls, to speak at the Shepherdstown, WV Rotary Club breakfast last week, where Brent announced the Water Reporter —a new iPhone and iPad app (Android coming soon) that lets you report pollution as soon as you see it. […]
Who Knew? Scientists discover hidden streams in Potomac River watershed
October 17, 2013 by 3 Comments
Before there was a capital city on the Potomac or a port in Baltimore; before the Beltways, the suburbs, the strip malls and subdivisions, there were streams – a lot of them, apparently. Recently, scientists from the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science developed high resolution maps that identify headwater channels throughout the Potomac […]
Summer’s End
September 19, 2013 by 2 Comments
Garden fresh tomatoes and crisp cucumbers. A cool swimming hole and a paddle down the river. A quiet evening fishing and a campsite by the creek. What did you enjoy this summer? Whatever it was, chances are it depended on clean water. We often take clean water for granted these days, but not so […]
Lasers shed light on the Shenandoah’s TMDL
September 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
[ylwm_vimeo height=”366″ width=”550″]72688308[/ylwm_vimeo] Article by Ronda Nickey Lehman, President Blue Ridge Watershed Coalition Since the signing of the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order by President Obama, the calculation of “TMDL,” or “total maximum daily load” for the Bay’s tributaries has been a point of controversy for many people living in the Bay watersheds. Their concerns […]
