2014 Wade-In Shows No Improvement
June 7, 2014
The twenty seventh annual Patuxent Wade-In is an annual recommitment to the longest and deepest river that stays entirely in Maryland. Citizens with deep and personal ties to the Patuxent renew their hopes each year that the river will be restored to health. For this year’s sneaker index Senator Fowler waded 21 inches into the surf before losing sight of his shoes. This measurement is down from last year’s 31 inch benchmark. The river was recently awarded a "D" score for declining water by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental studies. In recent years the river has rarely received much better than a "F" while the Chesapeake Bay hovers around a "C".
Sometimes dubbed the "most studied river in America" or "Chesapeake Bay in miniature" the Patuxent is considered by scientists and conservationists to be a microcosm of a watershed with a wide spectrum of the impairments that effect most rivers in America. But it was Patuxent citizens who lead the charge in the 1980’s to get the state of Maryland to live up to its obligations under the newly enacted Federal Clean Water Act and regulate the water treatment plants that were ruining downstream fisheries and shellfish harvests. The result was that for a time, Patuxent water quality rebounded proving that with the right measures our rivers are resilient and can be brought back to health. It was noted by Senator Fowler present at Sunday’s Wade-In that that historically it has been lawsuits, compulsory legislation and citizen engagement that has been the most effective at restoring Patuxent water quality.
