Patuxent River Report Card “Reality Check”

Help us give the powers-that-be a “Reality Check!”

Patuxent Riverkeeper is putting together a report card on the health of the river, which we are branding as a “Reality Check.” We know the river is in trouble. There are several forms of pollution which have negatively impacted the river over the past several decades. They include dumping of industrial waste, and runoff from sources such as fertilizer from lawns and animal waste from farms.

In order to make the report card, we must do research. We need volunteers to gather water samples from all over the Patuxent River watershed, which will then be transported to a lab for testing. We will provide you with all the materials you need, and we will also train you. This will be a very quick, easy task and will not require a regular time commitment. We will need to meet with you after you collect the water sample so we may transport it to the lab. You will not have to take it to the lab yourself.

Once we know more about the health of the river and have a clearer picture of where it stands, we as the local community will be armed with the knowledge we need to demand change from polluters and from the local government. You can be part of this movement by helping us gather the information we all need.