Every year our Waterkeepers work hard to gather information about the conditions of our local rivers, streams, and coastal waters. They often monitor areas that public agencies do not monitor, but where local people access for fishing and recreation. Waterkeepers compile this information in unique ways to share their findings with their communities, and to encourage people to access and recreate on their local waterways. Waterkeeper water quality monitoring programs provide a valuable public service and critical public health data.
The Waterkeepers’ real-time data and annual analyses show that our local waterways are experiencing intense pollution pressures from fast population growth and development, and increased intensity and duration of rainfall and frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change. Across the region we’ve seen extreme rainfall events and more frequent floods that devastate our communities, overwhelm our water infrastructure, and deliver immense pollution loads to our waterways. The data collected are used by Waterkeepers to craft policy to mitigate new pollution pressures, build more resilient communities, reverse environmental injustices, and improve implementation and enforcement of existing Clean Water Act laws and regulations.
The Waterkeepers also monitor water quality at suspected pollution sites such as toxics leaching from coal ash and landfill sites, and PFAS discharges at industrial and waste water treatment plants. This data is often used in enforcement actions. Last year, our Waterkeepers participated in Waterkeepers Alliance’s nation-wide sampling project for PFAS in surface waters. In the Chesapeake Bay region, 39 samples were taken in rivers and streams. In 100% of the samples, levels of PFAS were found.
Check out their latest findings and reports:
The Anacostia Riverkeeper Water Quality Monitoring Program provides up-to-date, accurate water quality data for the Anacostia River. Built on community science, the program recruits dozens of volunteers who are trained to sample water at 19 sites in Washington DC and Maryland. This year, Anacostia Riverkeeper gave residents a rare chance to swim in and reconnect with the Anacostia River. Unfortunately, due to a tropical storm, the swim event was postponed to next spring, giving more time to achieve their goal of lifting DC’s swim ban on the Anacostia. Current river conditions can be found on this map and annual reports can be found here. On the Anacostia Riverkeeper website, you can find a place to report pollution in the Anacostia. This information is shared via the Anacostia Riverkeeper social media and is used for internal assessment of the river’s health.
Gunpowder Riverkeeper monitors water quality with the help of interns and volunteers. Since 2019, results have been posted to Swim Guide to inform the public on where they can recreate safely as well as indicate possible stormwater or point-source pollution. In partnership with Community Environmental Laboratories, an EPA-certified water testing laboratory located in Harford County, and Harford County Health Department and with outreach to Baltimore County Health Department, Gunpowder Riverkeeper collects water quality samples.
Arundel Rivers Federation, home of the South, West & Rhode Riverkeeper, compiles health data from 98 stations spread across three rivers, including 31 creeks, in order to produce State of Our River reports, including a data map. During the summer, Arundel Rivers Federation monitors bacteria levels at various community waterfront areas, aiming to provide timely public health information to participating communities and help identify times when it may be inadvisable to swim. You can contact the Arundel Rivers Federation here and report any problems you see in the waterways here.
Blue Water Baltimore, home of the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, publishes current water conditions on their Baltimore Water Watch interactive map on their website. The map tracks 12 different indicators from bacteria to temperature to salinity. Blue Water Baltimore developed an ambient water quality monitoring program to collect scientifically-rigorous and legally-defensible water-quality data using the Mid-Atlantic Tributary Assessment Coalition (MTAC) protocol. They collect data from 49 different collection sites thanks to the hard work of volunteers. Annual reports cards are published here. You can report pollution to the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper here.
James River Association, home of the James Riverkeeper, produces their biennial State of the James, an interactive map on the progress and setbacks that the James River has faced over the last year. The map tracks 18 different indicators on things like pollution, fish stocks, and bald eagle numbers. In 2021, they sounded the alarm that the collapse of the American Shad. The 2023 State of the James report found that the overall grade of the State of the James has improved to a B with a score of 66% from its failing health decades ago. Although the pace of progress has slowed, a grade-A James River is possible if collective efforts continue to address key issues. Every year, they publish current river conditions with the help of volunteers during the spring and summer. You can contact the James River Association here.
ShoreRivers’ 4 Riverkeepers (Sassafras, Chester, Choptank and Miles-Wye) and their volunteer citizen scientists monitor water quality throughout the Chester, Choptank, Miles, Wye, and Sassafras rivers, the Bayside Creeks, and Eastern Bay. ShoreRivers hosted a series of community meetings in April and May to share their 2022 water quality reports based on information gathered by volunteers from over 36 SwimTester sites. Throughout the Eastern Shore rivers, phosphorus and chlorophyll pose the biggest threats. Another issue is an overwhelming majority of eDNA present in the rivers is human, making shoreline septic systems, wastewater treatment outfalls, and illegal marine discharge key sources to monitor in the year ahead. Current river conditions can be found on SwimGuide.
Potomac Riverkeeper Network, home of the Potomac, Shenandoah and Upper Potomac Riverkeepers, released its first annual Swimmable Potomac Report in 2022 in order to encourage recreation on the Potomac River. The report summarizes the results found by their Community Science Water Quality Monitoring Program that started in the Washington DC area and has now expanded up and downriver with sites in Maryland and Virginia with the help of dozens of volunteers. Swimming has been illegal in the Potomac in DC since the 1970s when the river was filled with untreated or inadequately treated sewage on a daily basis. Now, as PRKN’s community science water quality monitoring program shows, it is often safe to go into the water. PRKN’s goal is for DC to lift the ban on swimming in the Potomac and to identify safe swimming access points so that everyone can enjoy safe open water swimming in the Potomac. Current river conditions can be found on their website and on SwimGuide. If you would like to be part of the Community Science Monitoring Program, you can learn more here. You can report pollution here.
In 2023, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper launched WATER WATCHDOGS – a weekly bacteria monitoring program for the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. The purpose of this program is to inform people when popular public river and creek accesses are safe for recreating, or not. Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper also samples in pollution hotspots like leaching landfills and coal ash ponds, and sewage overflows in Harrisburg.
If you want to help all of the Waterkeepers and stay up to date about what’s going on in our waterways, you can use the Water Reporter app to report water issues anywhere. You can also learn more about the safety of your local waterways with SwimGuide. This resource is used by Waterkeepers in both the U.S. and Canada.
EN 
ES