West and Rhode Riverkeeper

All this snow has many of us cooped up. One good thing is I have been able to catch up on a couple things I hadn't had time to do. In January, local pilot and W/RR member Jerry Hill took me up in his Piper Cherokee to check out the Rivers from the air. I just uploaded some of the pictures on line. You can view the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/ctrumb/WestRhodeFlyover1162010#

The Maryland General Assembly started up this week. I hope everyone is paying attention to the Legislature this year. In such a tough budget climate, we are all going to need to tell our elected officials to protect funding for environmental initiatives. Combine a dire economic forecast with an election year, and who knows what is going to happen. West/Rhode Riverkeeper is teaming with other state and local environmental advocacy groups to promote three priorities: Stormwater ( http://www.mdlcv.org/issues/2010stormwater ), Transportation ( http://www.mdlcv.org/issues/2010transportation ), and protecting the Green Infrastructure Budget ( http://www.mdlcv.org/issues/2010budget ). Keep an eye on how things unfold in the coming weeks - we need to be vigilant to protect our natural environment. We will let you know when we need your help!

Today, 12 Waterkeeper organizations in Maryland (including West/Rhode Riverkeeper) along with the Waterkeeper Alliance submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency. The petition calls for EPA to withdraw Maryland's delegated authority to administer the Clean Water Act's pollution permitting program for dischargers in the state unless the State takes the necessary corrective action and improves its performance. Maryland Department of the Environment and Governor O'Malley's office were notified of this action in advance.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed is in crisis, and drastic action is needed. We submitted this petition with the singular purpose of improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay. It is our sincere hope that this action will result in a positive change in the way that Maryland enforces the Clean Water Act, and will ultimately help speed up the Bay's recovery.

On December 1, I assumed the responsibilities as Executive Director for West/Rhode Riverkeeper, Inc. When I was hired as Riverkeeper in July 2008, the intention was always for me to eventually serve as both Riverkeeper and Executive Director, and allow Bob Gallagher, the organization's founder and former Riverkeeper to transition to become Chair of our Board of Directors. It is appropriate at this point to thank Bob for his amazing vision and dedication to the program. I am very excited about my new role, and equally excited that Bob will remain fully engaged as Board Chair and continue to avail the organization of his knowledge and experience.

We are also shifting some responsibilities for our other staff. Amy Colhoun, our Program Manager, will be assuming the volunteer coordinator duties. Kelly Myers is now our Outreach and Communications Coordinator.

West/Rhode Riverkeeper is privileged to have such a talented team working as staff, and also a dedicated volunteer base and membership community that enables us to continue to work to improve the health of our Rivers. Thanks to everyone who helps make our work possible!

On Friday, Oct 23 the Center for Watershed Protection will present the findings from our West River Watershed Assessment. This is an important step for us as we will now have a "game plan" for improving the health of the West River. I hope you can join us at the meeting (6 pm at Discovery Village). One outcome of this Assessment is that we will now have a prioritized list of restoration and pollution prevention options. We can take this list and match them up with funding opportunities to really do some good. It's an exciting time for our organization, and I hope you will all continue to support the work we are doing. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.

Also, we will be working over this Fall and Winter to do a similar project on the Rhode River. Stay tuned for details!