Freshwater mussels play an amazing yet little-known role in healthy rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As their numbers dramatically decline we must now focus on restoring mussel populations, according to a report issued this week. The report comes from a workgroup of experts under the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program. It lays the groundwork for expanding mussel restoration in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with a growing coalition of advocates and scientists across the region. 

About 25 species of mussels live in the freshwater rivers and streams that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. They are found across the watershed, from tidal rivers to mountain streams in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania. A single mussel can filter up to 15 gallons of water per day, which can prevent pollutants such as nitrogen from flowing downstream, leading to clearer and cleaner water. Mussel beds create habitat for small aquatic creatures, which in turn become food for fish. 

“Freshwater mussels really are unsung heroes in Chesapeake rivers and streams. But as their populations plummet, I’m afraid we could lose some mussel species before we fully understand their benefits,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Senior Scientist Joseph Wood, Ph. D., who is the lead author of the report.   

More than half of all freshwater mussel species are now facing extinction. Mussels are threatened by pollution, dams, climate change, disease, and loss of habitat. The report estimated that mussel populations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have likely fallen by 90 percent since European colonists arrived in the 1600s. This decline has meant a dramatic loss of both mussel biodiversity and benefits in reducing pollution. Recent research shows that some mussel species are experiencing pressures from viruses we are just learning about.

“There’s a growing enthusiasm for protecting and restoring freshwater mussel populations in the Bay watershed,” said Wood.  “But to bring back mussels we need commitment, leadership, and investment.”

Restoration of a better-known Chesapeake shellfish could serve as a model for freshwater mussels. After Bay oyster populations collapsed in the late 20th century, efforts to build reefs and plant them with oysters are showing substantial promise in some Bay tributaries. 

“Just like oysters in the 1980s, freshwater mussels are on the brink of catastrophe,” said Wood. “Oyster restoration experience can inspire work with mussels as well. We must ensure clean water and good habitat in key waterways, as well as stock shellfish to boost the population.” 

As with oysters, successful mussel conservation and restoration depends on the growing coalition of partners in the Chesapeake watershed working on the issue, including the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service.

“Many organizations are building momentum towards propagating and restoring mussels in our region, but freshwater mussels remain in dire circumstances. The future of clean, diverse waterways depends on this work,” said Rachel Mair of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who leads mussel restoration efforts at Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery in Virginia and is a co-author of the report. “Research and investment in mussels create huge benefits for rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.” 

The fascinating life cycle of mussels begins when their larvae attach to the gills of fish for a few days or weeks. To accomplish this, some mussel species trick fish into attacking lures sprouting from between their shells. These lures, which look remarkably like bait fish, are packed with mussel larvae that fill the water when disturbed. The larger fish spread the mussel larvae to new areas.

Restoring mussel populations is challenging given the many different species and their complex life cycles. Many mussels rely on just a single species of fish to reproduce, and mussel hatcheries must raise fish to serve as hosts for breeding mussels. Fortunately, recent advances in propagation techniques are showing success at facilities such as Harrison Lake. But insufficient funding of monitoring,  research, and restoration  has held back efforts. 

Maryland recently began several pilot restoration projects to monitor and augment mussel populations in the Bay watershed. 

“We are excited to work with the private sector and non-profits along with state and federal partners on projects to improve our local populations of freshwater mussels because there is typically a limited amount of grant money available to support this type of work,” said Matt Ashton of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  “Collaborating with these organizations allows us to promote the dual objective of conservation and water quality benefits that mussel restoration can provide.” 

The Anacostia Watershed Society also has an active mussel restoration program that received a grant from Washington, D.C. However, these types of efforts need greater support.

In order to protect the health of rivers and streams, Bay states need to provide dedicated funding to survey, protect and restore mussel populations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A mussel restoration plan for the Chesapeake Bay watershed is an important next step. 

Owen Bailey has a vision for safer, more attractive downtown street layouts originally designed as automobile-centric thoroughfares.

With the rise in pedestrian use, especially in a town with high tourist traffic, safe and attractive modifications to our streets should become a primary objective, he says.

Bailey, the Town Project Manager for Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and a member of the Chestertown Planning Commission, wants to enhance the widths of sidewalk zones at intersections and has his eye on the south end of High Street and Water Street as being a perfect pilot project.

Widening the sidewalk areas by adding “bump-outs” at its intersections narrows the width of the crosswalks, slows traffic, and enhances the town’s pedestrian appeal.

A temporary set-up using safety cones would be used to test traffic flow.

Bailey sees the intersection project as a template for other pedestrian-unfriendly areas in the community. If successful, the change can become a “cut and paste” application for other intersections in the community.

Once approved by the community, Town and State, if applicable, these cost-effective modifications could occur when the roads are next paved.

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is comprised of avid conservationists, outdoors people, agriculturalists, environmental scientists, public servants, urban development professionals, and a variety of other stakeholders in our communities.

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“Is it safe to swim in the river?” is one of the most common questions ShoreRivers hears from community members. Fecal bacteria and toxic algae in waterways pose threats to both water quality and public health. People and pets who come in contact with bacteria- or toxin-laden water can contract eye, ear, and respiratory diseases; skin rashes; gastrointestinal issues; or brain or liver damage. To assess the health of our rivers and potential risks to human health, ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers, with help from a dedicated team of volunteers, regularly monitor bacteria pollution at 34 sites throughout the middle and upper Eastern Shore.

The SwimmableShoreRivers program tests all the rivers in the ShoreRivers region for bacteria, primarily at public access locations, as well as at some marinas, yacht clubs, and town fishing piers. ShoreRivers conducts tests on a weekly basis from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and results are posted each Friday. Community members are encouraged to view the results at theswimguide.org and get updates during swim season by following the ShoreRivers and Riverkeeper pages on Facebook and Instagram. The program follows Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and uses a pass/fail system to determine if bacteria levels are safe or unsafe for swimming.

ShoreRivers relies on dedicated volunteers to support their water quality testing programs. These “SwimTesters” are assigned sites and, after completing a training session, collect and deliver water samples to the ShoreRivers offices in Galena, Chestertown, and Easton. Additionally, ShoreRivers is grateful to its test site sponsors: Sailwinds Park Inc., On-site Septic Services, Caroline County Recreation and Parks, Chesapeake Designs, City of Cambridge, Town of Oxford, Corsica River Yacht Club, Kentmore Park Community, the McGunigle family, the Ruhl/Carski family, and Noa Stein, for her Bat Mitzvah project. At $600 per site, per season, contact your local Riverkeeper to learn more about sites in need of a sponsor.

The results from ShoreRivers’ monitoring in 2020 show that bacterial and algal conditions vary based on location, weather, and other factors, making systematic, scientific analysis vital. The good news is the majority of the bacteria monitoring sites passed more than 60% of the time. A few sites, however, passed less than 60% of the time, failing to meet EPA’s threshold for safe water contact. Specifically, these sites are located at Hambrooks Bay Beach, Crouse Park, Denton, Broad Cove Claiborne, and Morgan Creek Landing.

Now that the program has baseline data showing which sites frequently have elevated levels of bacteria, ShoreRivers will focus on the next most frequently asked question from the public: “Where does bacteria pollution come from at each site?” ShoreRivers is exploring partnerships and innovative technologies to help identify specific sources of bacteria pollution at specific testing locations.

“Once we know where the bacteria is coming from—whether it’s leaking sewer lines, failing septic systems, over-application of fertilizer, or people not picking up after their pets—we can start implementing real solutions,” says Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta. “Monitoring techniques such as eDNA sampling and bacteria source tracking are improving and becoming more reliable. It’s another tool in our Riverkeeper toolbelt to help improve water quality conditions so Eastern Shore waterways are always safe and swimmable.”

The SwimmableShoreRivers program also works with government health agencies at local and state levels to monitor toxic algal blooms and inform the public of serious potential health risks to humans and pets. Algal blooms occur naturally, but increased levels of nutrient pollution in our waterways from fertilizers, septic systems, and wastewater plants fuel larger, more toxic, and longer-lasting blooms.

In our region, toxic blooms occur most frequently on the Sassafras River, due to its lower salinity levels. Last summer, a toxic algal bloom on the Sassafras lasted for almost three months. This was the largest, longest lasting, and most toxic bloom ever recorded on the river, causing the Maryland Department of the Environment to issue a water contact advisory for the whole river.

Already in 2021, small blooms have been identified in tributaries of the Sassafras. Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher has responded to and tested these blooms with the help of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, and will continue to monitor the water weekly as the summer progresses. For more info on Sassafras algal blooms this summer, contact zkelleher@shorerivers.org.

Annie Richards is the Chester Riverkeeper for ShoreRivers

In March, ShoreRivers and the owners and operators of The Point at Pintail came to a settlement agreement requiring the sporting clay course and shooting range in Queenstown, Maryland, to address lead shot that has accumulated to toxic levels in surrounding soils, threatening the health of people and wildlife. While shooting has taken place at this gun club for over 30 years, evidence shows that between 2013 and 2019 alone, 171 tons of lead were discharged at shooting stations around the site, resulting in dangerous lead accumulation in the soil, ditches, and ponds that drain directly to the Wye River. After years of negotiations, the final settlement agreement requires The Point at Pintail to address existing lead deposits, implement practices to regularly reclaim future lead debris, and conduct regular water and soil sampling to ensure no further lead pollution of the site.

Lead is highly toxic; exposure to even small amounts can result in severe neurological, developmental, and reproductive issues in humans and wildlife, particularly in children and birds. For these reasons, it has been banned from use as a gasoline additive, in paints, and in certain other applications. However, while lead-based shot was banned in waterfowl hunting nationwide in 1991, it remains in use in upland game hunting and in trap and skeet shooting sports. At shooting ranges specifically, spent lead shot can accumulate to toxic levels in soil and water unless proper reclamation protocols are in place.

According to Michael McLaughlin, the hazardous waste expert who evaluated the samples taken in 2020 from The Point at Pintail, “. . . the concentrations of lead found at several areas of the gun club present a threat to human health. Those potentially at risk include gun club visitors and staff who can ingest or inhale lead dust.” Additionally, “. . . the ecological risk presented by the lead contamination in soil and sediment at the gun club is substantial.”

The Point at Pintail sits directly on the banks of the main stem of the Wye River just south of Queenstown. In 2015, ShoreRivers entered into informal discussions with the owners about partnering to remediate the lead pollution on site. ShoreRivers also alerted the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Queen Anne’s County Health Department. In 2017, after two years of inaction by The Point at Pintail, MDE, and the health department, ShoreRivers filed a Notice of Intent to Sue, and ultimately filed a lawsuit, under the Clean Water Act and under the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act, alleging that The Point at Pintail had failed to protect human and environmental health from lead poisoning as required by law.

The settlement is still undergoing federal agency review, but under the settlement agreement reached in March, The Point at Pintail is required to reclaim or treat with a bonding agent the legacy lead in specific, high-concentration areas; close or re-orient existing shooting stations to prevent lead debris from being deposited in wetlands or ditches; conduct lead reclamation on a regular schedule based on the number of targets thrown to prevent further accumulation; and conduct soil and water sampling at least annually to monitor lead levels and share results with ShoreRivers and MDE to ensure actions are meeting environmental standards.

Isabel Hardesty, executive director of ShoreRivers, states, “We are pleased with the outcome of this settlement and believe these actions will improve water quality while also reducing potential human health risks. Many hunters and sport shooters are conservation-minded, and I urge these communities to look at this as an opportunity for improvement. Can we do more to protect against the damages of lead shot, or further curtail its use by switching to steel or other non-toxic alternatives, in order to protect our shared environment? ShoreRivers welcomes the opportunity to work with the sport shooting community in these endeavors.”

ShoreRivers sincerely thanks the following people and companies for their donated time and expertise in this case: attorneys Kevin Holewinski and Daniella Einik with Jones Day; environmental engineer and lead expert Michael McLaughlin with SCS Engineers; and lead expert Sarah Stoneking with Ramboll US Consulting, Inc. Their significant contributions made this positive outcome possible.

Photo by Spy Agent 7

Work is resuming this month on the protracted restoration of oyster reefs in Maryland’s Tred Avon River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District announced that it has awarded a $3.8 million contract to a Florida company to construct 34 acres of reefs in the river.

The Tred Avon is one of five Maryland waterways targeted for large-scale oyster restoration. With Bay oyster populations depleted to 1–2 percent of their historic abundance by pollution, overfishing and disease, Maryland and Virginia have each pledged as part of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement to rebuild oyster populations and habitat in five of their Bay tributaries by 2025.

The other Maryland tributaries targeted for large-scale oyster restoration are Harris Creek and the Little Choptank, St. Mary’s and Manokin rivers. Work has been completed in Harris Creek and the Little Choptank, with the St. Mary’s getting under way and the Manokin still in planning.

The Tred Avon project has suffered repeated delays since it began in 2015. It became a battleground of sorts, as watermen objected to the materials and methods used to rebuild reefs and repopulate them with oysters.

Watermen complained that granite rocks used to build reefs in the Tred Avon and Harris Creek snagged crabbing gear and that improperly constructed granite reefs in Harris Creek had damaged boats. They also argued that oysters would not thrive on the granite, contending that oyster shell is the only suitable surface on which spat, or baby oysters, can settle and grow.

Research has shown, however, that juvenile oysters will do well on other hard surfaces in the water, and monitoring of the granite reefs built in Harris Creek found oysters in great numbers on them, and even at higher densities than on reefs rebuilt with shells.

Acting on watermen’s concerns, the Hogan administration placed a hold in 2016 on Tred Avon reef construction, though it later relented. But further delays and cost overruns ensued because of the state’s insistence at that time that no more granite be used in the reef construction. By the time the state withdrew those conditions, federal funding from past budgets had been depleted.

A three-year funding drought followed, easing last year, when the Army Corps included $5 million for Bay oyster restoration in its work plan.

Allison Colden, a fisheries scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said she was glad the Tred Avon project is moving forward. She noted that the Annapolis-based environmental group had joined others in urging Congress to provide the federal funding needed to finish the restoration project.

The company selected for the Tred Avon project, BlueForge LLC of St. Petersburg, is to build 12-inch high stone reefs on 21 acres of river bottom, plus 13 acres of reefs only 6 inches high to avoid navigation problems. All will be built of stone in waters that will be at least 6.75 feet deep at mean low water.

“Our team is excited to begin the final portion of restoration work in the Tred Avon River, which will bring us to a total of 130 acres restored in the oyster sanctuary,” said Col. John T. Litz, Baltimore District commander.

To date, 92.5 acres of reef have been completed, with 440 million hatchery-spawned seed oysters planted.

The work had been expected to be done earlier to avoid potential impacts on striped bass spawning in the spring, but unspecified contractual issues delayed the award until now, said Cynthia Mitchell, a Baltimore District spokesperson. The Army requested and obtained regulatory approval to do the work through April, she said, with the construction completed by May.

“We’re thrilled that funding has been allocated to complete the final stages of reef restoration in the Tred Avon River,” said Ward Slacum, executive director of the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

A 2019 monitoring report found that more than 95% of all restored reefs to date in Harris Creek, Little Choptank and Tred Avon Rivers had at least the minimum acceptable density of oysters, which is set at 15 oysters per square meter over 30% of the reef area being measured. More than 80% of the reefs monitored had ideal densities of at least 50 oysters per square meter.

By Timothy B. Wheeler, Bay Journal News Service

Volunteers gathered to plant eleven native trees along the entrance to the Visitor’s Center at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland this March. The trees were donated by District I (Eastern Shore) of the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland with funds from the Alice Rush McKeon Trust. The monies from this Trust are distributed on a rotating basis to each of the five garden club districts of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Exterior Landscapes delivers the trees to Blackwater

Alice Rush McKeon, a noted environmentalist and author, was a direct descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Born in Philadelphia in 1884, Alice grew up in Maryland where she twice served as President of the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland. She spearheaded a national campaign to pass legislation that prohibited billboards on Maryland’s highways. During World War II, Alice hosted “Garden Clubs on the Air” on WBAL, which became known as “Victory Gardens.” Alice is also credited with coining the term “Litterbug.” The slogan “Don’t be a Litterbug” is often employed even today.

(L to R) Ray Paterra of Blackwater NWR, Landscapers Ryan Yost and Mark Beaven, and Jan Kirsh, landscape designer and sculptor, gather at the beautiful gate after eleven trees have been planted to enhance the drive into the Visitor’s Center.

The planting effort at Blackwater was a partnership between Jan Kirsh, a notable landscape designer and sculptor from Talbot County and several Eastern Shore landscaping companies. Jan volunteered her services, making the recommendation of the appropriate native tree selection (Nyssa sylvatica ‘Tupelo Tower’ or Black Gum), acquiring the trees from Tideland Gardens, a Chestertown Nursery, and engaging three local landscapers who provided their staff and services pro bono to plant the trees. Ryan Yost of Long Branch Landscapes, LLC in Denton, Mark Beaven of Exterior Enhancements, Inc. also in Denton and Jess Murphy of J.M. Landscapes & Associates in Claiborne all participated in what they deemed a good cause for the community. In attendance to help celebrate the planting event were David Adams, Dorchester Garden Club President, Jeanne Bernard, FGCMD District I Director and Doris Key, immediate past Director of District I.