Severn River

2021 Severn River Report Card

The Bay Weekly writes about SRA’s new Shoreline Census Program

The Bay Weekly just printed an article about SRA Board Member Jeff Schomig’s new Shoreline Census program to survey near-shore wild life. The findings can help show the health of the Severn River. Read the full article HERE.

SRA announces new Board of Directors President

Severn River Association (SRA) Welcomes former DNR Secretary Joe Gill as its Next President SRA is proud to announce that Joe Gill, former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, has taken the helm as SRA’s new President. The SRA Board of Directors unanimously voted Joe onto its board and as its President, thanks […]

Poll Results about Greenbury Point

The results from a statewide poll of Maryland residents identifies very strong opposition to a proposal to build a golf course at the Greenbury Point Conservation Area on the Severn River near Annapolis. Environmental considerations, and concern about loss of public access to the conservation area, help explain the very high levels of opposition. Read […]

What Does An Oyster Bar Sound Like? 

How do you tell whether the river bottom at 4 meters depth is sand, mud, rock, concrete or shell? You can listen to the sounding pole. It’s a crunchy sound when you hit sand. This month, SRA’s Oyster Committee Co-Chair, Ted Delaplaine, taught us how to use a sounding pole to ground truth what we […]

Celebrating Earth Day On The Severn River

We celebrated Earth Day on the Severn River this year with our new pals from CAVA restaurant. James, Patrick and David (in CAVA shirts) joined our water quality monitoring crew to become citizen scientists on April 22, to study river conditions, spot osprey nests and enjoy a glorious day on the water.  They joined Boat […]

Winter Algae Bloom Blankets Our Creeks 

Yuck … Our Water Quality (WQ) Monitoring teams discovered that our creeks are infested with this thick winter algae that blankets the bottom of most creeks in the Severn River. Just about everywhere we dropped the anchor during our WQ tours in April, this stuff comes up. And it is yucky. As WQ Crew member […]

SRA Surveys Locations For New Severn Oyster Reefs 

Thanks to a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, SRA will be expanding our oyster restoration research operations this spring and summer to identify the best new locations for future oyster restoration reefs in the Severn River. The $10,000 grant will support a major study of river bottom conditions where historic […]

New Report: Oysters Thriving In Severn River; Reefs Rebuilding

Recent efforts to bring oysters back to the Severn River are succeeding! The good news comes in a new report on a scientific oyster diver conducted by the Severn River Association. The report highlights that oyster populations on three restoration reefs are exceeding oyster restoration thresholds of 50 oysters/m2 and the oysters are starting to naturally […]

Fertilizers: The Big Threat To Oysters, Fish, Crabs

–by Joan Treichel, SRA Science Reporter If you love your Severn River, please be very cautious about fertilizing your lawn this spring. Although fertilizers are remarkably valuable in feeding the world’s populations, when they end up in the Chesapeake Bay or the rivers that flow into it, they can inflict grave damage. What can be […]

Call For Volunteers: Water Quality Crews Forming

Starting this April, SRA’s famous water quality (WQ) monitoring program will begin for the 2022 monitoring season. We could use your help! By joining our WQ crew, you’ll be: tracking conditions in your river, collecting scientific data that is shared with the regulatory and scientific communities, discovering places you’ve never seen, meeting new friends, and […]

Will You Help Protect Our Underwater Grasses?

We are starting an outreach campaign to bring attention to protecting our submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). As the sign says: For A Healthy Bay, Let Grasses Stay. The goal is to get the word out that SAV is a key to restoring our river’s habitat because the grasses: protect shorelines from erosion, add oxygen to the […]