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   2023 Recruitment
   Study

   2023
   YEAR IN REVIEW

   PFAS - What You
   Need to Know

   2022 Recruitment
   Study

   2022
   YEAR IN REVIEW

   Waterfront
   Homeowners Guide
   to River Stewardship

   Forty-Page
   Resident's Guide
   Now Available

   Current
   Newsletter

   Marylanders Grow
   Oysters Project
   FAQs

   Oyster Reef
   Project Permit


   Video Links

   Raising Reefs
   Outdoors Maryland
   Ep.3402 (3rd part)

   Spat! Bringing
   Oysters Back to the
   Chesapeake Bay

   Video Link -
   Great Wicomico
   River
   Relief Reef Project

   Time-lapse: Oysters
   Filtering Water

   RiverFest 2010
   on YouTube

   Evergreen School
   and Green
   School Programs

   Life on Tangier
   Island

   Restoring Oysters in    St. Mary's River

   Crying Indian
   Iron Eyes Cody

   











 


Sunday, April 7, 2024
12:00 - 3:00 pm
Ruddy Duck Seafood & Alehouse - St. George Island


Buy your tickets here!

Celebrate the St. Mary's River with our River Champions. Join us for an afternoon of heavy hors d'oeuvres and libations. Imagine the river's clear waters as we indulge in tasty treats prepared by Lisa and Michael Kelley - Ruddy Duck. Hoist mugs of frothy Ruddy Duck brews, sip clear wines, and bid in the live and silent auction featuring original artwork, local services, and many unique items. Learn more.

Oysters Return to Breton Bay

    On Saturday, September 30th, the St. Mary's River Watershed Association (SMRWA), Friends of St. Clements Bay, Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization, Shore Thing Shellfish, LLC., Bell Marine Services, Last Look Outfitters, and more than three dozen volunteers planted one million oysters in Breton Bay.

    At the event, the Friends and SMRWA announced that this summer, oyster reproduction occured in Breton Bay for the first time in decades! Read the press release here.

Summer Wrap Up (by the numbers)

The St. Mary's River Watershed Association's summer was filled with oysters, water quality monitoring, reef balls, mentoring five Future Bay Leaders, and a lot of fun!

Our summer by the numbers…

  • 547 volunteers participated in 1,675 hours of oyster habitat restoration this summer. These volunteers included...
    • 24 teachers from all over the country participating in SMCM's Project Ocean
    • 16 sailors with disabilities from Brendan Sailing
    • 44 campers attending Greenwell Foundation's fishing camp
    • 58 students from Chesapeake Public Charter School
    • 15 Girl Scouts from St. Mary's County
  • 478 Marylanders Grow Oysters cages with spat-on-shell were collected, and the 106,000 oysters were planted at Box Oak oyster bar (North Snow Hill Manor)
  • 272 Reef Balls built and 318 Reef Balls deployed in the St. Mary's River
  • 1,285 one-half bushel bags filled with shells and washed for our oyster nursery
  • 1.4 million oysters planted west of Horseshoe Point and 92,000 oysters planted by Martin's Point
  • 393 water quality readings taken by SMRWA and the St. Mary's River Yacht Club
  • 5 remote water quality monitoring buoys built and deployed. Check out the live data here!
  • 5 acres of the St. Mary's River, our oyster reef project, surveyed for compliance with state oyster restoration criteria (look for our report this winter)

303d Campaign to
Restore the St. Mary's River

The EPA has listed the St. Mary's River as an impaired tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Simply stated, the river is polluted and it's getting worse, not better. Read More.

Join the new 303d Campaign and become a River Guardian or a River Steward.

DONATE ONLINE

River Friendly Program
Behavior Change Pledge Form

     We are entering our seventeenth year protecting and restoring the St. Mary's River. Over this time, we have learned, in part, is that YOU, our members and supporters, are passionate about our river and its health. We know that the St. Mary's is special and that the residents here and wide are dedicated to actions and lifestyles that are river friendly. Please help us document your commitment to a healthy St. Mary's River.

     Please take five minutes out of your day to fill out a pledge form. Complete the form with a check mark by actions you plan to take and inital any tasks already accomplished. Your signed form can be scanned in and mailed to the return address at the bottom of the pledge form.


40-Page Guide Published


Available Free

The forty-page guide, From My Backyard to Our Bay, A St. Mary's County Resident's Guide to Improving Our Environment and Drinking Water, is available free at area businesses, or you can download it from our web site. The Greenery in Hollywood, Chicken Scratch in Park Hall, and Good Earth Natural Foods in Leonardtown have free copies. Support your local businesses and get your free copy.    Download compressed version [3.8 MB]

A download link to a high resolution PDF formatted version
is available on our publications page.

"Forever Chemicals"

      Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, know as "PFAS," pose a health risk to humans and other animals all around the world.  The St. Mary's River Watershed Association is monitoring this issue and has compiled our information into a webpage: PFAS - What You Need to Know

Join our email list and receive periodic news about our programs and upcoming events. Send an email to us with the subject line Subscribe by clicking here: SUBSCRIBE - or email us at BobSMRWA[AT]gmail.com



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St. Mary's River Watershed Association, Inc.
Post Office Box 94
St. Mary's City, MD 20686

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