Tuesday, January 1, 2013
At 65, the Rockville resident is ready to retire from what has been a challenging career as the Potomac River’s advocate.
His title may sound like something out of “Lord of The Rings,” with its kings, watchers and guardians, but the Potomac Riverkeeper's job is every bit of-this-world, and soon the man dedicated to protecting the Nation’s River is stepping down. Since 2003, Ed Merrifield has led Potomac River conservation efforts as president of the nonprofit organization Potomac Riverkeepers. According to a Washington Post article, the 65-year-old Rockville resident is ready to retire from what has been a challenging career as the Potomac River’s advocate. Part of the worldwide Waterkeeper Alliance that started in 1966, the Potomac Riverkeeper is one of approximately 200 waterkeepers around the world, including 20 within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
In a city obsessed with security, sandbags are only now being replaced as a first line of defense against disastrous Potomac River flooding
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
In a city obsessed with security, sandbags are only now being replaced as a first line of defense against disastrous Potomac River flooding
Grey clouds race over the National Mall, seemingly as fast as the airliners that would normally be making their approach to National. The airport is still closed. It is 2018. The city is reeling from a surge of floodwater sent up the Potomac by the fierce winds of a slow-moving hurricane, and is preparing for a second punch. Will the floodwaters gush over Washington DC’s levee? Will they cover Constitution Avenue and threaten the capital’s Maginot Line of bureaucratic fortresses? A touch of New Orleans When we think of levees, we think of New Orleans. But DC also has a levee. The problem is that our levee is not very good, says Gerry Galloway, engineering professor at the University of Maryland. I recently joined Galloway and members of …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A shape-shifting river nearly foils a naturalist explorer’s bid to reestablish contact with an enigmatic creature.
I’m floating through a weedy channel in the Potomac River, wearing a life vest, flippers and a facemask. The water is shallow, the current languid, yet I am concerned. I examine the carpet of pebbles and shells. Sunfish and small bass eye me while keeping their distance. I come upon a fat tire, festooned with algae. I knock on the tread to see if anyone is home. A small catfish pokes a whiskered snout over the rim, and then drifts back into its sanctuary. All the members of the Potomac family were there, but with one exception: sponges. About a year ago, I reported the first recorded sighting of fresh water sponges in the main stem of the Potomac River. I found them at the head of an island upstream from Pennyfield Lock. They didn't look…
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Many of these flowers might seem like tough characters, but each has its own side of the story.
We adore the wildflowers that pop up along the Potomac in early spring―so pretty, so shy, so delicate. Now it’s late summer, and a completely different gang has moved into the neighborhood. These are the tough guys of the plant world. Some are real bruisers, forming thickets 10 feet tall that make the going tough, even with a machete. Others are aggressive, stinging exposed skin or sending forth clouds of nasty pollen. At least one can even kill you. Each has its story. I learned some of these stories on a recent hike along the Billy Goat Trail, downstream from Carderock. The trail begins in the shadowy coolness of the forest. I crossed a footbridge over a rocky stream, and walked along the shoreline. It’s a pretty stretch of the river, …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
It’s a Potomac for people seeking a different dose of reality
There’s another Potomac River out there. Like our own Potomac, this place is well worth knowing. It’s full of life and beauty, and it has a sly way of challenging our ideas and assumptions about nature. It’s also very different from our own Potomac. In fact, I’d argue that it’s not even a river at all. One of the tributaries to this other Potomac is Mattawoman Creek, in Charles County. You reach it by following Indian Head Highway to the very end, where you can launch your kayak or canoe at a peaceful little county park. I paddled upstream, pushed along by the current and undeterred by a series of explosions coming from the Naval Surface Warfare Station. Then, rounding a bend ahead of me, I spotted “Joe.” Joe -- I don’t know his real name…
Thursday, August 9, 2012
History teaches that roads can destroy rivers. It also teaches that citizens can do something about it.
I was keeping one eye on the road and the other on a river that looked much like our Potomac. Then the river disappeared behind a squat brown building with a pink sign advertising “Adult Entertainment,” followed by an aging motel and a boarded up gas station. The river reappeared. It was the Susquehanna, big sister to the Potomac. I was driving south on Route 15 in central Pennsylvania. Although it’s three times bigger than the Potomac, the Susquehanna has the same familiar rock ledges and the dense mats of smartweed on the gravel bars. Here too, the smallmouth bass is king. A tractor trailer cut in front of me and let loose a blast of oily smoke. Yes, just like the Potomac. Only very different. The difference is roads. While the Potomac’s…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The evidence leads out of the bay and up the rivers, including the Potomac.
Back home, the Potomac River was pulsing with life. Minnows were darting through the stargrass while mussels serenely filtered water down below. Insect nymphs shucked their shells to emerge at the surface as gossamer mayflies. But here in the waters off Annapolis, we were about to make acquaintance with a dead zone. Capt. Paul Bayne plugged one end of a long, black cable into his hand-held dissolved oxygen meter. “Who wants to read out the numbers?” he asked. A woman stepped forward and took her position. Bayne lowered the probe on the other end of the cable into the surface water. “What does it say?” he called out. The rest of us edged a little closer. “10.8,” the woman replied. This was 10.8 parts of oxygen per million parts of water (…
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
In just six easy steps, any parent can be a fishing guide for their very special clients.
People here in Potomac River country excel at what they do – but few do much fishing. Even fewer of our children ask at the breakfast table to spend the day fishing. Does this matter? Fishing can help our children get to know the Potomac River and the C&O Canal. It also gives parents a chance to introduce their children to the world of nature. “But I don’t know the first thing about fishing,” you might say. That’s about to change. Here are six simple steps for teaching a child how to fish: 1. Get a cane rod Start simple. You don’t need or want one of those blister pack fishing sets, with their lollypop colors and pictures of Mickey Mouse. Get a pole – an old-fashioned stick of bamboo, eight feet long. You can cut your own, but I’d …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
American Rivers has issued an annual report on America’s Most Endangered Rivers since 1986.
The Potomac River is America's "Most Endangered River" according to environmental watchdog organization, American Rivers. The Potomac is at the number one slot in part to get the attention of policymakers about the evolving threats to rivers and the continuing importance of the Clean Water Act 40 years after it became law. “When members of Congress fill a glass of water or drink their morning coffee, that water comes from the Potomac River. It’s time to draw the clear connections between healthy rivers, drinking water, and public health in Washington, D.C., and in communities nationwide,” Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers, said in a prepared statement The Potomac, which runs some 380 miles across five states, was number one on the …
jag
2:03 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Bill, read the headlines from this year alone. Your head is in the sand if you can't think of 20 "once in a century" weather events that have happened lately. Even as you freakin type 2/3 of the country is STILL in a drought. more ›