With the Power of Collaboration, BIG Things Happen

After spending years developing the St. Luke's Restoration of Nature project, Master Watershed Steward Betsy Love is no stranger to writing grants, knocking on the door of the permitting office and educating her neighbors about stormwater runoff. 

Master Watershed Steward Molly LaChapelle and her neighbors are also pursuing a large stream restoration project on Cattail Creek and were looking for help.

Together with Steward Daniel Walton and Claudia Donegan of MDDNR, Betsy gave Molly and her neighbors Bob, Karen and Elizabeth a tour of the St. Luke's Restoration project in Eastport.

While maneuvering around step pools and trampling over invasives, Betsy shared her successes and opportunities. She stressed the importance of patience and the significance of asking questions.

Throughout the last three years, Betsy continued to inquire about aspects of the project from design to construction. When others ask questions, she finds the answer. "Don't be afraid to bring in others to address concerns," she told the Berrywood residents. 

As the Berrywood community moves forward with their project, they have Betsy’s support and guidance. Walking through the project, Betsy pointed out fish in one of the step pools. "How did they get in there?" one of the Berrywood residents asked. "I'm not sure," said Betsy. "They jumped over some hurdles, but somehow they found their way."

RiverWise Congregations Maintenance Session

RiverWise Congregation Stewards from Wilson Memorial, St. Phillips, and Mt. Moriah joined WSA Outreach Coordinator, Tara Mairs, at Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie to dig in the dirt and discuss maintenance of their BMPs.  We learned about the keys to successful BMP maintenance from Faith Baptist Stewards Dawn Taft and Candy Dayton, planted and pruned in their garden, and talked about the importance of scheduling work days and recruiting volunteers.  If you would like more information about what we discussed, please contact Tara.

Stewards Lead Community Outreach

September 30th  was a big day for environmental engagement.  Stewards and Steward Candidates participated in outreach events across Anne Arundel County. Stewards Sandy Hartzell and Brenda Schwaab organized the Linthicum Community fair where WSA Stewards Lisa Bender, Carol Schenker, Sharon Schroer and Steward Candidate Jimm Rich managed an outreach booth. WSA Stewards trained Lindale Middle STEM students to operate the watershed model. Children and adults had hands on experience with the model, and the youngest fair-goers enjoyed an introduction to bay inhabitants through fish painting.

As part of his capstone project, Steward Candidate Bill Mitchell hosted Beers, Brauts and Barrels at his home in Heritage Harbor. Neighbors and community members observed a rain barrel installation and were introduced to the concept of a conservation landscape, which will be installed on the same site later this fall. Chris Gordon was also on site as an additional expert to answer questions about rain barrels and raingardens.

Congregational Stewards Care for Creation

Before becoming involved with WSA, Annapolis resident Umar Jamal noticed restoration projects installed at the Annapolis Vistor’s Center and the Toyota dealership on West Street. These projects sparked his interest in taking action for clean water in his community.

When WSA reached out to Umar’s faith community, the Islamic Society of Annapolis, he was excited to jump on board. “WSA was willing to educate us and help us understand the problem and the solution,” he said. After attending the three week Congregational Steward training in the spring of 2016, Umar was ready to get to work.

“We have to work hand in hand to get the word out”

— Umar Jamal

Umar installed a rain garden in his front yard and encouraged his next door neighbor to join him. Together, their 300 square foot project is home to five rain barrels, six trees, and 70 native plants and shrubs. When other Arundel on the Bay residents walk by, Umar enjoys explaining the features of the garden and how they help remediate storm water runoff. “We have to work hand in hand to get the word out,” he says.

Installing a rain garden was just the beginning of Umar’s action for clean water. Umar’s driving force is looking to the future. He is working with the Islamic Society of Annapolis to install a large conservation project, fulfilling his goal of helping the earth and leaving it a better place for children and future generations. “We all come from water. This is our world and we need to protect it.”

The RiverWise Congregations program provides technical, faith-based assistance to help Houses of Worship care for God’s creation.  Since 2014,  WSA has trained Master Watershed Stewards from 23 Houses of Worship, and together with our partners the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake,  have installed 77 projects that are treating polluted runoff. This year, 69 members from some of the RiverWise Congregations attended a shortened version of the Master Watershed Steward training to become Congregational Stewards. 

These new Congregational Stewards installed 62 rain barrels and cisterns, 42 trees, and 26 conservation landscapes on 30 residences from Brooklyn Park to Davidsonville.