In the United States we are blessed to have tremendous protections afforded to us by the Clean Water Act and other Federal and state environmental laws. Citizens of other nations lack the most basic legal protection preventing sewage or untreated industrial waste from contaminating their drinking water and natural resources. However, great legal protections do…
Note: BWB staff member Brian Dawkins is an Americorps Public Ally who performs site visits, installations, and outreach for our Water Audit program. On Friday, April 27th, Blue Water Baltimore teamed up with Eastwood Elementary Magnet School for their 5th Annual Environmental Fair. As BWB’s representative at the fair, I was asked to speak to…
Rain is great. I heartily encourage my kids to stick out their tongues and catch a few cold drops of precious spring moisture every April. Rain on impervious surfaces, however, is bad. In our developed environment, impervious surfaces such as streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and roofs are often more prevalent than green space. And lacking…
The Healthy Harbor initiative recently announced their vision for a fishable and swimmable harbor by 2020, and we are working hard to make that vision a reality. Baltimore neighborhoods play an essential role in accomplishing that goal because the health of our waterways and the health of our communities are directly connected. That is the motivation behind the…
Controlling stormwater pollution is a year-round concern, one that matters in winter just as much as spring and summer. When the temperature drops, vast amounts of deicing chemicals are dumped by the truckload across our roads, sidewalks, and driveways. With each thaw, all that salt washes directly into our waterways. Freezing temperatures also lead to broken pipes, which…
Now that winter is almost upon us, we have a chance to take a breather and look back on what we’ve done this year. And what a year it was! From Blue Water Baltimore’s official launch in January to Operation Nursery Blanket this coming Saturday, 2011 has been full of fun events and fresh faces,…