The South River has failed an environmental test, and saving the river may be soon beyond reach.
“It?s almost at a tipping point,” said Drew Koslow, the South River keeper who monitors water quality. “Even if we do something right now, it may not be enough.”
Just to thenorth, the Severn River isn?t looking much better. The “dead zone” ? water with no life-sustaining dissolved oxygen ? discovered last year hasn?t gone away.
Several rivers in Anne Arundel County this year have reported bleak conditions.
Lawmakers recently slashed the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund in half to $25 million due to budgetary concerns. Many had heralded the trust fund as a beginning to curbing storm-water runoff into the waterways, which causes algal blooms and “dead zones” that lead to massive fish kills similar to those seen in Baltimore and Annapolis last year.
“Environment is put aside in times of economic distress, but the legacy we?re leaving for our children is malls and parking lots rather than a river,” said Allison Buckalew, program director for the Severn River keeper.
The South River Federation scored the river?squality at 34 out of 100, down from 39 the previous year. Large algal blooms that steal oxygen persisted for many months.
But there may be some hope for environmentalists.
A result survey done by Anne Arundel Community College?s Center for the Study of Local Issues showed that 54 percent supported a mandatory storm-water fee, and 23 percent supported a voluntary fee.
The County Council last year killed an attempt to impose such a fee, but Councilman Josh Cohen, D-District 6, said “a number of stakeholders are quietly working on a compromise.”
“This needs to get through to the council members,” Koslow said. “This goes to the essence why people are here in the county, because we identify with the water in a special way.”
