Maryland Tributary Teams Announce 2005 Wade-In Schedule

Annapolis (May 27, 2005) –- Spring is here, summer is on the way and that can mean only one thing: it’s Maryland Wade-In season! Join the members of the state’s 10 Tributary Teams as they once again hold their annual Wade-In events during the months of June and July.

The Wade-Ins are inspired by former State Senator C. Bernie Fowler, who began wading into the Patuxent River 16 years ago with family and friends to highlight concerns about declining water quality in Maryland’s tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay.

Senator Fowler remembered that as a child, he could wade into the Patuxent and easily see his shoes. The event became known as a Wade-In and is characterized by participants wading into a stream, river or the Bay, and measuring the point at which they can no longer see their white sneakers. Fowler challenged the other nine Tributary Teams to host Wade-Ins or similar water quality awareness events of their own.

The goal of the Wade-Ins became restoring sneaker visibility to chest depth. Fowler's "Sneaker Index", it turns out, has proven useful in part because it makes an important concept related to water quality understandable to a wide audience, and there's excellent anecdotal and historic data based on Bernie's experience. The Bernie Fowler "Sneaker Index" has shown a trend of steady improvement in water clarity over the past ten years. According to Fowler, "although this is not a scientific measure, it puts restoring the river on a human scale".

The 2005 Wade-In schedule is as follows. These events are open to the public and will be held rain or shine.

Upper Eastern Shore: 7th Annual Wade-In
June 4, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (actual wade-in is at 1 p.m.)
Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center (Horsehead Wetlands Center) in Grasonville

Lower Western Shore: Back Creek Annual Wade-In
June 4, 10 a.m.
Annapolis Maritime Museum

Upper Western Shore: 8th Annual Wade-In
June 4, 2 – 5 p.m. (actual wade-in is at 2:30 p.m.)
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center in Abington

Lower Western Shore: Magothy River Annual Wade-In
June 9, 6 p.m. (during the “Grasses for the Masses” bay grass planting event)
Sylvan View Community Beach

Lower Potomac: Annual Wade-In
June 11, 10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (actual wade-in is at noon)
Mirant Mid-Atlantic Morgantown Generating Plant

Lower Western Shore & South River Federation: Sojourn and Annual Wade-In
June 18, 8:30 a.m. (paddle and noon wade-in)
Edgewater Beach

Since 1995, Maryland’s Tributary Teams have assisted with the implementation of the state’s watershed-based plans to reduce nutrient pollution to Maryland’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Support for the Tributary Teams is provided by staff at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR); however the members are volunteers whose tireless energy results in invaluable contributions to restoration efforts. The Wade-Ins are just one of the ways the Teams highlight local water quality and get their communities involved.

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