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April 23, 2025

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

1 Homepage Slider Ecosystem Eco Portal Lead Spy Highlights

Bird by Bird at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center by Debra Messick

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Is there a socially distant, sanity preserving “pandemic pastime” which helped you survive the Covid-19 year?

While some may negatively characterize the monastic misery experienced as being “for the birds,” others coping with quarantine’s limiting confines found a source of soothing yet stimulating salvation by finally having the homebound downtime ideal for observing feathered backyard visitors. 

Cooper’s Hawk scoping out a shallow pool for smaller birds feeding on water insects (photo by Anne Brunson)

The Delmarva Peninsula, after all, is perfectly located along the great Atlantic Flyway migratory route traveled seasonally by birds seeking optimal temperatures for feeding and breeding purposes.

For folks interested in a safe space featuring a veritable birdwatching feast above and beyond their own backyard feeder, the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center provides an ideal ‘hot spot.’

According to the CBEC website (bayrestoration.org), the site, established originally as Horsehead Wetlands Center on a 315-acre Grasonville farm property by the Wildfowl Trust of North America, has operated as a protective educational sanctuary since 1985. Currently containing 510 acres, the site caters to habitat requirements of common, uncommon, and migratory birds, with lakes and ponds, marsh, forest, and shoreline.

In fact, as many as 600 bird varieties may be viewed throughout the premises at various seasons of the year, according to the Cornell University Ornithology Lab’s  eBird app.

Specimens currently or soon to be returning include Sparrows, Bluebirds, Wood Ducks, Great Snowy Egrets, and Ospreys.

But several breeds, such as Yellow-rumped and Black-and-white Warblers, Chickadees, White-breasted, Red-breasted, and Brown-headed Nuthatches, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, and Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered, and Coopers Hawks, have succeeded in putting down year ‘round roots in our region, a phenomenon a number of us can relate to.

Elderly Great Horned Owl, among several Raptors being cared for at CBEC due to debilitating injury or displacement.
(Photo by Anne Brunson)

Anne Brunson and husband Dave, native mid-Westerners, retired to a Kent Island condo several years ago after a stint working in D.C. Unable to set up feeders at their residence, they found an optimal outlet for their birding “fix” at nearby CBEC.  The couple now serve as Volunteer Coordinators for CBEC, assisting Executive Director Judy Wink.

The 78-year-old Wink, aptly described both as dedicated nature lover and dynamic force of nature, brings nearly a lifetime of field experience to her position, having started birding at the age of 4.

Wink spent her childhood on a farm outside of New Ringgold in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, later relocating to Carbon County’s Jim Thorpe area in the Poconos.

“I basically went to school in the woods, Wink confided, adding that she was home-schooled until 9th grade when  “I realized I wanted to go to college one day,” Wink confided. 

A neighbor, Maurice Broun, happened to be the first curator of Kempton, Pa’s Hawk Mountain Wild Bird Sanctuary, from 1939-1968. Taking her under his proverbial wing, he guided her steadily growing knowledge of the birding world she was eager to learn, becoming an inspiration and lifelong mentor. 

Throughout her career Wink has channeled and paid forward Broun’s remarkably detailed and finely honed knowledge of endless avian characteristics, as well as the fundamental skill of patience he practiced and preached.

Prior to COVID, CBEC regularly hosted 20,000 visitors annually, including school groups and summer camps. Despite health restrictions curtailing organized programming on the premises last year, 40,000 people still flocked to the Center on family outings, picnics, kayaking (with legs not visible, birds are less wary and may come closer, Wink advised), and photo ops. They came during every season, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the birds are most active, Wink added.

During a two-hour guided tour of the area last week, Wink and Anne Brunson’s fact filled play by play brought the serene landscape to life. Once, I would have passed by a smattering of decayed loblolly pine remnants, unimpressed. Now, I was able to spot the pockmarked portals identifying the remains as primo real estate preferred by the discerning Brown-headed Nuthatch, a “cavity dweller” who desires “broken rotten snags” in primitive locales. No neatly “manicured” tree lined streets for him!

While both women have enjoyed birding adventures in far off places (Wink visits Costa Rica several times a year), they eagerly revel in comparing notes about the eagles nesting high above trees surrounding Lake Knapp, whose freshwater is a “huge draw” for migrating birds scoping out bathing and drinking sources.

In early Spring Lake Knapp’s mudflats provide wading birds such as plovers and sandpipers inviting spots for scavenging food to subsist on for a day or two stop-over. During low tide, Wink has enjoyed seeing mama otters offering their young offspring swimming lessons.

From the Lake’s wooden lookout viewing stand (one of numerous Center projects crafted by area Eagle Scouts), Route 50 traffic is visible off in the distance. The very real proximity of civilization’s ever encroaching danger serves as a daunting reminder just how precious a little thing like bird watching can be, for them, and for us.

For more information visit Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center at bayrestoration.org or call 410-827-6694.

Debra Messick is a retired Dorchester County Public Library associate and lifelong freelance writer. A transplanted native Philadelphian, she has enjoyed residing in Cambridge MD since 1995.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CBF Has a Few Questions for the State on Trappe’s Lakeside Project

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While one of the signs that our local economy will indeed recover from the COVID pandemic is that many major capital projects are moving forward. From Cambridge’s Waterfront initiative to Dixon Valve’s continued growth in Chestertown, groundbreakings and design planning are back on the front burner. It’s hard not to see the Mid-Shore having a significant comeback soon after the “all clear” signal is given by Governor Hogan later in the year.

One of those projects back online is the Lakeside Project in Trappe. With an ultimate goal of 2,500 housing units on a parcel of land on the east side of Route 50, the mixed-use community has made it clear to government agencies that the developer’s goal is to create a “natural extension of and with respect for the Town’s (Trappe’s) urban fabric, scale, and historic and architectural character.”

And this commitment to quality also applies to Lakeside’s long-term environmental protection strategies. Plans call for effective wastewater treatment and a promise for “zero net discharge” of pollutants to local waterways, including the Choptank River by way of Miles Creek.

While Lakeside’s plans to achieve these goals are well-documented, it has not stopped the Chesapeake Bay Foundation from fulfilling its mission of doing due diligence to independently assess the risk to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

In this case, CBF has some very specific questions for Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE), which has oversight over the project’s environmental management plan. This includes Lakeside’s strategy to spray up to 540,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day over its open spaces and fields.

This concern has led the CBF to file suit against the department to challenge the MDE’s conclusion that the project’s use of treated wastewater would result in no net pollutants once it leaves the field.

The Spy talked to Alan Girard, the Bay Foundation’s Eastern Shore director, a few weeks ago to provide some background on why CBF is concerned about Lakeside and its long-term impact on the Mid-Shore.

This video is approximately eleven minutes in length. For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Foundation please go here

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Josh Kurtz Named Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland Executive Director

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has named Josh Kurtz as its new Maryland Executive Director. Kurtz joins CBF after serving as the policy and government relations director for The Nature Conservancy in Maryland. Kurtz previously led advocacy campaigns at the Maryland General Assembly and the D.C. City Council to generate support for environmental conservation and policies to reduce climate change.

Josh Kurtz

In his new role, Kurtz will lead CBF staff in Annapolis and Easton as they work on policies and legislation aimed at helping Maryland reach its 2025 Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint pollution reduction goals. This includes efforts to plant more trees, conserve forested land, help farmers make environmental improvements, green cities, and ensure the state maintains sustainable fisheries. Kurtz will also oversee the Maryland office’s work to add millions more oysters to the Bay and promote regenerative agriculture throughout the state with tree plantings and farm restoration projects. 

“It’s my pleasure to welcome Josh to CBF and our Maryland team,” said Alison Prost, CBF Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration. “He brings with him broad experience addressing Chesapeake Bay pollution issues in Maryland at the state and local levels. His work will focus on engaging the community, educating decision-makers, and strengthening the state’s environmental policy and regulations.” 

Kurtz, a Crownsville resident, worked at The Nature Conservancy from 2013 until joining CBF this month. He has a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Delaware. Kurtz will fill Prost’s previous position after she was promoted to oversee CBF’s watershed-wide environmental protection and restoration efforts. 

“Maryland is working hard to meet the state’s 2025 Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals and these next four years will be key to ensuring the progress we’ve made so far becomes permanent,” said Kurtz. “We need to protect forested land, plant trees, minimize stormwater runoff in cities and towns, and ensure farmers continue to reduce polluted runoff flowing off agricultural land. I’m honored to have the opportunity to join the Maryland team in this important work.” 

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Mid-Shore Science: Wetlands and Climate Resilience with Dr. Ariana Sutton-Grier

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Ariana Sutton-Grier is a distinguished scientist with expertise in coastal ecosystems. In particular her research has focused on the role these ecosystems—both the coasts and associated wetlands—play as living infrastructure that improves climate resilience by helping protect against storm surges and rising sea-levels. These coastal ecosystems also turn out to be important in storing large amounts of carbon that would otherwise escape to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, accelerating climate change. In the Chesapeake Bay, they are also important for maintaining fisheries and as recreational assets. Dr. Sutton-Grier is a visiting professor at the University of Maryland and recently gave an invited lecture at that university’s Horn Point Laboratory, excerpted here by permission.

In a follow-up interview, Dr. Sutton-Grier made clear the importance of living or green infrastructure on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay and preservation or restoration of wetlands. Not only do salt marshes and sea grasses and oyster beds help reduce wave energy and inland flooding, they survive extreme storm events like hurricanes better than bulkheads and stone riprap. Healthy coastal ecosystems also adjust better to rising sea levels by being able to grow and keep pace with rising waters. Moreover, these coastal ecosystems help slow climate change by capturing and storing large amounts of carbon for long periods of time. On a per acre basis, in fact, coastal ecosystems often store more carbon than the world’s tropical forests.

Restoring and protecting coastal wetlands—and potentially even creating new wetlands—could enhance carbon capture and storage, and might be able to be partially funded by carbon capture credits. Maryland has some 3100 miles of tidal shoreline around the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and along the Atlantic coast—a remarkable resource. Moreover, Sutton-Grier points out, the region around the Bay is mostly flat, meaning that as sea levels inevitably rise, coastal wetlands can potentially migrate inland, preserving both fisheries and recreational opportunities, and their unique carbon storage capabilities, for the long term.

Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles recently underscored the importance of green infrastructure on the Eastern Shore. In response to a question from the Spy, he identified the need for more such efforts as perhaps the most important step that Maryland could take in improving the resilience of the Chesapeake Bay and its surroundings to rising sea levels, storm flooding, and other impact of climate change.

Preserving and perhaps expanding coastal wetlands around the Bay might be the most significant green infrastructure opportunity. It would involve significant societal tradeoffs, but could provide a way to offset rising sea levels and storm surge flooding. Indeed, sea level rise is already causing salt water intrusion and frequent flooding in low-lying areas such as much of Dorchester and in other parts of the Eastern Shore, making farming difficult and threatening some residential and commercial areas. If such activities were equitably re-located, and replaced by tidal marshes and other wetlands, the entire Bay region would be better protected against rising waters, while enhancing fisheries and recreational opportunities and also helping to slow climate change.

Al Hammond was trained as a scientist (Stanford, Harvard) but became a distinguished science journalist, reporting for Science (a leading scientific journal) and many other technical and popular magazines and on a daily radio program for CBS. He subsequently founded and served as editor-in-chief for 4 national science-related publications as well as editor-in-chief for the United Nation’s bi-annual environmental report. More recently, he has written, edited, or contributed to many national assessments of scientific research for federal science agencies. Dr. Hammond makes his home in Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

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The Shore Voice for Clean Water and, with your Help, Limitless Impact by Jeff Horstman

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In just three years, ShoreRivers has brought nearly $10 million of taxpayer money back to the Delmarva to reduce pollution in our waterways. ShoreRivers works for cleaner rivers by stopping pollution at the source—before it enters the water—and by engaging individuals to make small, compounding changes to create a landscape of collective action for a healthier environment.

At this pivotal moment in our nation’s history, we can clearly see the power an individual can add to a movement through their vote. At ShoreRivers, it is evident that we—and you—are part of something greater: each Riverkeeper is a member of the global Waterkeeper Alliance; your single home yard is part of a conservation corridor creating climate resilience; your sustainable farm is a piece of the two million farmed acres in Maryland; each child is part of the next generation of professionals prioritizing green choices across all sectors; and your gift is one of thousands for cleaner, more accessible water. With your help, ShoreRivers has grown its impact from limited to limitless.

We set a goal to become the clean water voice for the Eastern Shore, and we have done it.

We are a multistate technical provider with the expertise and passion to design, fund, and execute pollution-reducing projects on the micro and macro scale. We are not only “boots on the ground” specialists meeting with farmers to find ways to reduce pollution and increase yield; we are also influencing federal farm policy on behalf of clean water. We are not only teaching in the classroom; we are at the table with the superintendent. We are not only on patrol as Riverkeepers; we are leveraging our credibility to bring in well over $250,000 in pro bono legal and expert support to defend our waterways from polluters. We are not only committed to greater inclusion, access, and justice for diverse communities in the environmental movement; we are emerging as a leader on the Eastern Shore in this work.

With federal, state, local, and individual support, ShoreRivers has taken action against this area’s most destructive pollutants by installing 162 projects—the majority on farmland—that prevent 110,000 pounds of nitrogen, 14,600 pounds of phosphorus, and more than 4 tons of sediment from washing into our waterways every single year.

But the work is not over. On the contrary, in many ways, it is just beginning. This year marks my retirement as well as the retirement of two influential ShoreRivers board members. John Vail and Tim Junkin founded two of our legacy organizations and planted the seeds for ShoreRivers’ success today. To nourish and sustain this momentum, we look forward to fresh, talented, and energetic leadership with Isabel Hardesty at the helm.

I will enthusiastically continue to support ShoreRivers and I truly hope you will as well. Our communities deserve it. And remember: We will clean these rivers.

Jeff Horstman
Executive Director, ShoreRivers

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Chesapeake Bay Foundation Hosting Oyster Pop-Up Shop In Easton November 24

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Get fresh local oysters directly from growers. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is hosting four oyster pop-up shops at various locations in Maryland in October and November including Easton..The sales are designed to benefit Maryland oyster farmers, who are facing declining sales this year due to limited restaurant openings and ongoing restaurant closures due to COVID-19.

Oyster farmers depend on restaurants for the bulk of their sales. About 90 percent of the oysters they raise are sold directly to restaurants. As the pandemic continues, CBF is working to help oyster farmers sell their product directly to consumers.

Oyster farmers purchase larvae or spat on shell and raise them into market-sized oysters in the Bay. Oyster aquaculture operations are sustainable and help ensure consumer demand for oysters can be met without depleting the wild oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

Oysters in the Bay clarify the water and provide habitat for fish, blue crabs, and other marine life. Oyster populations in Maryland have been on a long-term decline since the late 1800s due to overfishing, pollution, and disease. Oyster aquaculture provides a way to reverse this decline while providing Marylanders with fresh, local oysters.

For instructions on how to handle and shuck oysters visit CBF’s website – www.cbf.org/join-us/more-things-you-can-do/oyster-pop-up-shops

Tuesday, Nov. 24 – Easton, Maryland

  • Pickup time and location: 4 to 6:30 p.m., Easton Point 24 Fuel, 930 Port St., Easton
  • Oyster farmer – Pirate’s Cove Oyster Co.
  • To order: Email [email protected] before Nov. 23 at noon
  • Quantities available and price:
    • 12 count – $12
    • 24 count – $20
    • 50 count – $35
    • 100 count – $60

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CBF Opposes Maryland Proposal to Limit Areas for Oyster Restoration

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is opposing proposed changes to Maryland’s public shellfish fishery areas that would limit the ability to expand oyster farming and restoration activities in the future.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) presented the proposed policy Oct. 12 at the Oyster Advisory Commission meeting. The proposal, if approved in regulation, would establish criteria to develop new public shellfish fishery areas—Bay bottom reserved exclusively for oyster harvesting —if the area has five or more oysters per square meter of bottom.

Once a public shellfish fishery area has been established, the bottom can no longer be used for activities such as oyster restoration or oyster farming, also known as aquaculture. However, Bay bottom with strong oyster populations are among the best areas to restore oyster reefs or raise oysters as part of an aquaculture operation. This proposal could prevent reef restoration and aquaculture in large portions of Maryland’s Bay by reserving them for commercial harvest. More than 179,000 acres of Bay bottom are already designated as public shellfish fishery areas. An additional 100,000 acres or more that fall outside of these areas are also open to oyster harvest. About 6,500 acres of Bay bottom are currently being leased for oyster farming.

Environmental advocates, scientists, watermen, and seafood sellers are working together to develop recommendations for a new fishery management plan for oysters as part of a consensus process established in Maryland law in January. DNR’s proposed regulations represent a major change in oyster management that undermine the spirit of that law and the process that’s already underway. This end-around the consensus-based process ties the hands of stakeholders working to develop a shared vision for oyster management.

The proposal must still go through a public comment period and legislative review before it can be established in regulation by DNR. CBF is urging DNR to consider tabling this proposal so that it may be properly considered by the Oyster Advisory Commission members whose legislative mandate is to cooperatively develop recommendations for oyster management that increase oyster abundance and ends overfishing.

The reality is Maryland needs more oysters. Oysters filter and clarify water. Their reefs provide habitat to blue crabs, fish, and other marine life. Despite these benefits, oyster populations in the state remain at historic lows. Expanding areas for the exclusive use of harvesters that require no replanting of oysters and excluding aquaculture operators, who are required to replant areas at sustainable levels, seems highly unlikely to achieve this outcome.

CBF Maryland Fisheries Scientist Allison Colden issued the following statement about the proposal:

“This proposal undermines the process put in place by the legislature to implement actions to increase the oyster population and end overfishing. It appears to be a one-sided proposal to increase the oyster harvest at the expense of restoration and aquaculture efforts that are helping to bring Maryland’s oysters back. Making more of Maryland’s Bay bottom off-limits to restoration and aquaculture makes no sense as oyster populations are wallowing at historic lows. The state must balance the interests of the fishery with the environmental and social benefits more oysters could provide, instead of reserving the remaining oysters in Maryland waters for harvest.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

ShoreRivers Board Names Isabel Hardesty as new Executive Director

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Building on a decades-long legacy, ShoreRivers has grown its grassroots foundation in local communities, reduced pollution in Eastern Shore waterways, and elevated the organization’s voice at state and regional levels in Chesapeake Bay policy and regulatory issues. ShoreRivers is now one of the preeminent voices for clean water in the Delmarva region, using this leverage and expertise to implement innovative agricultural practices, produce high quality environmental education programming in public schools, and enforce clean water laws for the benefit of every citizen.

With these successes as a springboard, it is with gratitude and a salutation that the Governing Board of ShoreRivers announces the retirement of Executive Director Jeffrey Horstman at the end of 2020. Since 2010, Horstman has served in several capacities, including as a board member, the Miles-Wye Riverkeeper, executive director of one of ShoreRivers’ legacy organizations, and ultimately as executive director of ShoreRivers. In that time, he has led the organization to become a regional powerhouse for professional, impactful environmental work.

With Horstman’s retirement at the end of the year, the board is proud to announce a unanimous vote to promote Deputy Director Isabel Hardesty to executive director in 2021. Under Hardesty’s pivotal leadership, ShoreRivers will continue to advocate tirelessly for clean water with an inclusive vision of the future.

Hardesty has been with the organization for almost ten years. Her experiences as policy director, Chester Riverkeeper, regional director, and deputy director provide a breadth of knowledge and deep understanding of the organization that will ensure a smooth leadership transition and uninterrupted progress toward the organization’s goals.

“We have all worked hard to develop an organization that is now the foremost expert for water quality on the Delmarva,” says Hardesty. “I am energized by the prospect of leading ShoreRivers as we continue to thrive and advance our mission to protect and restore our rivers.”

Hardesty previously worked for Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC, before joining the Chester River Association in 2011. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Bucknell University and a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University.

“It is with full confidence and a positive outlook toward ShoreRivers’ future that I retire from the role that has brought me great joy and fulfillment,” says Horstman. “Isabel is a natural choice to lead ShoreRivers in this next phase as we continue working for healthy rivers.”

ShoreRivers focuses on the waterways of the Chester, Choptank, Sassafras, Miles, and Wye Rivers, Eastern Bay, and the Bayside Creeks. The main office is located in Easton with regional offices in Chestertown and Galena. A dedicated staff of educators, scientists, restoration specialists, and advocates focuses on policies and projects that improve the health of our rivers. ShoreRivers was created in 2017 when the Chester River Association, Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, and Sassafras River Association merged.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Rising Waters: Climate Change and the Chesapeake Bay

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Climate change can seem a little abstract, or at least causing problems comfortably far away–forest fires in California and the Pacific Northwest, or hurricanes on the Gulf coast. But new research makes clear that there will also be profound local impacts. Recent flooding on Maryland’s eastern shore—in Salisbury, Chrisfield, Cambridge—and in Annapolis and Baltimore on the western shore is “likely just a foretaste of what is to come,” says scientist Ming Li of the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Laboratory. 

The earth’s atmosphere warms because of growing concentrations of gases—especially carbon dioxide and methane stemming from human use of fossil fuels—that trap reflected sunlight. Much of that excess warmth ends up in the surface layers of the oceans. And warm water expands—raising sea levels slightly each year. This process has been accelerating in recent decades, and in Chesapeake Bay the water level is rising at twice the global rate. So high tides are getting higher, and so is the risk of flooding. 

Warmer waters also mean that there is more evaporation into the atmosphere, and hence the likelihood of more (and more intense) rainfall, which can add to flooding as rivers overrun their banks. And since it is the moisture in the air that fuels the intensity of a thunderstorm or a hurricane, it’s not surprising that we are seeing more intense storms that unleash unprecedented amounts of rain—like the 60 inches that Hurricane Harvey dumped in the Houston area of Texas in 2017.  Intense storms also mean high winds, like the 150 mile-per-hour winds of Hurricane Laura that battered Louisiana earlier this year, and often violent storm surges like those from superstorm Sandy that wreaked havoc in northern New Jersey and New York City in 2012. The forecast is for an increasing number of such severe storms.

One instinctive response to such forecasts is to build up sea walls or levees to protect waterfront properties, but such hardened coastlines turn out to be very expensive—prohibitively so for the entire Bay. A second response is to create so-called “soft” coastlines—salt marshes or other low-lying areas that are allowed to flood and thus absorb much of the tidal or storm surge. A third response is to relocate threatened houses, roads, and other infrastructure away from the coastline—which is the policy increasingly being adopted for low-lying areas nationally by the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal and state agencies. 

What actually happens when higher tides or a severe storm surge hits the Chesapeake Bay is fairly complex, however, and depends to a significant extend on what coastal management actions are taken. Ming and his colleagues have developed numerical models—based on the well-understood physics of how water flows and detailed mapping of the physical shape of the Chesapeake basin—of both tidal and storm surges in the Bay, using them to explore what happens under a wide range of conditions and coastal management strategies. One clear result is that while seawalls and other forms of hardened coastlines may protect some properties from higher tides, they also create peak tides that are dramatically higher, especially in the mid- and upper Bay. In effect, the tidal surge would propagate further up the Bay—to Baltimore and beyond. Soft coastlines, on the other hand, absorb much of the tidal energy, so that there would be a minimal increase in peak tides and much less impact in the upper Bay. 

Most of the low-lying area appropriate for soft coastline management strategies lie on the eastern shore. So adopting that type of coastline management for the Bay would help prevent serious flooding in urban areas such as Annapolis and Baltimore, but at the expense of significant land-use changes and likely necessary relocation for some homes and facilities on the Eastern shore. Such a strategy would create serious equity issues, unless those impacted are fully compensated and perhaps incentivized. 

The models show that storm surges pose an even greater—if more intermittent—risk than higher tides, promising both more extensive flooding and greater property loss. They are based on the impact of Hurricane Isabel, just a category 2 storm when it hit Maryland in 2003, but whose storm surge nonetheless damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings on the eastern shore and caused severe flooding in Baltimore and Annapolis. An equivalent storm hitting the Chesapeake Bay region in 2050 when the ocean is warmer and tides higher would be expected to cause far more damage on the eastern shore and to have a storm surge in Baltimore more than 10 feet high—and that’s with soft coastlines in place; with hard coastlines, the impact in the mid and upper Bay would be greater. Property losses are estimated to be 3-4 times higher than Isabel. Ming’s model does not estimate rainfall, which could add to the flooding throughout the region. 

Model-based projections about the future don’t come with guarantees, of course, but the message of this careful, detailed Horn Point Laboratory research is clear. Rising waters are inevitable; the incidence of severe storms is increasing; there will already be significant impacts in the next decade or two; and the time to prepare for them is now. Moreover, that a coordinated regional approach to coastline management—as opposed to individual actions to harden their shoreline for those that can afford it—will both reduce overall risks and share the burdens more fairly. 

Al Hammond was trained as a scientist (Stanford, Harvard) but became a distinguished science journalist, reporting for Science (a leading scientific journal) and many other technical and popular magazines and on a daily radio program for CBS. He subsequently founded and served as editor-in-chief for 4 national science-related publications as well as editor-in-chief for the United Nation’s bi-annual environmental report. More recently, he has written, edited, or contributed to many national assessments of scientific research for federal science agencies. Dr. Hammond makes his home in Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Election 2020: The Spy Bay Ecosystem Forum with Rob Etgen, Alan Girard, Isabel Hardesty and Tom Horton

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While COVID-19 continues to dominate the news cycle and the public’s attention, there remains a number of other important issues that should be considered as voters go to the polls on November 3.  And nothing can be more important to those living in the Chesapeake Bay region than its ecosystem health.

That is why the Spy pulled together some outstanding conservation leaders who work on the Chesapeake Ecosystem to talk candidly about what is a stake for the next four years. Our all star panel includes Rob Etgen, president of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Alan Girard, the Eastern Shore Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Isabel Hardesty, deputy  director of  ShoreRivers, and award-winning environmental journalist Tom Horton.

This video is approximately thirty-five minutes in length. For more information about Eastern Shore Land Conservancy please go here, for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation go here, for ShoreRivers go here and Tom Horton’s Bay Journal Films go here.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.