Searching for osprey during a Floating Classroom. Sign-on below to our letter to the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission in regard to menhaden fishing limits.

This newsletter is made possible in part thanks to the generous support of Platinum Sponsor: Modera Wealth

As another summer along the Severn comes to a close, we saw familiar challenges and encouraging signs of resilience. Periods of intense heat punctuated by heavy rains and the resulting nutrient runoff once again stressed the river. At times, contributing to algae blooms, reduced water clarity, and low dissolved oxygen in areas. As in 2025, more than half the days of summer in 2026 experienced a no-swim advisory somewhere along the river due to bacterial pollution. 

Understanding the river is the first step toward restoring it. Week after week, SRA's water quality monitoring team collected critical data throughout the watershed, helping us track conditions and identify emerging trends. That information is available on our interactive data portal SRA-WQDAS. For the first time in 2026 we also monitored nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorophyll to deepen that understanding. The data we collect guides restoration efforts across the river, from stormwater retrofits and living shorelines to oyster restoration and watershed planning.

Looking back on the summer, we are grateful not only for the progress made, but for the community that makes it possible. Throughout the warmer months we were blessed by volunteers contributing hundreds of hours to cleanups and invasive species removals, and interacted with over one hundred children at summer camps and through our floating classroom programs.

While challenges remain, there is reason for optimism. The work of restoring the Severn is measured not just in data points and projects, but in a growing commitment to ensuring that future generations can experience a river that is cleaner, healthier, and more vibrant than the one we inherited. 

For the Severn,

Jesse Iliff
Executive Director

Friends of Annapolis Symphony Orchestra

SRA is joining forces with Friends of Annapolis Symphony Orchestra to "Celebrate the Severn". This event will explore their 2026-2027 nature theme and discuss our restoration projects around the watershed.

Join us for this special event at the Annapolis Yacht Club to enjoy music, friends, and refreshments.

Restoration has been moving forward on multiple fronts over the past month. We’ve wrapped everything up at Wardour for both the stormwater and living shoreline, as well as the bioretention cells at Giant on Bay Ridge Rd. If you happen to be shopping at the Bay Forest Shopping Center, check out the signs we recently installed.

Stormwater treatment projects are in design for Kensington/Severndale, Genessee St., and Greenacres. We are currently holding community meetings to get feedback.

Also this fall, SRA distributed spat on shell to around 200 growers. Each cage tended by an oyster grower has an average of 2,275 baby oysters. Cages protect the baby oysters from predators, and the oysters will be planted on one of SRA’s oyster restoration reefs.

As autumn arrives, one of the simplest ways homeowners can help the Severn is by keeping fallen leaves out of streets, storm drains, and waterways, and on their own land. When leaves wash into local creeks and the river, they break down and release nutrients that can fuel algae blooms and contribute to low oxygen conditions in the water. 

Instead of blowing leaves to the curb, you can mulch them into your lawn, compost them, or use them in garden beds around trees and shrubs. The slow breakdown of the leaves can fertilize your garden beds without fertilizing the river’s algae populations, and the leaves provide valuable overwinter habitat for countless species of beneficial pollinators. Over time, the increased organic matter in your soil will help absorb stormwater and produce less runoff from your land. A little extra effort in your yard can help reduce pollution, improve local habitat, and protect water quality throughout the watershed.

So before the next rainstorm, take a quick walk around your property, clear leaves from any nearby storm drains, and spread them around your flower beds. Small actions like this can add up to big improvements for the Severn’s health.

Volunteer

Our important work is only possible due to the generous support of people like you. If you are a current donor—THANK YOU! We welcome your support any time of the year. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining the movement today. Any size donation makes you a member.

HELP RESTORE AND PROTECT THE SEVERN RIVER