The Potomac Basin Reporter

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Thousands Join in Watershed Cleanup

Gorgeous spring weather brought more than 3,100 volunteers and organizers to the banks of streams and rivers throughout the basin on April 1 for the 12th annual Potomac watershed cleanup. People from all walks of life joined their neighbors on the Saturday morning at more than 110 sites, setting a new participation record.

Organized by the Alice Ferguson Foundation Hard Bargain Farm, ICPRB was one of many organizations and government agencies that lent their support in sponsoring the event. One far-away organization, the Arakawa Sakura Club (see related article), sponsored a concurrent cleanup of their watershed, which includes parts of Tokyo, in support of the Arakawa-Potomac Sister River Agreement.

Sil Pembleton, the education director for the farm and chief organizer of the event, can't be sure of the amounts of trash removed, or even the number of sites cleaned, as some groups just hear about the cleanup and work a site without reporting it until later. Many sites do not tally the amounts of trash removed. The statistics are really secondary to the importance of the cleanup, Pembleton noted. "We're in the business of watershed education," she said. "It's a good way to help people recognize that the Potomac is a watershed and not a bunch of discrete shorelines, and helps them build a connection to the river."

Although organized centrally by the farm staff, with the assistance of a grant by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the cleanup is really a part of the local activities of many river-related groups that band together to make their influence felt throughout the watershed.

Several groups, for example, worked with the Potomac Conservancy, an organization with the primary aim of securing conservation easements and other conservation measures along the Mather Gorge area of the Potomac just north of Washington, D.C. Executive Director Matt Berres noted a "tremendously great turnout" of more than 250 volunteers at 12 sites along the Potomac in Maryland and Virginia. Together, the sites spanned about 20 miles of river shoreline, many of them along the C&O Canal. Organized by the conservancy, each site was the responsibility of groups including the New Columbia Sierra Club, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, the Canoe Cruisers Association, the Potomac River Smallmouth Club, Friends of Sugarland Run, Catholic University, District of Columbia Singles, and several school groups. Several local businesses supported the effort by providing food and coffee for the volunteers. The sites yielded more than 400 bags of trash, 150 balls of various types, 61 tires, and 16 55-gallon barrels.

Several of the sites made use of the more than 20 volunteers in canoes and kayaks. Near-shore finds by boaters included a propane tank, an outboard motor, and a three-wheeled all terrain vehicle.

"This was a great effort," Berres said, noting that the conservancy's effort grew from three sites last year. "Its heartening to see people show love and concern for the Potomac River." He said that the annual cleanup is having a lasting effect. "We are branching out to more sites as old ones need less cleanup," he said.

The cleanup also yields year-round benefits for groups like the conservancy. "The Potomac Conservancy is a primarily a land trust. We need to cultivate good relations with landowners, and we also need a constituency that grows in support, and we do that through the cleanup, education, tree plantings, and other activities. I also think it helps the public see us as both a land and river conservation group."

Similar efforts blossomed throughout the watershed. At Greenbelt, Md., volunteers waded through small Anacostia tributaries bagging trash and hauling debris from Indian Creek near a metro station. Kate Spencer, who formed a citizens group to protect Indian Creek also sees the cleanup as a good activity to bring people together and focus on stream issues, as well as promoting conservation year-round.

The Falling Spring and another small stream, both tributaries of the Conocheague Creek in Pennsylvania, were cleaned for the second consecutive year. The Franklin County Watershed Association, Falling Spring Trout Unlimited and a the Boy Scouts (who also brought along some of their parents), were assisted by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Franklin County Planning Commission, Chambersburg Borough, and other groups in cleaning about a half-mile of stream. Items removed from the streams included an oil collection boom, and electric welder and part of a tombstone dated 1879. The boy scouts are searching for the cemetery to return it to its rightful place, noted DEP's Mark Dubin, who helped organize the cleanup. The group also removed trash and about a ton of scrap metal, he said.

Four sites in the Cacapon watershed of West Virginia were cleaned. About 40 volunteers worked at the Sleepy Creek , Pembleton noted, and was told that the cleanup was successful to the point of inspiring attendees to revive the Friends of Sleepy Creek group that had lapsed sometime earlier.

Also in West Virginia, Shepherdstown College students cleaned along the river and discovered a nearly complete kitchen (in pieces), evidently the product of a home remodeling project.

Throughout the basin, these scenes played out, and the waterways were left in notably better shape by a growing number of people who are becoming both better educated and more caring of their local environment. Pembleton is pleased by and for the growth she sees taking place throughout the basin. Speaking of the cleanup at Hard Bargain Farm, which hosted 109 volunteers, she said, "People leave here saying ‘Thanks for letting me do this.' It really makes everyone feel good."

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Hands Across the Water-Japanese River Group visits Potomac

The eleven members of the visiting Arakawa Sakura Club delegation strode through the airport doors, tired but excited to finally reach the Potomac basin. Only two of them had previously visited the basin. Their April 2 arrival began a week of exploration of the Potomac, and a way of finding new answers to questions regarding issues along the Arakawa, the Potomac's sister river in Japan.
The visit was the fourth time that club members have visited the basin, beginning in 1996. The Arakawa Sakura ("cherry blossom") Club consists of more than 2,000 citizen members interested in the restoration and management of the Arakawa, which drains from a mountainous region through one of the most densely populated parts of Tokyo before entering Tokyo Bay. A symbolic theme for the environmental and cultural exchange program are the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., which came as a gift from the banks of the Arakawa in 1912. In 1981, Japanese silviculturists came to Washington to obtain cuttings from the original trees, replacing trees damaged along the Arakawa. This cycle is of exchange is continuing in cultural and environmental areas through the Arakawa-Potomac Sister River Agreement between the club and ICPRB in 1996.

This year's delegation included club members from many walks of life, including a retired Japanese government engineer, housewives, a gas station owner, a graphics/advertising company owner, officials from the town of Miyoshi, Japan, and others who share the wish to improve the condition of their local waterways.

Early in their visit, the group spent an afternoon at the ICPRB office for an orientation to the basin, followed by some lively discussion. Through an interpreter, the club members discussed the types of projects they have undertaken to improve the river environment and some of the problems experienced in their attempts. The group involves themselves in river cleanups, tree plantings, and consciousness-raising among fellow residents and government river officials. One member described a major hurdle in involving more citizens is a feeling that residents expect that the government will take care of the river properly without the involvement of residents. Another noted the difficulties of working to improve conditions in concert with a large bureaucracy with many diverse responsibilities. The group was told that these issues, however, are familiar to citizens working along the Potomac as well.
Later in the week, the group visited the Alice Ferguson Foundation's Hard Bargain Farm, where they learned about Potomac-based environmental education first hand. Education Director Sil Pembleton briefed the group on the types of activities that instill an environmental ethic in students and teachers through the farm's programs.

As a hands-on activity, the group joined in working on a watershed model that explained several watershed concepts--water pollution, erosion and sedimentation, and groundwater issues. Large plastic tubs filled with diatomaceous earth were used as a watershed, with a small stream of water from a plastic jug representing a waterway. Dyes were used to show the spread of water pollution as club members were invited to site small plastic houses where they wished along the stream. As water continued to flow through the middle of the model, streambank erosion brought the flow closer to the edges of the newly-built development, eventually swallowing several of the houses. Straws (wells) placed at various sites showed how pollution in one area. can be carried to others through groundwater. The dynamic picture painted by the model easily transcended any language barriers.

A short ride on a hay-wagon to the rivers edge allowed for a short visit to the wetland boardwalk, and sightings of osprey and other birds, as a strong breeze whipped the Potomac and Piscataway Bay into a frenzy. The chilled club members returned to the farm to continue discussion of river issues over a lunch of chicken soup and sandwiches provided by the farm.

The Arakawa Sakura Club has twice hosted Pembleton on trips to the Arakawa basin, where she has taught classes to students and teachers, and her "Who Polluted the Potomac" program has been adapted for use in schools in the Arakawa basin.

The club members also learned much about the environment, history and culture of the Potomac basin. The group visited Great Falls National Park in Virginia where they watched the Potomac make its largest drop in elevation, and stared in wonder as they learned that kayakers sometimes traverse the falls. "Wow!" said one club member, when shown the route through the falls used by the boaters. The park also afforded the opportunity to describe colonial life along the ruins of the canal built by George Washington that skirts the fall's Virginia side.

The power of the river was conveyed not only through the sight and sound of the roaring falls, but also through a "flood post" near the edge of the cliff overlooking the falls, which marks high water levels from historical floods. Informative displays at the park helped explain the areas plants and wildlife.

The group then made its way through the rural but rapidly developing Virginia landscape to visit Shepherdstown, W.Va. The club was welcomed to the town at a reception hosted by the Shepherdstown Rotary Club and Mayor Vincent Parmesano, who also led a tour of the town and the adjacent Potomac River. The Potomac displays a very picturesque side of itself as it flows past the town, and club members enjoyed the view from the monument to steamboat inventor James Rumsey atop a bluff overlooking the river. Later, the group stood at the waters edge, enjoying their briefing about the town's relationship to the river while watching ducks and geese frolic in the eddy of an old railroad bridge piling. The group lingered riverside to watch local anglers launch their boat at the town ramp.

Club members later were met by Harper's Ferry, W.Va., Mayor Wilton Stowell for a tour of the nearby historic town. Club members visited the national park, learning about the historic importance of the town both during the Civil War and as a hub of commerce at the gap joining the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. Some of the heartier souls in the group strode the pedestrian walk on the railroad bridge over the Potomac for a brief look at the C&O Canal on the Maryland side. They shared the bridge with a coal train rumbling across the river on the walk back. The club also was greeted by the children of the town's Montessori School, who gave the group a quickly learned "good morning" in Japanese when they paid a quick visit to the school.

A luncheon in Harpers Ferry also was attended by local vintner Frank Gift, who presented each of the club members with a bottle of cherry blossom wine commemorating cherry blossom season.

Later in the week, the club was hosted by the National Conference of State Societies, on a boat trip honoring the cherry blossom princesses and queen selected each year for Washington's cherry blossom festivities. That day, the group also visited George Washington's Mount Vernon. The trip to George Washington's home has become a regular part of club tours since the group planted three cherry trees there in 1996. On that occasion, some 40 club members used water from both the Potomac and Arakawa to water the trees after planting. The cherries trees continue to prosper in one of the gardens near the mansion.

A farewell party at the end of the week gave both American and Japanese participants a final chance to exchange views and culture in a relaxed setting. Despite heavy storms, everyone enjoyed a cross-cultural meal of sushi, barbecued chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs while being entertained by a bluegrass band. Later in the evening, officials from the town of Miyoshi donned traditional clothing, along with some more modern samurai masks and performed their town dance to some recorded music. After their dance, the robes were put on the American contingent for an impromptu dance lesson.

Speaking for the club, Kiichi Kurosu a gas station owner in Saitama Prefecture, told the group that they would long hold the memory of the trip and what they had learned, and that they hoped to use what they learned in their efforts toward improving the Arakawa. He noted that there was much work to be done in their home watershed, and that the many examples of how residents care for the Potomac and how they attempt to involve their neighbors was inspiring.

While distance and language are barriers to understanding, that challenge also serves to highlight the most important aspects of river restoration in each culture, revealing basic principles and differences, and providing insights. This ongoing exchange program helps both groups to see their own challenges through a fresh perspective with the realization that many of those challenges are similar.

The commission thanks the towns of Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., the National Park Service, the National Conference of State Societies, Hard Bargain Farm, and the many individuals who continue to bring success to the Arakawa-Potomac Sister River Program.

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Watching the River Flow

Flow of the Potomac River measured near Washington, D.C., was below normal in March, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The river's flow averaged about 11.7 billion gallons per day (bgd) during March, about 74 percent of the long-term average for the month of 15.8 bgd. Daily extremes ranged from a low of about 4.4 bgd on March 11, to a high of about 33.5 bgd on March 23.

Water withdrawals for municipal use averaged about 338 mgd for the month, about 10 percent less than in March 1999. Freshwater inflow to the Chesapeake Bay was close to normal, at about 91.4 bgd, or 93 percent of the long-term average. The Potomac River contributed a below-normal 16 percent of the total.

Groundwater levels throughout the basin are improving, noted USGS Hydrologist James Manning. Monitored wells show slightly above-average levels in the metropolitan area, while wells in central and western Maryland are still below normal. All wells showed improvement in March, Manning said. Above-average rainfall through most of the basin in April should continue that trend, he added.

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ICPRB 60th Anniversary

In marking its 60th Anniversary, which takes place officially on July 11, 2000, ICPRB is conducting a series of interviews with individuals who influenced the agency or the Potomac River over the past six decades.

This interview was with Leonard Seybold, who is now retired in Bethesda, Md. Seybold served as the first ICPRB acting secretary in 1939-40, and helped to create the commission we know today.

In the Beginning
Leo Seybold arrived at the ICPRB office recently to explain his involvement in starting ICPRB, and was pleased to see how the seeds he had planted have grown. He was impressed with the office, and spent time in the library discussing some of the agency's current projects, ranging from fisheries restoration to involvement on an international level under the Arakawa-Potomac sister Rivers Agreement. "The commission certainly has progressed from the time of my involvement," he noted, "and so has the basin."

The ICPRB that Seybold remembers dates back to the late 1930s. "For many years, there had been concern about the growing pollution in the Potomac River basin. The problems had been study extensively by Dr. Abel Wolman. But it was really kicked off in 1937, when the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the Washington Board of Trade suggested the creation of a special body to give publicity to and aid in the elimination of pollution in the Potomac and its tributaries. In 1938, Dr. Wolman, as chairman of the Special Committee on Pollution of the Department of the Interior, authored a report pointing the way to the establishment on the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin." Seybold sees Wolman, who later became renowned as an international expert in water hygiene and a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, as the driving force that spawned the agency. Wolman conferred with representatives from each of the basin jurisdictions and federal agencies and contributed to the drafting of the ICPRB Compact, which was prepared by the District of Columbia Corporation Counsel. In 1939, under the leadership of Maryland Gov. Herbert R. O'Conor, Maryland approved the compact. O'Conor encouraged the cooperation and approval of the other basin states and sought the assistance of the Council of State Governments (CSG) in getting the project up and running, Seybold said.

And that is where, as a CSG staffer, that Seybold came in. "On October 1, 1939, I was assigned to the CSG Washington office with the specific assignment to secure approval of the compact by Congress, the District, and the four states, and to get the commission started," Seybold said. His tenure as the acting secretary for the fledgling agency lasted until June 1940, when Francis Kittrell was hired as the first engineer-secretary of the commission. He and a secretary were the only commission staff.

Through Seybold's efforts, along with those of Gov. O'Conor and others, Virginia and the District approved the compact in 1940. West Virginia signed in 1941. Pennsylvania did not approve the compact until 1945, Seybold said. "Meanwhile, Congressman Jennings Randolph of West Virginia, chairman of the House Committee on the District of Columbia, sponsored a resolution giving congressional approval to the compact, and was a major factor in shepherding it through Congress," which approved it on July 11, 1940, Seybold noted. Randolph's legacy remains in the large reservoir on the Potomac's North Branch that was named after him.

"It was quite a challenge for me, as a young man, getting the compact signed by the states," Seybold said. It was made easier because the compact was already drafted, based on the earlier compact that created the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin, and because there was a real willingness by the state governments to cooperatively address the Potomac's problems.
Although it took some time to get all the states to sign the compact, the willingness to begin allowed for meetings by the "temporary commission" which began to assess the Potomac's pollution problems and identify study needs, Seybold said. The importance of the commission allowed it to persist even though the country was distracted by the war in Europe, which the United States was preparing to enter, he noted. The commission began by setting up a planning committee and a sanitary engineering committee comprised of experts from each of the jurisdictions, along with three commissioners from each state.

The commission's nonregulatory nature was not an impediment to progress, because all the parties knew that they had to cooperate to get things accomplished, Seybold said. "There was no willingness to make the commission regulatory-it was meant to be a coordinating, fact-finding, research, public relations-type body," Seybold noted. "That is a very important purpose," he continued, "and the commission continues to fulfill that purpose. I don't think you can do it [address these problems] through hands-down regulation. I think its got to be done through cooperation, and education," Seybold said.

Citing some of the issues confronting the health of the basin, including disagreements over water intakes between Maryland and Virginia, Seybold stressed again that a cooperative nature is needed. It really is the best way to solve these problems. "Laws won't substitute for watershed cooperation," he said.

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A Spring Planting on the Anacostia

District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams wants a better environment for the residents of the city, and is especially committed to the restoration of the Anacostia River. He reiterated his commitment on April 20 to a group gathered to kick off a project that will restore wetlands at Kingman Island near Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

"If we want to take back the Anacostia, we need to restore our wetlands," Williams told the crowd. "We must reclaim our environment as we reclaim our city." The wetlands he referred to were once there, but were removed decades ago during massive re-engineering of the river channel by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE).

Now, the District and ACE, along with the National Park Service, will restore 41 acres of wetlands along the shoreline in a more than $5.2-million project. About 186,000 cubic yards of material dredged from the river for navigation will be used to build up the area to elevations that will encourage the growth of plants. Some 700,000 native wetland plants will be placed in the area. In addition, the project will restore 5.5 acres of bottomland hardwood buffer around the 110-acre lake, which lies between the western shore of the Anacostia and Kingman Island. The lake was dredged from wetlands in the 1920s and 1930s to produce a recreational lake. Flow control structures were placed at the upper and lower ends of the lake, which were never completed, and the area was partially buried in sediment.

Williams said that his goal for the Anacostia was that it will someday meet the requirements under the Clean Water Act for a fishable and swimmable waterway. "We want to be able to eat these fish someday," Williams said. He was joined on by D.C.

Congresswoman Eleanor Homes Norton, who lobbied strongly for the money for the project. She also told that crowd that she was working for funding to address what is perhaps the Anacostia's most noticeable problem-the regular introduction of sewage into the river by the city's aged combined sewer system, that carries stormwater and sewage in a single pipe system.

Students from the Edison Friendship School in the District planted seedlings that they had grown in class this spring.

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