An annual environmental report shows bacteria levels in Baltimore’s Harbor are improving, but the report’s authors advise not to dive in just yet.
Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore on Thursday released their annual Harbor Heartbeat report card for 2020, showing bacteria scores based on water samples that Blue Water Baltimore collected no less than 48 hours after a heavy rain.
The scores show the percentage of that year’s samples that fell within Maryland’s water safety threshold – so the higher the number, the better. Canton earned a 100% score, while a site at the Downtown Sailing Center in Baltimore’s Riverside neighborhood earned a score under 60%.
Of the 25 sampling sites with enough available data, 92% recorded bacteria scores that are either improving or consistently high. Waterfront Partnership attributed these positive trends in part to the city’s investment in reducing sewage runoff into the harbor.
In May 2021, Baltimore City completed the $430 million Headworks Project, which upgraded the system to correct a flaw that had been causing tens of millions of gallons of sewage to overflow into Baltimore’s streams and harbor each year.
The report’s authors urged people not to enter the water within 48 hours of heavy rainfall as stormwater runoff carries sewage and pollutants into the harbor.
The authors also warned that swimming should be done in areas that protect against boat traffic, and in areas where the water is deep enough for swimmers not to stir up sediment that contains legacy pollutants.
The pandemic “severely impacted” Blue Water Baltimore’s ability to collect water samples in 2020, so this year’s report was unable to provide updated ecosystem health scores for 2020. Instead, the author’s revisited scores for 2019.
Waterfront Partnership has not seen any significant change in any of its ecosystem health indicators since 2013.
Although the authors praised Baltimore’s progress to repair old sewer pipes, including the Headworks Project, they said the data reflect a lack of investment in stormwater management.
Streams consistently exhibit high scores for dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature, which are considered three “vital signs” for a stable freshwater ecosystem’s health.
However, the only indicator that is “consistently good to moderately good” for Baltimore’s harbor is dissolved oxygen.
Conductivity, which measures the levels of salts and chemicals that could harm fish and other organisms in streams, has consistently scored below 20%.
And the harbor continues to be affected by algal blooms and sediment flowing from stormwater runoff and stream erosion.
This year saw the addition of Baltimore’s fourth garbage-intercepting trash wheel, Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West. Joining the cleanup efforts in March 2021, Gwynnda is stationed at the mouth of the Gwynns Falls in the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.
Since Maryland became the first state to ban single-use foam containers, with the ban going into effect in October 2020, there has been “a huge reduction” of foam for the trash wheels to collect, according to the report.
The report’s authors added that they hope to see fewer plastic bags in the year ahead as Baltimore’s plastic bag ban is set to go into effect Oct. 1 after nearly nine months of pandemic-related delays.
Since Mr. Trash Wheel became Baltimore’s first trash wheel in 2014, the trash wheels have collected 1,608 tons of trash, including 730,426 plastic bags, 1,307,482 foam containers, 1,293,276 chip bags, 1,170,714 plastic bottles and 12,192,998 cigarette butts.
