Water Watch

AHB collaborates with other teams of citizen scientists to collect data on our local water quality and tracks publicly available data on trends in our area.

Since 2022, AHB has participated in the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)’s Chesapeake Water Watch program to “ground truth” the water quality data collected by NASA satellites. Community volunteers take water samples at sites more than 100 feet from shore and test the samples for chlorophyll, turbidity, and dissolved organic matter.

AHB also participates in the spring Water Quality Blitz coordinated by the American Chesnut Land Trust, taking samples that measure nitrogen in nontidal streams.

Several public sites provide real-time data on local water quality conditions, including summer bacteria levels, vibrio concentrations, and salinity levels. A watershed assessment of Herring Bay was completed in 2018.

Vibrio vulnificus —NOAA’s map of expected concentrations

Bacteria levels — AA County Health Department biweekly monitoring, includes Fairhaven, Herrington Harbor South.

Salinity Levels — NOAA’s maps of salinity levels in the Chesapeake Bay are updated hourly.

Anne Arundel County 2018 watershed assessment of Herring Bay : Full report and Appendix with maps.