Adopt-A-Stream

We are always looking for volunteer Stream Stewards to join our Adopt-a-Stream program. Stream Stewards are involved in the active monitoring and protection of our local streams, and assist the HRWA with our advocacy and education efforts by being a voice in their communities.

Stream Stewards select a 1/4-mile section of stream near their neighborhood that they would like to monitor on a regular basis. We ask that our Stream Stewards commit to the following activities:

• Participate in one of our regularly scheduled Adopt-a-Stream training workshops
• Walk your stream section as frequently as possible to keep an eye out for any issues that may negatively impact the health of your stream
• Report problems to the proper authorities and the HRWA
• Complete at least two (2) trash clean-ups per year, one of which can be the annual Project Clean Stream
• Organize at least one restoration/advocacy project per year. This can be be any number of activities, and we welcome new and creative ideas! Examples include planting native trees or shrubs, removing invasive weeds, pruning overgrown plants, or educating your neighbors about environmentally-friendly lawn care.

Cleaner/healthier streams can also improve your community:

• Clean streams are fun for adults, kids and pets to play in and explore. Our goal is for fishable, swimmable, drinkable streams.
• Healthy stream corridors offer relaxing and inviting connections between neighborhoods
• Trash discarded on our streets and sidewalks ends up in our streams. A community that wants clean streams will work for a cleaner neighborhood.

Your efforts as a Stream Steward will directly help improve the environmental quality of your stream and the Bay:

• Reporting sources of pollution helps remove nutrients, chemicals and sewage
• Reporting water main breaks helps reduce erosion
• Planting trees and shrubs along your stream reduces erosion and cools our streams
• Removing trash and invasive plants increases the amount and diversity of wildlife and plants

If you'd like to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream program, please contact us so that we can schedule you for our training workshop and arrange a time to visit the section of stream that you'd like to adopt. Please contact Ashley Traut at 410-254-1577.

See a problem that you'd like to report? Please complete our Incident Report Form and return it to us as soon as possible.