In 2019, 5 working groups/project teams worked to tackle the Envision Common Agenda, carrying out strategies that ultimately meet the mission of Envision the Choptank: to provide swimmable, fishable waters and enhance the health and productivity of native oysters in a way that best meets the needs of surrounding communities. Read on to learn what each has accomplished in 2019. And, for information on our Easton Stream Restoration Team, check out our Spotlight post!

Since 2018, Envision the Choptank has been working with the town of Easton to help restore Tanyard Branch and Papermill Branch streams. The project will restore over 2,000 linear feet across the two urban streams while helping to reduce flooding, improve water quality and habitat, and connect surrounding communities to restoration efforts. 

Have you had a chance to reach out to either of our Landowner Assistance Coordinators yet? If not, don’t take our word for how useful they can be. Check out what Ron and Stacey Anderson of Oxford had to say about their installed pollinator garden and rain barrel:

Bay Hundred Project Team: Having just completed their pilot project in the lower Choptank, testing strategies for increasing residential and agricultural best management practices on private lands, the team is working with Envision partners to extend several strategies, including the use of Landowner Assistance Coordinators, throughout the watershed.

Did you know that there are not one, but two people whose job it is to come visit your property (both agricultural and residential), discuss which best management practices (BMPs) are right for you and your land, and help you install them? Their names are Whitley Gray and Josh Biddle, and they can help with everything from rain gardens, to wetland restoration, to developing a plan to maintain BMP measures you’ve already installed.

Envision the Choptank has been awarded a $1 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund to accelerate the implementation of restoration practices throughout the Choptank River watershed with the goal of improving water quality and reducing nutrients and sediment.