Mid Shore Rivers Marginally Better . . .

. . . this year. Mid-shore rivers earn higher grades on latest report card

Several waterways on the Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore saw improvements in water clarity over the past year, helping them earn higher grades in the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy’s fifth annual report card.

Of the sixteen rivers and streams tracked by the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, grades for ten of the waterways improved from the previous year. This includes Tuckahoe Creek, a tributary of the Choptank and historically one of the area’s most polluted rivers, which was upgraded from a “D+” to a “C.” Increased water clarity and a rebound in underwater grass abundance helped the Choptank overall earn a “B-,” up from a “C” last year. Eastern Bay and the surrounding creeks showed modest improvement, all scoring “B” grades or higher.

A 1 point improvement on a 15 point scale (F- to A+) isn't really earth shattering progress. It's basically random noise with a little bump from favorable or unfavorable weather from one year to the next. Get a big rainfall or a snowmelt in the spring before the start of the algae growing season, and that B- could be back to a C next year.

Grades are based on data from more than 100 sampling sites, where volunteers test for water clarity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients and chloropyll a. The Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy also tracks water temperature, pH, salinity and bacteria levels.

I always get a kick out of the various report cards. Something gets worse, we need to try harder. Something gets better, and we still need to try harder.

They could just skip the histrionics with the report cards, and tell us to try harder.