Wade-In Finds Patuxent Worse

Bernie Fowler leads a wade-in at SERC in 2009

The Bay Net, Fresh Faces And Murkier Water At This Year’s Patuxent River Wade-In

Sunday, June 11, 2023, marked the second “Bernie Fowler Wade-In” held since the event’s founder, former state Sen. Bernie Fowler’s death in December 2021.

Sunday’s event marked the 36th Annual wade-in where community participants are invited to walk into the Patuxent River and measure the “Sneaker Index.” The index was developed by Sen. Fowler to measure how many inches he could wade into the water and still see his white sneakers.

The torch has now been passed to his grandson, Cody Fowler, to carry on the tradition. Fowler wore his grandfather’s wade-in uniform: denim overalls, a straw hat, and the required white sneakers.

This year, the index measured 30 inches of visibility. This was the lowest reading the wade-in has recorded since 2014. Last year, the reading was recorded as 39 inches. When Sen. Fowler started the wade-in, the inaugural reading was 10 inches.

As the speakers prior to the traditional wade-in emphasized, the event is less about the “Sneaker Index” itself and more about the attention the yearly ritual brings to the health of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed as a whole.

The wade-ins are great events for publicity, but of little significance otherwise. The water clarity day to day, hour to hour and minute to minute is very dependent of the weather. Tides sweep water across the shore, sometimes picking up particles from the surf in one area and moving it to another, or winds pick up and suspend more particles.