How Healthy are the South, West, and Rhode Rivers?

The Arundel Rivers Federation measures many different parameters to learn about the water quality of the South, West, and Rhode Rivers. We hope this map helps answer three basic questions about the health of our rivers: Is it safe to swim? Can fish breathe? How dirty is it?  For the purposes of this map, we have assigned a parameter for each question.

• Bacteria levels help determine whether it is safe to swim.
• Dissolved Oxygen levels show how well fish can breathe.
• Water Clarity helps measures the amount sediment (dirt), which is our worst pollutant in terms of causing harm to aquatic life.

Restoration Projects Sediment and excessive nutrients are our two worst pollutants.  The Federation actively develops and oversees projects that work to trap and filter these pollutants before they reach the South, West, and Rhode Rivers.  Our restoration projects range from tiny rain gardens to multi-million dollar stream restorations – check them out under the “Restoration” tab.