Programs: Advocacy

As professional advocates, the staff of the Severn Riverkeeper Program works full time to protect and restore the Severn River. We advocate for compliance with environmental laws, respond to citizen complaints, identify problems that affect the Severn, and devise appropriate remedies to address the problems.

We are especially concerned with facilitating private citizen empowerment to ensure that existing laws designed to protect the river are actually being complied with, that we raise awareness and involvement in activities that can improve the river and that there is better collaboration and synergy between the many people and groups that are active on the river.

Some examples of our efforts include:

Founded the Anne Arundel Watershed Coalition with other area Riverkeeper and conservation groups to present a unified voice to County government on water quality issues.
Testified in favor of the new state Stormwater Control Act and took the Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment out on the river to explain our recommendations for stormwater regulation.
Meet regularly with the head of Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works to prioritize key stormwater control projects.