To improve our environment for the betterment of our community, County, and State by providing education and local resources to Oyster Harbor residents. The committee will work with residents to improve the quality of the community’s environment and assist residents with the initiation of ecofriendly best practices.
Watershed Stewards as well as State and local environmental leaders call Oyster Harbor home. If you’re interested in becoming involved, want to become a certified Watershed Steward, or need assistance with an environmental concern; please contact the Green Committee Chair.
Oyster Harbor is defined by shorelines of the Chesapeake Bay, Fishing Creek, and Oyster Creek. The community resides within the Severn and South River watersheds. There are tidal and non-tidal wetlands located throughout our community. In 2011, Oyster Harbor began a working partnership with Biohabitats, an environmental services firm, in order to remediate stormwater problems throughout the community. A grant was secured in order to assess poor drainage spots throughout the community. Biohabitats compiled and released their findings. Click Biohabitats Memorandum for this report. Three of the ten identified hot spots are on the drawing board for being redesigned and the plans implemented. The goals are to gain holding capacity for stormwater and to have more functional roadside swale systems that will help filter stormwater to reduce the sediment and bacteria from the “first flush” before it has a chance to flow into the waterways.
In 2010, several residents who were Watershed Steward candidates designed and implemented several projects in the community. The focus was on stormwater filtration, turf conversion, and the Chesapeake Bay airshed. The no-mow zone captures and helps to filter stormwater. Because perennials, shrubs, and tall grasses have deeper roots than turf grass, they take up more nutrients, which is something that is in need of reduction in most waterways. More plants also mean less area to mow, thus reducing CO2 emissions in the air. The tandem rain barrels that are next to the pumping station are used to slow down stormwater coming from the roof and to water the plants when necessary. They were painted by Kim Boris.
This site is located at the entrance of Oyster Harbor. Because it is County owned property, we worked in conjunction with Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works.
The native garden at Fishing Creek Park is next to the slope that heads toward Fishing Creek. The garden helps to buffer stormwater run-off into the creek and is a food source for wildlife. Native plants occur naturally so they require less watering and minimal maintenance and will thrive after being established. A variety of native plants can be found at many local nurseries.
For more information, please click here to visit the Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database.
Rain barrels come in various shapes and sizes and are widely available. These rain barrels are located at Harbor Park. Their job is to slow down the water coming from the roof, and hold it so it drains slowly. These barrels were painted by Kim Boris and installed by Kim and John Boris.
The Thuja evergreens that were planted at the Harbor Park in 2010 are very hardy. These trees can adapt to a range of soil conditions from sandy loam soil to hard clay. They are in the same family as cypress, cedar, and juniper. They’re pyramidal in shape with a height of 20-40′ tall. These 12 trees were planted by Becky Fetters, Bob Eyster, Shawn Chadwick, JrHwa Simon, and Kim Boris.
Purple Martins are members of the swallow family. They migrate from Brazil to nest here around mid-March. The Purple Martin house was installed at the beach by Bob Eyster, David Wood, and Kim Boris.
A bat house was installed at Harbor Park and Fishing Creek Park by John Boris, David Wood, Jo Burkholder, Bob Eyster, and Kim Boris. A bat is nature’s way of controlling the insect population. One bat can eat about 500 insects an hour!
