The St. Mary's River Watershed Association is proud to announce our 2025 River Champions: Diana Mendes and the late Mark Bassett and Russell Miller! Diana and Mark have been long-time St. Mary's River Watershed Association (SMRWA) donors, and Mark's tribute fund raised almost $10,000 for our operations. When SMRWA needed a new field site, Russell Miller stepped up, offering us a rental space at a greatly reduced fee, and donated his time and equipment to our operations.

Join us at A River Affair to celebrate these remarkable individuals and their impact on SMRWA and our river.

After nearly 20 years of service to the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association, Bob Paul has announced his retirement from the Board effective March 1, 2025. Bob Paul is a founding member of our board, past vice president, and a longtime director of the St. Mary’s River Project (SMRP).

For the past year, the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association has been cruising the Bay in our new 22-ft C-Hawk – without a name! Now, we’re giving you the chance at A River Affair to put your name or the name of your choosing on our boat!

The St. Mary’s River Watershed Association is starting our very own SAV (Submerged Aquatic Vegetation or underwater grasses) Watchers program on the St. Mary’s River. We are hoping to gather a team of volunteer citizen scientists to become certified SAV Watchers. Our first training will be on Thursday, April 17, 2025, from 10 am to 4 pm at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (building TBD). Click here to learn more about why underwater grasses are important.

We need your help this Spring! We have scheduled three volunteer events for March 15, March 22, and May 3. We will bag shell until we have enough for our summer operations and then move on to cage building. We hope you can join us! Please click the link below for more information and to sign-up.

Join SMRWA Executive Director Emma Green Ewing and Fred Millhiser of Friends of St. Clements Bay on Thursday, February 27, at 6 pm at the Leonardtown Library to learn about Oyster Restoration efforts in Southern Maryland and how you can get involved.  

Want free trees? Residents of St. Mary's County may be eligible for a bundle of 15 bare-root seedlings from the University of Maryland Extension office. Bundles are available on a first come, first served basis, and pickup is at the Leonardtown Extension office. Please click the link below for more details.