ShoreRivers

06/23/2026

Students at Cambridge South Dorchester and North Dorchester High Schools celebrated the end of the school year with ShoreRivers to build oyster cages as part of their environmental action project! These cages will help to grow spat and support oyster restoration efforts while giving students a hands-on opportunity to make a positive impact on local waterways. Through projects like this, students are turning learning into action for healthier rivers and a healthier Chesapeake Bay. This project was supported by funding from the Maryland State Department of Education.

06/22/2026

June 22 - 28 is "National Pollinator Week", celebrating the essential role of bees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinators in our ecosystems and food supply. These critters rely upon our native plants to provide them with the essential habitat they require to raise their young, lay their eggs, fuel up for migration, or take shelter in winter. Native plants and pollinators evolved together over tens of thousands of years and rely upon each other for survival. Plants from other regions of the world cannot provide our birds, butterflies, and bees with this essential habitat.

How many native plants do you have growing in your yard that support pollinators? Check out the Homegrown National Park website for great resources on incorporating more pollinator-friendly plants in your home landscape!

Homegrown National Park is helping to regenerate biodiversity one yard at a time with a simple, science-based, and measurable solution for every

06/21/2026

Please help us welcome Jenny, a graduate from the University of Delaware and one of this year’s interns!

06/19/2026

Curious about how a tree planting project goes from idea to trees in the ground? Here's some insight into the process. When a landowner reaches out with interest in a tree planting or buffer, members of our Ag & Restoration team conduct a site visit to understand the landowner's interests and assess site conditions, including access, existing trees, presence of invasive species, etc. From here, we use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to draft a concept map of the planting area. Using this georeferencing tool helps further understand the site conditions like soils, proximity to waterways, and ultimately, we can create polygons of various sizes indicating buffer width, length, and acreage. The concept map provides the landowner with a visual representation of what the addition of an actual buffer would look like on their property in relation to existing features. Once the proposed project area is refined with the landowner, we then move into planning the native tree species and quantities to be planted. If you'd like to get trees planted on your farmland, head to our website and fill out the restoration project inquiry under Our Work > Restoration!

06/18/2026

Happy Thursday! Planning a beach day this weekend? Take a look at the results of this week’s bacteria monitoring first, and happy swimming! ShoreRivers will be closed tomorrow for the Juneteenth federal holiday, which is why results are out one day early.

Please note: The Matapeake Beach bacteria site has been moved temporarily to the Matapeake Boat Ramp due to excessive macroalgae making the water inaccessible. Results for the boat ramp can be found on the cards below, and the site location will return to normal once the algae is gone.

Learn more: shorerivers.org/swim
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Please note that there are inherent risks associated with open water swimming and recreational contact including, but not limited to, bacterial infections. Bacteria levels can change, particularly as a result of significant rain events (>1"). Always rinse off after swimming in the river, never swim with open wounds, and avoid water contact for 24–48 hours after a significant rain event. ShoreRivers uses the Maryland Healthy Beaches criteria of 104 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/100ml for collecting and analyzing bacteria samples. Anything higher than 104CFU is a failing sample, and anything below 104CFU is a passing sample. Please also note that not all test sites are designated swimming areas!

06/17/2026

School's out! Swipe to see some of the amazing work that took place with hundreds of students across the Shore this school year!

06/17/2026

We're SO EXCITED to gather with everyone under the tent during next weekend's Solstice Celebration — but before we do we have to send a huge THANK YOU to the incredible sponsors who are helping to make it all possible.

The ShoreRivers mission thrives on generous community support, and we couldn't be more grateful! If you see any of the individuals listed please make sure to pass along your appreciation, and give a follow to: Raise Away, Resource Restoration Group, LLC, Unity Landscape Design/Build, Eastern Shore Tents & Events, Tom McCall Photography, Echo Hill Outdoor School, Wildly Native Flower Farm, David A. Bramble, Inc., Liddy Campbell - Realtor, GRI, Eastern Shore Financial, Environmental Quality Resources, The Finishing Touch, Hobbs Contractors, Cross Street Realtors, The Mill, and Ten Eyck Brewing Company.

06/16/2026

Get to know more about Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta!

“One of the most rewarding parts of the job is helping communities realize they have a voice in protecting their rivers, and then helping turn that voice into real change,” says Matt

Our latest “Who Is Waterkeeper” spotlights Matt Pluta, Choptank Riverkeeper. While his path to the Choptank River was not a straight line, Matt’s lifelong love for water ultimately drew him away from a business career and into environmental advocacy.

Despite ongoing pollution threats to his 70-mile Maryland watershed, Matt actively engages the community using policy work and outreach to help others connect with the river and become advocates themselves.

Learn more about Matt and support his work: https://tr.ee/p90wy0wOLj

06/16/2026

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) season is officially underway at ShoreRivers! Over the past month, our team of staff and volunteers has been busy monitoring, harvesting, and planting SAV in our rivers.

In late May, we harvested Horned Pondweed, a native species of SAV found on the Eastern Shore, from Eastern Bay and processed the seeds at Washington College, one of our crucial partners in this work. In the end, we collected and processed more than 3 million seeds, which will be planted back in our watersheds next spring — our Riverkeepers have also planted over 4 millions seeds in our rivers this month that were harvested in 2025. And later this summer, ShoreRivers will harvest 2-3 more native species to help repopulate the Bay.

If you are interested in getting more involved in SAV restoration at ShoreRivers, please email Maegan at [email protected].

06/14/2026

Do you own or farm agricultural land within 300ft of tidal waters? If so, ShoreRivers' new Tidal Buffer Program may be right for you!

This program is designed to help farmers and farmland owners protect their tidal adjacent land while delivering powerful water quality benefits for our Chesapeake tributaries. The program builds upon the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Conservation Buffer Initiative (CBI) by further incentivizing grass and/or tree buffers along tidal waterways. Specifically, ShoreRivers' program incentivizes maxing out the CBI program (e.g. installing a buffer to 100 ft) and allows participants to extend buffers to up to 300ft, at the same payment scale as the CBI program. Incentives are paid to both landowners and farmers and can be paired with the CBI or used independently with contracts running from 5-10 years. If you're interested in this program, fill out our restoration project form on our website here: https://www.shorerivers.org/restoration!

Thanks go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for funding this initiative.