After many months of build-up, we’re excited to finally gather in Ellicott City next week for the 2024 Choose Clean Water Conference! Like past conferences, we have a fantastic agenda in store, full of informative sessions, workshops, and field trips. There’s also plenty of time for networking and a bit of fun worked in as well including Chesapeake Jeopardy making a return! This year we also are thrilled to introduce a handful of new pieces— Conference KickoffFor our 2019 and 2023 conferences, we partnered with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to host “ForumPlus”–an afternoon seminar explor ..read more

For this Member Highlight, the Coalition’s Maryland State Lead, Marisa Olszewski, interviews Kelly Collins Choi, Director of Policy and Land Conservation at Casey Trees. Their edited conversation follows. What city and state is your organization based in? What area do you work in? Casey Trees (CT) is based in Washington, DC works throughout the District, as well as regionally in Maryland and Virginia. In fact, Casey Trees has collaborated with several organizations (and other coalition members) in Baltimore. We also have a tree nursery in Berryville, VA where we grow all the trees we plant al ..read more

For this Member Highlight, the Coalition’s New York State Lead, Amy Wyant, interviews Ed Lentz, Chairperson of the Board of Directors with Butternut Valley Alliance (BVA). Their edited conversation follows. What is the Butternut Valley Alliance’s mission? Our mission is to encourage the Butternut Creek Watershed to become an even better place to live, work, and play. Our activities include connecting communities, protecting the environment, and promoting the arts. With respect to our vision, BVA is leading the Butternut Creek Watershed towards a sustainable future. We do this through various ..read more

In the halls of Congress last week, I spotted four American Legion veterans, three cowboys, two brain injury researchers, and a peanut farmer. It was the Choose Clean Water Coalition’s 13th annual Chesapeake Bay Day on the Hill (affectionately called “Lobby Day”), and I was there along with nearly 100 Coalition members to ask our representatives to protect the rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A Pennsylvania team outside the Capitol. It was an interesting, fast-paced, nostalgic day for me. I hadn’t been inside the House or Senate in years – my last visit being with a college ..read more

In 2009, a group of dedicated environmentalists came together to create the Choose Clean Water Coalition. It’s now our 15th year of fighting for clean rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay region, and we have some fun announcements coming down the pipeline. This month, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our Choose Clean Water Store! Check out our selection of t-shirts, totes, and more, and stay tuned for limited-edition anniversary and conference merch out soon. Your purchase helps support our work for clean water with our nearly 300 member organizations across the Chesapeake Bay w ..read more

Written and photographed by Communications Intern Kara Siglin for Coalition member Chesapeake Legal Alliance. Retiree Bob Zillig is fighting to preserve his waterfront community’s peace, quiet, and remaining scrap of tidal and nontidal wetlands. Zillig lives along the Chester River in Grasonville, Maryland, just off Route 50 and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. His neighborhood, Long Point Community, consists of about 80 houses that unspool on a thin strip of land between Muddy and Jackson Creeks. The peninsula has a mellow, down-to-earth feel to it, a mood that many community members are worried ma ..read more

For this Clean Water Profile, West Virginia Rivers Coalition’s Clean Water Campaign Coordinator Maria Russo weighs in on the joys and challenges of her work, de-centering from the now, and finding her way home. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Maria at the Coalition’s 2023 State Leads Retreat near Harrisburg, PA. Kara Siglin: Tell me a little about your story – how did you get into the work you do now with West Virginia Rivers? Maria Russo: My name is Maria Russo and I work for West Virginia Rivers Coalition! I grew up in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, right betw ..read more

Our Clean Water Profile series continues with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Mauricio Rosales. Mauricio is the Senior Agriculture Projects Manager out of the Alliance’s Lancaster office, and he kindly sat down with us to discuss generational woes within the dairy industry, farm management styles around the world, and the beauty of the Susquehanna River. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Kara Siglin: Tell me a little about your story: where you are now, the work you do, and how you got there. Mauricio with a group on a Pennsylvania farm. Mauricio Rosales: I moved to the ..read more

For this Member Highlight, the Coalition’s Maryland State Lead, Marisa Olszewski, interviews Emma Green, General Manager of the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association. Their edited conversation follows. What city and state is your organization based in? St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (SMRWA) works across the 73.78 square miles of the St. Mary’s River watershed, which is entirely contained in St. Mary’s County. This benefits SMRWA’s advocacy efforts, allowing us to focus our efforts within a single local jurisdiction. Our work mainly takes place in the field. On a typical day, we will ..read more

In this member highlight, the Coalition’s West Virginia State Lead, Maria Russo, sits down with Steve Paradis, a Public Works Administrator for Harpers Ferry and member of Elks Run Watershed Group. The following was edited for length and clarity. Steve Paradis serves as the Public Works Administrator for Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and is an integral member of the Safe Water Harpers Ferry and Elks Run Watershed Group. The Elks Run Watershed Group is one of many West Virginia members of the Choose Clean Water Coalition. As the West Virginia State Lead of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, I sat ..read more