The Muddy Branch Alliance’s work to protect habitat and connect people to outdoor recreation is only possible because of you! Learn about ways you can get involved.
Join the Alliance
Weed Warriors / Trash Cleanups
Our parks serve as valuable spaces to enjoy nature and recreate. The Muddy Branch Greenway Trail, the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, the various lockhouses and trails along the C&O Canal, Blockhouse Point Conservation Park, and Seneca Creek State Park are a few of the exceptional resources we have to enjoy in our area. In addition to places to walk, bike, ride horses or boat, these parks provide natural stream buffers that filter out nutrient pollution, stabilize shorelines, and protect our water quality.
Find out how to be stewards of these areas by getting involved in projects in the area. We work with Montgomery Parks to maintain the trails and remove invasives. The trail work is coordinated to happen one or two times during the year in each of the Greenway trails. The work to remove invasives is once a year in the County parks.
If you are interested in helping to remove invasive plants from parks in the area, please first check out the County’s Weed Warrior program. Being certified in that program or volunteering with that program provides good experience prior to getting in the park with our volunteers.
We coordinate projects along the Muddy Branch Trail with the City of Gaithersburg, to improve the trail and to remove invasives. We also work with several Scout troops to implement trail improvements, and we’ve been working with the Hilton Homewood Suites to maintain wood duck houses along the trail.
We support walks, canoe trips, and bike rides across the park network. We work with the Maryland Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) to implement trail projects and to support their annual bike ride in the fall with an aid station on the Muddy Branch Trail.
We also promote events to pick up trash across the watersheds. This includes an annual Potomac-wide trash pickup in April, quarterly trash pickups along Muddy Branch Road, and periodic trash pickups along the stream.
We try to keep listings of all opportunities on our calendar, so that volunteers from across the watershed can help to improve water quality and natural habitat. Watch our calendar of events for work days around the area.
Salt Testing
Road salt is a problem. Salt is useful because it is inexpensive and somewhat effective in melting ice and snow on our roads. Following a storm, major roads should be safe and passable.
But salt is also dangerous because:
- At high levels it is toxic to plant and animal life.
- It corrodes our roads, bridges, and pipes. Corrosion like this is what caused the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
- It elevates salt levels in our drinking water, which is unhealthy for people with high blood pressure or kidney disease. Water treatment facilities, like our local WSSC, do not take salt out of our water.
The City of Gaithersburg is doing a good job with brine and salt distribution. Not only is the City putting down salt responsibly, but they also are cleaning up afterward; we’ve seen the street cleaners!
However, Gaithersburg could do better in limiting the salt to only the emergency routes and hilly areas. A flat dead end or cul-de-sac does not require salt; plowing is all that is needed. This might also save City taxpayers a few dollars in salt and labor costs. Gaithersburg does an excellent job plowing snow.
Our state and county also do a good job in salting our streets. They use brine, they train themselves on smart salt use, and they watch the weather forecasts closely.
Private organizations, which are responsible for about 30% of the salt pollution in our streams, do not do a good job. Private organizations are worried about slip-and-fall litigation, and they tend to oversalt. They are often untrained and dump salt, sometimes just to make a buck when they are paid by the amount of salt used rather than being paid a flat rate per snow event.
Our Monitoring
The Muddy Branch Alliance has been monitoring chloride levels in the Muddy Branch stream. We have noticed that following snow events, the chloride levels in these streams go from “fair” (usually from about 80-150 parts per million, or ppm) to “poor” (over 250 ppm). “Poor” means that the water is toxic, at some level, to animal and plant life.
Higher levels of chloride in our streams also means higher levels of chloride in our tap. Following a “winter event,” we have seen chloride levels in our tap rise from 45 ppm to more than 130 ppm.
Here is a chart showing salt levels in the Muddy Branch near Route 28. Notice the high marks, which coincide with winter salt distribution. The chloride levels under Great Seneca Highway and at Watts Branch are even worse.
Actions
The Muddy Branch Alliance is active in spreading the word about salt via local environmental organizations and government committees. We are also monitoring chloride levels along the Muddy Branch and capturing data points from Morris Park to River Road. Our results can be seen on the Clean Water Hub. For future use, we are capturing photos of obvious salt distribution problems. We also call the city, county, and state when we see salt distribution problems.
You can help!
- If you see a problem with salt on a Gaithersburg City road, you can contact [email protected].
- If you see a problem along a state or county road, you can dial 311.
- Don’t use rock salt (or equivalent products) on your driveways or sidewalks; try birdseed or sand.
- Speak up about salt overuse.
We are also working with Maryland Delegate Lily Qi (from District 15) and the Maryland Department of the Environment to propose legislation for smart salt distribution by private organizations. Due to slip-and-fall liability concerns, private organizations tend to oversalt. To help resolve this, if a private contractor becomes trained in Smart Salt Techniques (via the Maryland Department of the Environment) and distributes salt appropriately, then the organization hiring the contractor could be shielded from slip-and-fall liability. The idea is that this would limit the amount of unnecessary salt placed on our streets. This legislation is modeled after the good work done by the state of Minnesota. Minnesota believes that smart salt training can reduce salt use by 30-70%. Learn more.
Here are a few examples of poor salt use.
In the News
- Fox 5 report with Lauren DeMarco
- WAMU report with Jacob Fenston
- Lower salt in Virginia (Bay Journal News)
- Why we don’t use sand on the roads (Minnesota CBS affiliate)
Resources
- The EPA issued a Drinking Water Advisory.
- WSSC has an excellent site describing the salt problem.
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency provides salt training information for private contractors.
- The Izaak Walton League’s Salt Watch program provides free test kits so you can see if your local stream is polluted by road salt – plus there are lots of resources for how you can salt smarter.
The Muddy Branch Alliance is an official Salt Watch partner.
Be Part of the Green Team
Our native plant meadow is designed to resist invasives – but it still benefits from friends who help it remain healthy and vibrant. Our Green Team watches the meadow for early signs of invasion and takes action to help the natives fight back. Contact us for more information.
Advocacy Opportunities
Looking to take the lead on working with local decision-makers to protect the Muddy Branch stream and its surrounding habitat? Contact us to get connected to advocacy work.
Share Your Story
How are you already involved with the Alliance? What have you observed and experienced while recreating around the Muddy Branch? Send us a story for our blog.
Support Our Work
Your financial support helps us continue our work to protect the Muddy Branch for people and wildlife. Make a gift today.
More Ways to Get Involved
Find timely opportunities to work with us at the Montgomery County Volunteer Center.
