Fourth Annual Secchi Dip-In Slated for Sunday, June 9
BALTIMORE (June 5, 2002) - Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Patapsco and Back River watersheds will be the site of the fourth annual Secchi Dip-In organized by the Patapsco Back River Tributary Team, Baltimore Metropolitan Council and Baltimore City Department of Public Works, with support from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Living Classrooms Foundation.  On Sunday, June 9, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., the public is invited to learn more about the region’s water quality at an Interpretation Center tent near the Maryland Science Center.  Participating organizations will present exhibits and offer information about what individuals can do to protect and improve our water resources.

The Patapsco Back River Tributary Team, in conjunction with Living Classrooms Foundation, is also offering free morning and afternoon 90-minute skipjack tours for the public to see examples of both clean-up successes and remaining problems in Baltimore Harbor.  Citizens and organizations wishing to participate should contact Stuart Stainman at (410) 767-6818 or Stephanie Behles at (410) 260-8723.

During the course of the day, volunteers from the the Patapsco/Back River Tributary Team, Baltimore Metropolitan Council, the Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Living Classrooms Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, marinas in Baltimore Harbor, Parks and People Foundation, Friends of Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway, Captain Seaweed, and other watershed organizations will use a SECCHI DISK to measure the water clarity at key locations in the Harbor and watershed.

An eight-inch black and white circular SECCHI DISK will be lowered into the water on a calibrated line until it can no longer be seen.  The depth at which the disk disappears is a measure of the transparency and quality of the water.  Father Pietro Secchi, scientific advisor to the Pope, used white disks to measure the clarity of water in the Mediterranean in 1865.  Results of the tests will be reported at 2 p.m. in the Interpretation Center tent.

"Water quality is vitally important to the region," said Howard County Executive James N. Robey, who serves as chair of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.  "Not only do the Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay provide natural habitats and recreational opportunities that contribute to our quality of life, but more than two-thirds of the Baltimore region’s citizens get their drinking water from the Baltimore City Municipal Water System."

The Secchi Dip-In will also tie into a statewide effort on that day when other tributary teams will be promoting "wade-ins."  At selected beach areas, the tributary teams and their participants will wade into the water until they can no longer see their white sneakers.  As with the Secchi disk, the depth of the water at that point is a rough measure of the clarity of the water.  This has come to be known as the "Bernie Fowler Index," after former state Senator Bernie Fowler, who for many years has led such a "wade in" in the Patuxent River.

"Water quality is something most of us take for granted," said Paul Farragut, Executive Director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.  "BMC is pleased to join with government agencies, nonprofit organizations and volunteers to support this important educational activity."

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 December 2008 10:08