The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is urging boaters to use “extreme caution’ in the Chesapeake after heavy rains and opened floodgates on a dam in the Susquehanna River produced fields of debris in the bay. The department says “marine debris” includes tree limbs and driftwood on the surface and just under the surface that can damage boats.
In Annapolis, crews form the Harbormaster’s Office cleared debris that floated into Ego Alley, the city’s marine showcase and downtown center of boating activity. The debris and sediment there flowed from the Susquehanna, Patapsco and Severn Rivers.
Last week, operators of the Conowingo Dam in Darlington, Maryland, opened nearly half the gates to manage high water in the Susquehanna. After the gates open, the river water filled with large clumps of tree limbs, sticks and sand and flowed into the Chesapeake.
Large amounts of trash and debris also floated into the Baltimore harbor after the rain storms. Last month broke records as the wettest July in the Baltimore area.
Authorities are urging boaters to go slowly and wear life jackets. “If you have to be out, then just be cautious of your speed,” Sergeant Cameron Brown of the Maryland Natural Resources Police told NBC.
And the state’s Department of Natural Resources advised beach-goers to avoid the debris. It issued an advisory not to swim in Sandy State Park. Read more:
