Community Organizing of the Harris Creek Watershed

The Harris Creek Watershed Project has come a long way,but it still needs to go much further. It was helped greatly this week with a meeting that focused on the amount of illegal trash dumping on vacant lots,especially in the middle of the 246 Watershed. Input from over 400 completed Survey Questionnaires as well as input from listening to residents from the 17 Community Neighborhood Associations identified this as their number one problem. Despair from inability to do anything about the chronic problem was to be a concern that the 246 Watershed needed to address. Yes,this is a Watershed Project with a Stormwater Plan when completed....and Yes,we want to prevent the trash from coming down into the Baltimore Harbor........but,even more important,the 246 Watershed is interested in going after this illegal trash dumping as an Injustice to the Community and Advocating for a Program to quickly clean the trash up and to develop aggressive measures to prevent it from happening. Plans are under way to coordinate the efforts of many to bring this about. Engaging our Citizens at a deeper level of committment is a way to strenghen the Community of 17 Neighborhoods needed in this 246 Watershed Effort. The Clean "Harbor" comes only after we prevent permanently the illegal trash dumping from taking place on vacant lots and in vacant buildings in the Harris Creek Watershed. We are deeply appreciative of the role of Baltimore City Housing Department and their Code Enforcement Division as well as the Baltimore City Department of Public Works and their Cleaner,Greener Program,Solid Waste Program,Community Education Program etc As initially stated,we still have a long way to go......but the Direction is now clearer.
Respectfully for the Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association,the Parks and People Foundation,the Center for Watershed Protection,Raymond D.Bahr MD Harris Creek Watershed Program Coordinator