Watershed Stewards Academy at 10 years
Group has made progress trying to save local waterways
Before the Watershed Stewards Academy became one of the region’s largest training grounds for environmentalists, two of its co-founders were fixated on multiplying rain barrels.
“‘Can you imagine if we put a rain barrel at every house?’” Stephen Barry recalls Ron Bowen asking him. Over the course of 13 years, the men repurposed 3,000 of the 50-gallon syrup drums they got from Coca-Cola and Pepsi into rain barrels.
Bowen, at the time, was director of the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works. Barry had spent decades as an educator and administrator in the county’s public schools. Both were passionate about finding creative solutions to filter polluted stormwater runoff and save local waterways.
Now, 10 years later, Watershed Stewards Academy has educated 200 stewards; completed more than 2,500 water-filtering projects; and involved nearly 135,000 residents in Anne Arundel County.
“Thirteen years ago, we started talking about citizen engagement and connecting people with government resources and resources to solve their own stormwater problems,” said Suzanne Etgen, executive director of the academy.
Etgen co-founded the nonprofit in 2008 with Barry, Bowen and Ginger Ellis, who was Bowen’s assistant in the Department of Public Works.
“I can hardly believe that 10 years have gone by so fast. I thought we would have a good program, but I did not anticipate the impact the restoration would have,” she said.
Through the Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center, the academy has also worked with the county’s public schools to help children learn about the environment and teach them how to take care of it.
A 10-year anniversary event, originally intended as a end-of-summer beach party, fell victim to 60-degree weather and rain. But a crowd of families, friends, Watershed Stewards Academy volunteers and alumni still made their way to Mayo Beach to celebrate last weekend.
“WSA is probably the most empowering education course I have every had,” said Betsy Love, who went through the group’s training in 2013. “I just finished a great project, a stream daylighting project in Annapolis, and I owe it all to my mentors at WSA.”
Love said she joined the academy in 2013 after she noticed polluted stormwater runoff at her church, St. Luke’s.
Watershed Stewards Academy stewards are trained to identify stormwater issues in their communities and help community members fix those problems. Solutions can range from installing rain barrels to million-dollar projects that filter rainwater before it can pollute local waterways.
Audience members laughed and cried during last Sunday’s ceremony. The Watershed Stewards Academy “family” reminisced over the organization’s beginnings and honored two late members: Bowen passed away May 6. Kincey Potter, who sat on the board of directors, died Sept. 15 following a long illness.
“Ron was very calculated, data-driven and precise,” said Barry. Many at the ceremony referred to his work for local government and the watershed academy as “visionary.”
Potter was remembered as someone who could lead others by inspiring them. She moved to Anne Arundel County and became one of the area’s leading environmentalists after surviving the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Potter and Bowen both contributed to the academy’s mission of empowering and educating community members to save local waterways.
“People want to be part of the solution, people have no idea how to get started and there aren’t many resources within government,” Etgen said.
Barry said the nonprofit started with nothing, but has grown to meet a need for thousands of people.
The celebration will continue through September 2019 with 10 events, including an educational session about plants, the academy’s eighth annual conference and a memorial project for Bowen.
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