If you’ve ever stared at a political map of the United States, it may have occurred to you how arbitrary our borders can seem. Because of long-ago charters and treaties, we root for different sports teams, attend different schools, and divide up along cultural lines. Then again, would any set of lines be more or less arbitrary?
In her solarpunk novel, A Half-Built Garden, local author Ruthanna Emrys imagines a postindustrial future where nations have fallen and communities have reorganized around how rainwater drains. All the water that drains into a river or other body of water is known as a watershed. Half of Virginia, almost all of Maryland, a large portion of Pennsylvania and sections of Delaware and West Virginia drain into the Chesapeake Bay. These lands and the people on them are collectively responsible for what happens to the bay and all of its tributary rivers. Since water is essential for all life, there is a kind of logic to organizing ourselves around watersheds.
In Emrys’ future world, greater Laurel might change very little, as our postmark aligns closely with the watershed of the upper section of the Patuxent River. Then again, if we governed ourselves as one people along the entire Patuxent, all the way to the Chesapeake Bay, quite a lot might change: Our upstream activities have had great impacts on those living downstream. Sediment from rampant construction and toxins from our overburdened sewage systems flow toward the lower Patuxent. In fact, the river was the first in the nation ordered for cleanup under the Clean Water Act, in the mid-1980s.
However we organize our communities, we should act as good stewards of our watershed. While rivers come to mind first, your biggest personal impacts will likely be on your own property. Since all the water that lands on your property will eventually reach the river, you have the earliest opportunity to change that water’s fate.
The obvious first step is to make sure the water stays clean. You can avoid using pesticides, applying them only if it’s absolutely necessary. Eliminating your use of synthetic fertilizers and making sure you only use the amount of organic fertilizers (like compost and manure) that you need will greatly reduce excess nutrients entering our waterways, which can massively disrupt aquatic life. Also, check to see if your car is leaking oil and, if so, get it fixed.
Next, find ways to slow down the water that lands on your property. Back when much of this land was forested, massive root systems absorbed and filtered rainwater, which eventually refilled our rivers. When water rushes over the land and directly into waterways, it causes erosion and rapidly swells those waterways, speeding up the flow of water. Over time, this excessive speed has straightened out many of our rivers, causing them to flow even faster and further erode their banks.
Municipal stormwater systems are designed to manage water from our roads and reduce the impact stormwater can have on nearby streams and rivers. However, our most densely populated areas contain the most impervious surfaces, so their stormwater systems have to handle the most rainfall. As urban areas grow, their stormwater systems often do not. Streets flood, sewage mixes with stormwater, and rivers like the Patuxent become shallower, straighter and more polluted.
To best manage the rainwater landing on your property, try to keep it on your property. If you see water rolling off your lawn and into the street, that water is moving too fast. Consider adding a native garden to slow the water down and let deep-rooted plants soak it up. The tiny holes that roots make in the soil also help water infiltrate the ground more easily.
If you have more than a few inches of water accumulating on your property, you may need some more creative ways to redirect or store water. I recommend reaching out to a certified Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLPro.org) for more help.
If you’re interested in learning more about our local watersheds, here are a few resources. First, you can use River Runner to see exactly how a single drop of water would flow from your home to the Chesapeake Bay. (You can check out this tool at tinyurl.com/mr2ned26.) Second, you can check out the 2025 Eco Health Chesapeake Bay report card (which unfortunately graded the Patuxent River as a D). You can find the whole report at tinyurl.com/yvhmk6he.
Jimmy Rogers is an avid gardener in the city of Laurel and owner of Vibrant Gardening LLC.