Holly Neck Conservation Association Pioneers Rain Barrel Effort

Submitted by Christine Potts, Assistant Project Manger, Clear Creeks: Our Water, Our Heritage, Our Pride, a program of the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy

With a twenty-five year career in dentistry with the Air National Guard, Col. Rita Kurek knows a thing or two about the importance of keeping things clean—a standard for both healthy grins and happy waterfront communities everywhere. 

As vice president of the Holly Neck Conservation Association, Kurek and her fellow members are launching a pioneering preservation effort as the first Middle River community organization to provide rain barrels to their membership in support of clear creeks. 

"Every member gets one free, for any member who wants one," Kurek said, which for an association with over 230 members could mean a whole lot of barrels.

With money designated for conservation projects from their “Bruce E. Johnson Fund,” the association will purchase Clear Creeks rain barrels from the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, a local land and watershed preservation non-profit.  

The Conservancy is managing partner of Clear Creeks: Our Water, Our Heritage, Our Pride, a two-year, grant-funded project that helps answer a community desire for improved water quality in the creeks and rivers of the Middle River and Tidal Gunpowder watersheds. 

Clear Creeks Project Manager Peggy Perry explained during Holly Neck members’ first rain barrel workshop: “One home with a rain barrel makes a small difference, but a community of rain barrels can have a big impact,” in addition to setting an example for other Middle River and Tidal Gunpowder groups to follow. 

"This is an absolute model for community groups taking responsibility for Clear Creeks," Gunpowder Valley Conservancy President Charlie Conklin said. "The enthusiasm here is contagious!”      

Since its founding in January of 2000, the Holly Neck Conservation Association has been holding creek and road clean-ups, installing community gardens, and monitoring developmental zoning all in an effort to maintain the beauty and character of the Holly Neck peninsula.  

"We want to preserve what we have down here," Kurek said.   

Storm water runoff and sedimentation are leading causes of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.  During a storm, fast moving rainwater picks up an assortment of dirt, trash, fertilizer and debris, before emptying into a creek or river.  The faster the storm water moves, the more erosion to banks and shorelines it can cause.   

It’s a phenomena that Holly Neck newcomer Debbie Franklin has witnessed for herself at her recently purchased weekend home on the peninsula.  “Our property is on a slope; it upsets me every time I see the rain running into the water.  It just gushes down the property, and I want to slow it down.”  

After attending the workshop, Franklin purchased three more Clear Creeks rain barrels—one for each downspout.  

A rain barrel captures rainwater that can be used or slowly released after a storm, when dry grounds can absorb and/or filter the water before it returns to waterways.  

Through grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability and the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, Middle River and Tidal Gunpowder residents are eligible for selected cost reductions and free technical advice on a variety of bay-friendly yard and garden installations, including rain barrels.

“I always wanted to live on the water.  It’s an expression of freedom, a combination of the people and the environment,” said Holly Neck resident John Miller, while readying his own Clear Creeks barrel for installation. “I want to do everything I can to help the environment.  This is going to be my home for life.”

To learn more about Clear Creeks partnerships, opportunities and events, visit the Project website at www.clearcreeks.org or contact Christine Potts at GVCChris@aol.com.