Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) refers to flowering, vascular plant species, also known as underwater grasses, that grow in salt, brackish, and fresh waters around the world. SAV is an important part of a healthy Bay ecosystem and is one of the best indicators of water quality and overall Bay health.

On Sunday, April 26, we held our first SAV Watchers certification program at St. Mary’s College of Maryland! We are excited we were able to begin a local SAV Watchers Program to monitor these critical grasses in the St. Mary’s River. 10 people became certified SAV Watchers! SAV Watchers are citizen scientist who collect data on where, how much, and what kind of SAV are present. These data are sent to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). DNR publishes the data so that Bay researchers, environmental professionals, or citizens can view and use it.

The attendees of our class learned about the importance of underwater grasses to the river’s ecosystem, how to identify SAV species and how to properly collect, record and digitize data. Everyone learned the correct monitoring protocol and received monitoring kits for collecting data on where SAV species grow in the St. Mary’s River, which they’re able to do from shore, a kayak, a dock, or a boat. Then everyone waded in the St. Mary’s River to put their new knowledge to work in the field!