The Harford County Stream Keeper Campaign, a partnership of Save Our Streams and the Harford County Department of Public Works, provides educational opportunities for Harford County citizens interested in protecting their local freshwater resources. The Campaign sponsors two Save Our Streams programs for Harford County's residents, Project Heartbeat and Adopt-A-Stream.

Save Our Streams' biological monitoring program, Project Heartbeat, trains volunteers in scientifically valid procedures used to monitor Maryland's 17,000 miles of streams and rivers. Because Project Heartbeat is comparable to professional protocols and is quality assured, SOS volunteer water quality data can be used with confidence by government agencies when making policy decisions. Project Heartbeat provides the credible data that county and city agencies need to plan watershed restoration and capital improvement projects throughout their jurisdictions.

In Harford County, trained volunteers are currently monitoring 20 sites located along the following streams: Bynum Run, Winters Run, Plumtree Run, Swan Creek and Deer Creek.

HAR001 Plumtree Run @ South Atwood Road, Bel Air
HAR002 Plumtree Run @ MacPhail Road, Bel Air
HAR003 Plumtree Run @ Tollgate Road, Bel Air
HAR004 Plumtree Run @ Harford Glen Environmental Education Center, Bel Air
HAR005 Tributary to Winters Run @ Abingdon Elementary School, Abingdon
HAR006 Tributary to Bynum Run @ Burnt Oak Court, Box Hill North, Abingdon
HAR007 Tributary to Bynum Run @ Kensington Parkway, Box Hill North, Abingdon
HAR008 Tributary to Bynum Run @ Merrick Way, above wet pond, Abingdon
HAR009 Tributary to Bynum Run @ Merrick Way, below wet pond, Abingdon
HAR010 Winters Run @ Route 7, Edgewood
HAR011 Tributary to Swan Creek @ Mt. Royal Avenue, Aberdeen
HAR012 Swan Creek @ Old Robinhood Road, Aberdeen
HAR013 Bynum Run @ Bynum Ridge Road, upstream of road, Forest Hill
HAR014 Bynum Run @ Bynum Ridge Road, downstream of road, Forest Hill
HAR015 Bynum Run @ Bynum Road, Forest Hill
HAR016 North Stirrup Run @ Sharon Road, Jarrettsville
HAR017 Big Branch @ Eden Mill Nature Center, Pylesville
HAR018 Falling Branch @ Red Bridge Road, Pylesville
HAR019 Bynum Run @ Hookers Mill Road, Abingdon
HAR020 Rock Run @ Quaker Bottom Road (reference site), Havre de Grace

A few sites are still available for adoption! Anyone interested in accompanying a Save Our Streams staff member to monitor these sites can contact Jenny Dotson

New to the campaign this year is an added Adopt-A-Stream component. Volunteers can work to improve the health of their local streams using fun, simple and educational activities. What you do is up to you! Organize your neighborhood, scout troop, religious group, school, business, civic association or youth group to take action for a local waterway. Choose a nearby stream and an activity, or call SOS for suggestions. Adopt-A-Stream activities include Storm Drain Paintings, Stream Cleanups, Tree Plantings, Stream Surveys, Watershed Surveys and Water Quality Assessments. Information packets detailing how to organize and conduct each type of activity are available - just call SOS at ( to get started!

ATTENTION EDUCATORS!
Looking for a fun, hands-on activity for your students to complement your environmental science curriculum? Save Our Streams staff is available to speak to your class about our organization, biological monitoring and general stream ecology. If you've got a stream running through your school's campus, you've got all we need to demonstrate the SOS water quality monitoring techniques to your class. What a great way to supplement your lesson plans!

Interested in learning a new skill that will help monitor the water quality of Harford County's streams? WE NEED YOU TO JOIN THE TEAM!