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Way Downstream

In this week’s issue, Gov. Robert Ehrlich touts his first Targeted Watershed Initiative on the Corsica River and promised a second river will soon be targeted. Topping the just-announced shortlist of rivers is Anne Arundel’s Magothy River, which is both bad news and good, since to be selected a river must be listed as “impaired” by the EPA. Other short-listers are three in Baltimore County: Gunpowder Falls, Bird River and Middle River/Browns; three in Harford County: Bynum Run, Lower Winters Run and Atkisson Reservoir; Port Tobacco River in Charles County; Cabin John Creek in Montgomery County; and Miles River in Talbot County …

In Maryland vineyards, there’s dancing and stomping over $98,000 just authorized by the Board of Public Works to promote growing, fermenting and imbibing the fruit of the vine. That’s the first annual installment from the Maryland Wine and Grape Promotion Fund, created last year to cultivate the Maryland industry. Next year, the investment rises to $150,000 …

In case you haven’t noticed, Maryland mosquitoes are busier than ever this fall, busier indeed than in past years. That’s the fault of Tropical Storm Ernesto and subsequent rains. Rural Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore are the hardest hit. Once the suckers breed, only chemical spraying will wipe them out. Stop the breeding by checking your property for reservoirs of standing water, even tiny ones …

In Anne Arundel County, Millersville Landfill is about to earn its keep. Fort Meade has contracted with the county to buy all the methane gas cooked up by the decay of trash at the landfill. More trash means more gas, so the more we develop and the more waste we produce, the more cash. The gas has until now gone to waste, being burned off …

In the Potomac River, those toothsome snakeheads are proliferating fast and spreading just as quickly, present now in 15 miles of river and tributaries and apparently heading toward Chesapeake Bay, The Washington Post reports. The invasion is believed to have begun when someone dumped a male and a female in a creek in Fairfax County …

In Maryland, organizers of Reality Check hope their results become reality. More than 800 planners, developers, officials and activists concluded after meeting since May that Maryland would be much better off if we channel population growth into existing communities and preserve rural land. Observant readers might notice a disconnect between that hope and the development seen in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties …

Our Creature Feature comes from Chesapeake Bay, where anglers are looking at a curtailed spring rockfish season next year after exceeding their spring quota in April and May — by a lot.

The Bay gave up 67,000 striped bass in the month-long season that began last Tax Day, some 60 percent more than allowed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, according to the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey. For next year, that is likely to mean a shorter season, only longer fish being kept or both. Charterboat operators are highly suspicious of the survey and say such changes could cripple their business.