Magothy River Association

State of the Magothy

Annually each Spring, the Magothy River Association delivers a “State of the Magothy” address. This program is open to the public and provides the community an opportunity to learn about the health of the Magothy and what MRA volunteers are doing to protect and preserve the river for generations to come.

This year’s event was held on March 28th at Anne Arundel Community College. Dr. Sally Hornor presented on the Magothy River Index. 

To download the 2025 report click here.https://www.magothyriver.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/State-of-the-Magothy-2025.pdf

For questions or more information, please contact president@magothyriver.org

Oyster Restoration Program

Did you know? A single adult oyster can filter pollutants from 50 gallons of water per day! They also provide critical habitat for many critters that live on the bars. A typical oyster bar has at least 15 different invertebrates and small fish that live within the crevasses of the bars. This is why oysters are so important to the health of the Magothy River and the Chesapeake Bay.

MRA is one of the few organizations in the Chesapeake that runs a comprehensive oyster program. The program includes an oyster nursery, reef restoration and dive monitoring.

Due to the collapse of the Key Bridge, oysters from Port Covington Marina that were destined for the reefs surrounding Fort Carroll in the Patapsco River, have been relocated to a sanctuary in the Magothy River. The Magothy Oyster Sanctuary consists of 5 major oyster restoration sites, which include: Chest Neck Point, Ulmstead Point, Rock Point, Dobbins Hill and Persimmon Point. MRA volunteers will begin ferrying out the bushels of oysters from Port Covington to the Rock Point sanctuary in late May.

Last summer the MRA partnered with the Jolly Dolphin in the 4th annual Great Chesapeake Bay Virtual Schooner Race to raise money for the Oyster Restoration Program. We sailed over the finish line in second place, doubling our race goal! However, we still have a long way to go in order to fund restoration of all our reefs.

Please consider donating to our Oyster Restoration Program today! Click on the donate button on our homepage. We are also looking for CORPORATE SPONSORS. For more information on this project please contact president@magothyriver.org. For information on our Corporate Sponsorship Program, please contact Nick Spadaro at nicholas.b.spadaro@gmail.com

Thank you for your support!

Noah’s Reef

This spring, the Magothy River Association was part of a large effort to add 200 additional reef balls to Noah’s reef off Dobbins Island! Reef balls help restore fish habitat in the Magothy. Thanks goes to these groups for making it possible to deploy the reef balls within a short window of opportunity: Coastal Conservation of Maryland, Cossentino Contracting, Maguire Marine Construction, Cypress Marina, and Twin Harbors Marina. Special thanks to MRA volunteer, Mike Maquire for coordinating the effort and getting the job done.

The MRA is proud to support the Coastal Conservation of Maryland reef ball project and now has a special MDE permit to deploy these reef balls off Dobbins Island. This permit will allow MRA to partner with local schools, giving students the opportunity to build reef balls and get involved HANDS ON with Bay restoration activities.

Latest MRA Living History Video

In December 2023, MRA volunteers released the latest living history video on “Goska’s Liquor store” which is located on historic RT 648. This is a wonderful 5 minute video describing some of the local history surrounding this store in Severna Park. Click here to watch.

You can find links to our other Living History videos under Projects>Living History. MRA volunteers are currently working on living history videos for Asbury church and Woods church.

Working together we can protect and preserve the Magothy for generations to enjoy.