In a nod to late environmentalist, Annapolis boaters now subject to ‘no discharge’ regulations

David Barker did not live to see Anne Arundel County waters become a federal No Discharge Zone, but were it not for his advocacy, it might still be legal for boats to dump sewage into the Severn River. Barker, founding president of the Back Creek Conservancy and a former president of the Severn River Association, died in May at age 77 after contracting the coronavirus. Six weeks later, all navigable rivers in the county, with the exception of the Patuxent River bordering Baltimore County, became a federally recognized “No Discharge Zone.”