Blue Water Baltimore's mission is to restore the quality of Baltimore's rivers, streams and harbor in order to foster a healthy environment, a strong economy, and thriving communities. To achieve our mission, we monitor water quality, train citizens to report pollution, advocate for stronger environmental laws and take legal action against polluters. We remove hard surfaces such as concrete and replace it with BMPs (Best Management Practices) such as bioretention which treats polluted runoff before it reaches our waterways. We implement these projects on public and private lands by engaging neighborhood residents, local schools and city agencies as partners. We engage schoolchildren in hands-on activities to teach them about the relationship between community health and healthy waterways. We plant and maintain thousands of trees each year in order to increase Baltimore City's tree canopy. Our work comprehensively addresses greening and public health goals in addition to improved water quality.