Decades-Long Effort Transforms Polluted Pond into Thriving Green Space

In October 2025, the residents of Anne Arundel County celebrated a major clean water milestone with the completion of the Lake Marion Restoration Project. For the past two decades, Cynthia Williams, the president of the Provinces Civic Association, had been fighting to restore the failed stormwater pond in the Severn community.

The Lake Marion stormwater pond had become shallow and polluted over the years, with a concrete raceway sending sediment and stormwater racing downstream toward the Severn Run, the Severn River, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay. But thanks to nearly $3.9 million in funding, the site has now been completely transformed.

Concrete has been removed, native plants have been added, and a series of step pools now filter runoff before it reaches Severn Run. "It looks so much better, and it's so much more functional," Williams said, expressing her pride in the project's outcome. The Arundel Rivers Federation, which helped facilitate the restoration, noted that there are many similar stormwater ponds across the region that need upgrades, and securing funding is critical to keep these important projects going.

With the Lake Marion project now complete, the community can look forward to enjoying the new green space for years to come, confident that their efforts have made a significant impact on the health of the local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.