What do white sneakers, denim overalls, and the Patuxent River have in common?

They add up to the Bernie Fowler Sneaker Index - one clever way of measuring turbidity!

Courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program (PDF version)

The Bernie Fowler Sneaker Index - Every year on the second Sunday of June, Bernie Fowler conducts his own water clarity experiment in the Patuxent River in southern Maryland. Since 1988, the former Maryland state senator has waded into the river at Broomes Island in his white sneakers and denim overalls. He walks out into the river until he reaches a depth where he can no longer see his sneakers. He then wades back to shore and measures the water line on his overalls. The resulting measurement (in inches) is the "sneaker index". When Bernie was a young man in the 1950's he could wade to depths of over five feet (60 inches) and still see his feet. Since he began the sneaker index almost twenty years ago, the highest index was 44.5 inches. However the index fluctuates many inches from year to year. Bernie says, "although this is not a scientific measure, it puts restoring the river on a human scale."

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