Sip With Intention: A Dry January Experience on January 21

Join us to learn how to stay safe while protecting the environment during the winter months at the DMV Winter Salt Week event! Wharton Club members & guests are invited!

Join us to learn how to stay safe while protecting the environment during the winter months at the DMV Winter Salt Week event!

Join us on January 31st between 10am-1pm to learn how salt affects our health and freshwater ecosystems, what’s being done, and how we can support local efforts to reduce road salt use. During the event we will hear from regional expert speakers, monitor the local waterways in Gaithersburg, Maryland for road salt pollution, and learn how much salt is needed to keep us safe during the winter while keeping environmental health in mind. Members of the media, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, and members of the public are invited to this event. We encourage you to bring a water sample (from tap water or from a local waterway) with you in a closed container to test for salt pollution during the event.

Much of the event will take place inside with stream monitoring and parking lot demos taking place outside at 11:30am and 12:15pm. Speakers are scheduled to speak from 10am-11:30am (see agenda below). Local organizations will have tables with information. Volunteer water monitors, government officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders will be available for interviews and discussion about road salt.

While this event is free, we ask that you please register in advance so that we can notify you in case of cancellation due to inclement weather.

Speakers at the Event

10am-11:30am Speakers:

• Sam Puckett, Izaak Walton Leauge of America Clean Water Program Director
• Laurie-Anne Sayles, Montgomery County Councilmember At-Large
• Amy Stevens, Montgomery County Water Restoration Division Chief
• Michael Nardolilli, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin Executive Director
• Kishia Powell, WSSC Water General Manager/CEO
• Sarah Kogel-Smucker, Montgomery County Climate Change Officer

• Greg Sandi, Maryland Department of the Environment Watershed Restoration Planning Division Chief
• Jason Swope, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council
• Ben Rhoades, Reston Association Watershed Manager

Organizations Tabling at the Event

• City of Gaithersburg
• City of Rockville
• Friends of Sligo Creek
• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
• Izaak Walton League of America
• Maryland Department of the Environment
• Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection
• Muddy Branch Alliance
• Northern Virginia Regional Commission
• Patapsco Heritage Greenway
• Rock Creek Conservancy
• WSSC Water

Activities at Event

• Speakers: Expert speakers are scheduled to speak at 10 am - 11:30 am
• Water Monitoring of the Muddy Branch (11:30 am - 12:15 pm and 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm)
• Sidewalk Salting Demonstration (11:30 am - 12:15 pm and 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm)
• Indoor Activities: Organizations will be tabling indoors in the Great Hall throughout the event with water monitoring and salt-related activities and are available for questions, interview, and comments.
• Water Sample Testing: Bring in a water sample from a local stream or from your tap to have it tested for chloride (a component of road salt pollution).

The Impacts of Too Much Salt

Although salt keeps our roads safe during winter, using more salt than needed comes at an expensive price to our waterways, our infrastructure, and our drinking water. Winter salt runs off the roads and becomes a permanent pollutant in our waterways. Only one teaspoon of road salt permanently pollutes five gallons of water.

Data compiled by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin shows a 10-fold increase in chloride (a chemical released from the breakdown of winter salt) in the Potomac River at Great Falls over the past 80 years.

There are 28 streams in Maryland considered impaired by chloride.

This event is brought to you by the Izaak Walton League of America, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

Winter Salt Week:

This in-person event is part of a larger event, Winter Salt Week, which runs from January 26-30, 2026 with livestreams from experts across the country each day. Winter Salt Week is a collaboration of governmental and non-governmental organizations across the United States and Canada with a goal to raise awareness around salt pollution and reduction solutions. An informed public can support the adoption of best practices in snow and ice control and advocate for the protection of freshwater resources.

• Wharton Club Members:
• Lifetime & President's Club Members: You may purchase tickets for yourself and up to 3 guests:
• Other Wharton Club members: May purchase ticket for yourself