Science – Page 2 – Chesapeake Bay Action Plan

Nutrient Trading—Promise or Pitfall?

By Dawn Stoltzfus | November 1, 2011 |

With the watershed states (Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, W. Virginia and Delaware) and D.C. working to significantly reduce pollution to meet the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, nutrient trading is a hot topic. Some see trading as a way to reduce the challenging costs of Chesapeake Bay cleanup, and it looks good on paper—but there are serious scientific concerns about its practicality and water quality benefits, particularly with trades between nonpoint sources (like agriculture and stormwater runoff) and point sources (like wastewater treatment plants). Difficulty in accurately measuring trading’s effectiveness also seems like a big obstacle.

Return of the Chesapeake Bay Pop Quiz

By Senator Gerald Winegrad | May 31, 2011 |

(Posted by Gerald Winegrad.)

Question: What are just some of the consequences of unchecked agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake Bay?

Answer: Skin-devouring diseases, destroyed oyster bars, and severely degraded water quality.

Some Inconvenient Truths About the Chesapeake Bay

By Senator Gerald Winegrad | May 26, 2011

(Posted by Jeanne McCann.)
Settle in, grab some popcorn, put your feet up and prepare to be outraged when you hear what former Maryland State Sen. Gerald Winegrad, architect of the 25-step Chesapeake Bay Action Plan, has to say in this excellent public presentation at Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis, Maryland, on May 19, 2011.

National Research Council Report Echoes Bay Action Plan Recommendations

By Senator Gerald Winegrad | May 9, 2011 |

(Posted by Gerald Winegrad.)

The National Research Council has just released its evaluation of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s pollution reduction program this week. The report, Achieving Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: An Evaluation of Program Strategies and Implementation, the culmination of a study begun in 2009 and sponsored by the U.S. EPA, fully supports the measures outlined in the Bay Action Plan.

New Chesapeake Bay Data Tool

By David Burke | May 3, 2011

(Posted by David Burke.)

Chesapeake Commons, a new web resource, now provides informative maps and data about nearly any type of information relevant to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Commons is made available through the sponsorship of the Chesapeake Bay Funder’s Network. CBFN’s new data tool is powered by Rhiza Labs’ Insight software that makes it easy for users to store, map and analyze whatever data is of interest to them.

Chesapeake Bay Report Card: “Don’t Bring Me No Bad News”

By Bill Dennison | May 2, 2011

(Posted by Bill Dennison.)

This year’s Chesapeake Bay report card, produced by EcoCheck, a partnership between NOAA and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, was released last week. The overall report card score was a C-, based on data collected throughout 2010. Unfortunately, this report card score declined from the 2009 report card which was a C, and this was the first time the score declined since 2004. Of the fifteen reporting regions, only two had higher scores than last year, but nine had lower scores, leaving four with no change.