Chesapeake Bay Action Plan
After decades of effort, the voluntary, collaborative approach to restoring the health and vitality of the Chesapeake Bay— the largest estuary in the United States—has not worked and, in fact, is failing.
A diverse group of 57 senior scientists and policymakers have joined forces to save the Bay. This is our plan.
Healthy Bay = Healthy Economy
(Posted by Fred Tutman.)
On May 20, 2011, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, along with other Maryland-based Waterkeepers staged an historic event in Annapolis at the City Dock. Firing up their patrol boats, the Riverkeepers, accompanied by a crowd of supporters, motored into Annapolis in a Flotilla of Boats in order to make a point. On the day the Governor was signing (or vetoing) new legislation in the Maryland statehouse, this group of water advocates wanted to make sure that both the public and the legislature understood that time is running out to save our waterways. It’s time for deeds–not just promise–in order to bring about necessary change.
The High Cost of a Dirty Bay
(Posted by W. Tayloe Murphy Jr.)
Twenty-five years ago, in a speech to the Virginia Seafood Council, I reminded the audience that when it comes to pollution, there truly is no free lunch. Last year, when states were submitting their cleanup plans to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, amidst a deluge of complaints about the fed’s heavy-handedness, I found myself repeating my warning in an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
But it seems like some folks have yet to get the message. So here I am again.
National Research Council Report Echoes Bay Action Plan Recommendations
(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.
A New Day for the Anacostia River
(Posted by Brooke DeRenzis and Walter Smith.)
The Anacostia watershed is one of the most densely populated watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. Like many urban watersheds, it is severely polluted by stormwater which runs off of roofs, roads, driveways and parking lots—picking up trash, oil, and bacteria along the way—and into the river and its streams. Although urban and suburban development accounts for only 9 percent of the Chesapeake Bay watershed’s land use, the Bay watershed is becoming more developed. In fact, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program, stormwater runoff is the Bay’s only major source of pollution that is increasing.
Turning Waste to Energy…And Back to Waste Again
(Posted by Michele Merkel.)
Here’s an idea: When the whole world is becoming more aware of the many environmental ills and human health impacts from burning fossil fuels to make electricity, when we’re growing tired of asthma rates, air pollution and noxious odors, when there is a concerted effort to make a responsible move towards clean energy systems where limitless wind and sunlight provide pollution-free energy, let’s ignore all of that and put our resources and effort into coming up with something else to burn for our electricity. How about chicken manure? That’s right, now we’re going to burn chicken poop because our political leaders won’t make the Delmarva poultry giants – the Tysons and the Perdues – figure out what else to do with their mountains of unsustainable waste.
New Chesapeake Bay Data Tool
(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”
(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.
A New Day for the Anacostia River
(Posted by Jeanne McCann.)
What are you doing Monday, May 2, 2011? How about joining a mass of D.C. dignitaries for the release of D.C. Appleseed’s latest report, A New Day for the Anacostia: A National Model for Urban River Revitalization?
We are senior Chesapeake Bay scientists and policymakers from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania who have concluded that after decades of effort, the voluntary, collaborative approach to restoring the health and vitality of the largest estuary in the United States has not worked and, in fact, is failing. Our group unanimously recommends that all states draining into the Chesapeake Bay adopt our 25 action items in their Watershed Implementation Plans (WIP) and implement them to improve the Bay’s water quality and to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
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