Posted on January 28, 2021
The latest State of the Bay report gives the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay a D-plus grade that’s a slight drop. But the report also offers hope that efforts by Virginia and other states in the watershed are making a difference. And there’s reason for optimism that new support on the federal level will give the cleanup a needed boost.
Efforts to clean the bay picked up steam more than 10 years ago when the six states and the District of Columbia in its watershed signed on to a Clean Water Blueprint. They promised to work with state and federal agencies, environmental organizations and nonprofits that were battling the pollution that was destroying plants, fish, shellfish, birds and other life in the largest estuary in the United States.
Unfortunately, the will and the money needed to make good on those promises have sometimes been lacking. Support for the bay cleanup has collided with the realities of politics and state, local and federal budgets.
It hasn’t helped that for the past four years, efforts to save the bay have suffered from the Trump administration’s campaign to reverse environmental progress and gut regulations.
And yet … this year’s State of the Bay report finds that by most measures, the quality of the water is slowly improving. The gains aren’t large, but they are, for the most part, steady and continuing. Levels of beneficial dissolved oxygen were up a little. Levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, the primary pollutants that feed algae that choke out oxygen, dropped a bit.
There were positive signs in other indicators — the forest buffers that slow the flow of pollutants into the water held steady, as did wetlands and the extent of undeveloped land. Unfortunately, heavy rainfall took a toll on underwater grasses, an important habitat and source of food.
The biggest negative was a sharp decline in striped bass populations, which dropped from an A-minus to a C-minus because of “ineffective management.”
Perhaps the most encouraging news, according to Beth McGee, the CBF’s director of science, is that the bay appears to be growing more resilient, better able to recover from damage from weather and human activities. Years of reducing pollution have helped, even if the pace of the cleanup is frustratingly slow.
The Clean Water Blueprint is designed to push the states in the watershed to get serious about pollution controls and to collaborate in what must be a regional effort to succeed.
Virginia and Maryland, two states that benefit most from the bay and also historically two of the three largest contributors of pollution, are generally on track to meet their stringent pollution-reduction goals by 2025.
Any improvements are fragile, and climate change increases the threats. It’s crucial to continue what’s working and to do more. Here in Virginia, the legislature should fund programs that reduce polluted runoff, promote agricultural conservation and help local governments with sewage management and flood control.
Virginia, Maryland and the other states that are trying to set and meet effective goals can do only so much without cooperation from others in the watershed.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania and New York have failed to produce plans that will enable them to meet their goals. Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has not done its job of requiring states to meet their clean water commitments. Federal lawsuits have been filed trying to make the EPA act. The problem is particularly bad in Pennsylvania, one of the largest contributors of pollution to the bay.
The new administration has signaled that protecting the environment is a priority. When the EPA plays its proper role as a leader, not a hindrance, to the bay’s cleanup, progress should accelerate.
Despite setbacks and lack of support on the federal level, the bay has been slowly growing healthier and more resilient. With new support from Washington, Virginia and other states should be able to forge ahead to save this national treasure.
