PA Environment Digest

The Chesapeake Bay Program this week published a new Bay Barometer report on the health of the Chesapeake Bay saying 45 percent of the Bay cleanup goals have been met and the Bay cleanup partnership achieved 64 percent of its goals to reduce pollution and restore habitats.

"This year's report of Bay health has given us hope, but also anxiety. In some areas underwater grasses are coming back, and the water is getting clearer. The Bay is demonstrating its resiliency." said Will Baker, President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. "Wastewater treatment plants are discharging significantly less pollution. Elected officials have invested significant dollars in upgrading plants, and those plants are required to achieve measurable reductions in nitrogen and phosphorous pollution.

"At the same time, pollution from stormwater runoff from development continues to increase. And reductions in agricultural pollution showed minimal progress from last year. One conclusion is clear: When our elected officials invest resources and demand accountability, pollution is reduced. This isn't rocket science."

Bay Barometer is split into two distinct parts: Bay Health, which provides information about the status of Bay water quality, habitats and lower food web, and fish and shellfish abundance; and Restoration and Protection Efforts, a summary of the Bay Program’s efforts to reduce pollution, restore habitats, manage fisheries, protect watersheds and foster stewardship.

Additionally, Bay Barometer includes sections on the health of freshwater streams and rivers throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed, factors that affect the health of our waters, and what the 17 million residents of the Bay watershed can do to make a difference in the restoration effort.

Some statistics on the health of the Bay in 2009 include:

-- 12 percent of the Bay and its tidal tributaries met Clean Water Act standards for dissolved oxygen between 2007-2009, a decrease of 5 percent from 2006-2008;

-- 26 percent of tidal waters met or exceeded guidelines for water clarity, a 12 percent increase from 2008;

-- Underwater bay grasses covered 9,039 more acres of the Bay’s shallows than last year for a total of 85,899 acres, 46 percent of the Bay-wide goal;

-- The health of the Bay's bottom-dwelling species reached a record high of 56 percent of the goal, improving by approximately 15 percent Bay-wide;

-- The adult blue crab population increased to 223 million, its highest level since 1993; and

-- Between 2000 and 2008, average stream health scores from over 10,000 sampling locations throughout the watershed indicated just over 1/2 were in very poor or poor condition and slightly fewer than 1/2 were in fair, good or excellent condition. (Note: In general, it can be said that a healthy watershed would have a majority of streams ranked as fair, good or excellent).

Restoration highlights from 2009 included:

-- Bay Program partners have implemented 62 percent of needed pollution reduction efforts, a 3 percent increase from 2008. While progress was made reducing nutrients in wastewater, there was little progress toward agricultural and air pollution control goals;

-- Bay Program partners surpassed the 2010 target of enhancing 2,466 acres of oyster reefs with habitat restoration techniques such as planting spat and adding shells for oysters to grow on. Since 2007, partners have implemented reef restoration practices on a total of 2,867 acres;

-- 722 miles of forest buffers were planted along the Bay watershed’s streams and rivers, a 7 percent increase toward the goal. The bulk of these – 653 miles – were planted in Pennsylvania, achieving the state’s forest buffer restoration goal; and

-- 80 percent of elementary, middle and high school students in the Bay watershed received a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience during the 2008-2009 school year - up 7 percent.

The report notes in many ways 2009 was a banner year for the Chesapeake Bay--

-- At its annual meeting in May, the Chesapeake Executive Council began charting a new course for recovery of the Bay and its watershed by setting short-term goals to accelerate cleanup and increase accountability. Under these “milestones,” the six Bay watershed states and the District of Columbia will put actions into place to reduce a projected 15.8 million pounds of nitrogen and 1.1 million pounds of phosphorus by the end of 2011.

-- 2009 also saw the beginning of a new era of federal leadership on the Chesapeake Bay with the signing of President Obama’s Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection. Eleven federal agencies are working together to reduce pollution to our waterways; restore fish, wildlife and habitats; conserve land; and expand public access.

A copy of the report is available online.

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