VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia – Virginia and neighboring states are running out of time to meet goals to maintain the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
Over the years, News 3 has introduced you to people who want to keep the bay and the waterways that feed it thriving. These are the folks who pick up trash along the shorelines, those who study blue crab populations, and children who helped bring in oysters to remove pollutants from the water.
Watch: Clean the Bay Day targets trash removal along the Chesapeake Bay coast and inland
Clean the Bay Day aims to clean up trash along the Chesapeake Bay coast and inland
“This is a big and very ambitious goal to help meet the Chesapeake Bay’s most important water quality goals,” Tanner Council of the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance told News 3 last year.
Last year, these children helped achieve the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance’s goal of introducing 10 billion new oysters to the Chesapeake Bay by 2025.
But that’s not the only goal to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay by next year.
“(It’s about goals like) restoring oysters, ensuring a healthy blue crab population and improving access,” said Chris Moore, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia.
Warning: Blue crab population in Chesapeake Bay remains strong; catch quotas are being increased
Blue crab population in Chesapeake Bay remains strong, catch quotas are being increased
Moore said the goals were set out in the watershed agreement between Virginia, neighboring states and DC.
The US Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the progress last week.
“For Virginia, it highlighted some of the things we’ve done really well, like implementing agricultural practices and securing large amounts of funding so that farmers can not only improve water quality in their local areas, but we can also improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. On the other hand, it pointed out that we need to work on things like stormwater. Stormwater is one of the sources of pollution that is unfortunately increasing,” Moore said.
The report showed that Virginia has met 80% of its nitrogen reduction goal and 62% of its phosphorus reduction goal, both factors that contribute to water quality problems in the bay, and that Virginia has met its sediment reduction goal.
Watch: Students create reef in Portsmouth City Park using oyster balls
Students build a reef with oyster balls in Portsmouth City Park
Moore said working with so many agencies can be complicated, but the watershed agreement provides a “roadmap” for improvements. He added it’s an important effort because we all use the bay.
“(The Chesapeake Bay) offers many different recreational opportunities. In addition, it is a tremendous economic driver. Not only do our ports support many jobs throughout the region, but the seafood harvested there also… It provides a whole host of environmental and economic benefits to the region and beyond,” Moore said.
The EPA report notes that efforts in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are still not quite on schedule to meet cleanup obligations. These states together are responsible for about 90 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s pollution. But Moore said he was glad to see progress in some areas.
“Virginia has made significant progress in improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the many communities in the watershed. The state should be commended for its remarkable support of farmers who use practices that improve water quality and their crops,” Moore stated. “The state still has much work to do, especially as the Bay continues to be threatened by increasing development and new challenges from climate change. Virginia must continue to build on its momentum and accelerate reductions in nutrient pollution from agriculture, expand practices to protect wetlands, and increase support to reduce pollution from stormwater and diffuse areas of pollution.”
The EPA evaluates the progress of each state every two years.
