The EPA Says we’re making progress in the Chesapeake Bay

In January the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) released their bi-annual State of the Bay health index score. The Bay received a depressing D+ down from the C- the Bay received in 2016. Their report is always a downer, and discouraging. However, last week the U.S. EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program office released their BayBarometer: Health and Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 2017-18 report which was far more encouraging in its assessment. Though they remind us that we still have a long way to go to meet the EPA’s restoration goals, they found encouraging signs of resilience throughout the ecosystem.  I guess they want us to feel good about our progress towards their mandated goals. 

This year’s Bay Barometer found the highestwater quality score since monitoring began more than 30 years ago and an abundance of underwatergrasses though the government’s assessment only finalized data through 2017 possibly missing the impacts of last year’s big rains. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model, pollution controls put in place between 2009 and 2017 lowered nitrogen loads 11%, phosphorus loads 21% and sediment loads 10%. The Chesapeake Bay states and Washington DC exceeded their 2017 pollution reducing targets for phosphorus and sediment, but fell short of reaching its target for nitrogen by 15 million pounds.

from the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program

 

The EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program measures progress using three environmental factors: dissolved oxygen, underwater grass abundance, and chlorophyll-a.

• Chlorophyll-a: In 2018 we saw a reduction in chlorophyll-a, a measure of algae growth. Large algae blooms, called dead zones, can block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses, causing them to die. As they decompose, the water loses oxygen, which fish and other underwater life need to survive.
• Underwater grasses: In 2018, the acreage of underwater grasses increased, indicating that the water was clear of algae blooms and excess sediment. Underwater grasses absorb excess nutrients and need clear water to thrive.
• Dissolved oxygen: An increase in dissolved oxygen, was observed last year. This means that blue crabs, striped bass and other aquatic and estuary life had more access to oxygen, a resource they need to survive.

 Still, the EPA report identifies areas where the Chesapeake Bay States and Washington DC have fallen short of achieving our goals:

• Stream health: While only 54% of our streams within the watershed have insufficient or absent data, of the streams sampled only 25% are in fair, good or excellent condition.
• Toxic contaminants: In 2016, 83% of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries were found to be partially or fully impaired by toxic contaminants. This percentage has continued to increase since 2010. 
• Wetlands: With a goal of restoring or creating 85,000 acres of wetlands, most from agricultural lands, only 9,103 acres have been restored or converted to wetlands.
• Forest buffers: The EPA target is for buffers is 00 miles of forest buffers to be planted along rivers and streams. In 2017 only 56 miles were planted, the lowest total of the last 22 years.

The EPA is also seeing progress that is exceeding their goals utilized in the preparation of the Watershed Implementation Plans for the Bay states and Washington DC.

• Oyster restoration: Nine tributaries have been selected in Virginia and Maryland for oyster restoration. Of these, eight are in different levels of progress, and two, Harris Creek and the Lafayette River, have reached their restoration target.
• Fish passage: Bay Program partners have exceeded the goal to open 1,000 miles of historical fish migration routes. Between 2012 and 2017, 1,236 miles were opened to fish passage.
• Underwater grasses: In 2017, the highest acreage of underwater grasses was noted throughout the Bay since monitoring began over 30 years ago. At 104,843 acres, this marks the first-time total abundance has exceeded 100,000 acres since 1989.
• Protected lands: Approximately 1,364,000 acres of land throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been permanently protected from development since 2010.

 The EPA points out that determining the health of the Chesapeake Bay is complex, as complex as the ecosystem itself. Across the 64,000 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, rainfall, temperature and other extreme weather can vary from month to month and year to year and place to place. In 2018, record breaking rain fell across the entire watershed. In addition our climate continues to change. Land use changes and population grows which impacts the watershed. 

Over the past century, the Chesapeake Bay waters have effectively  risen about one foot (partially from Virginia sinking and partially from sea level rise). Scientists are predicting that the waters will continue to rise between 1.3 and 5.2 feet over the next century. Between 1960 and 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded an increase in the region's air temperature of 1.98 degrees Fahrenheit; and between 1960 and 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA recorded an increase in the region's stream temperature of 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Since 1950, the population in the Chesapeake Bay region has more than doubled to 18.2 million people. When more people move into an area, more land is cleared for agriculture and development. More roads, parking lots, lawns and golf courses can mean more impervious surfaces that block rainfall from soaking into the ground, more pesticides to grow those green lawns and the food we eat, and more human waste, pollution and trash. Each person that lives in this region affects the Chesapeake Bay.