Chesapeake Bay states Approve a new Watershed Agreement for the Next Era of Bay Restoration

 

From an EPA press release:

The Chesapeake Executive Council met at the National Aquarium last week to formally approve a revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Since 1983, the Chesapeake Bay Program has used the “voluntary agreements” to guide restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary and its watershed.

The ceremonial signing of the agreement is the culmination of work that began more than three years ago, when the partnership began to hammer out a path forward that outlined the next steps necessary to meet the pollution reduction goals and estuary health outcomes that the previous Watershed Agreement had hoped to complete by 2025. The partnership prepared recommendations that addressed lessons learned about the science of restoration while focusing on the future of the Chesapeake Bay Program beyond 2025. At last year’s meeting, the Executive Council formally tasked the partnership with revising the Watershed Agreement this past year. 

The result is a new agreement that builds on what has already been achieved—and the work still to be done—while using the latest science, elevating conservation as a key focus, and ensuring, as much as possible, that its goals are clear, measurable and time-bound. The target completion dates were extended or modified to push deadlines to 2030, 2035, or 2040.

“Today we made a commitment to the Chesapeake Bay and a commitment to the people of Maryland and our neighboring states,” said Maryland Governor Wes Moore. “The revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement will make our rivers and streams cleaner. It will bolster Maryland’s seafood, tourism and recreational businesses. Most importantly, it will ensure we protect the precious heirloom that is the Chesapeake Bay so we can pass it down to the next generations in a better condition than we received it.”

The revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement contains four goals:

1. Thriving Habitats and Wildlife
2. Clean Water
3. Healthy Landscapes
4. Engaged Communities

The partnership will now update or develop new Management Strategies for each outcome that outline how it will be achieved and include considerations such as monitoring, assessing and reporting progress, as well as where coordination with partners and stakeholders is needed.

Additionally, the structure and governance of the partnership was streamlined and simplified.  The Chesapeake Bay Program will implement these revisions and regularly report progress to the Principals' Staff Committee for their final approval expected by July 1, 2026.

“Throughout my Administration, protecting the Chesapeake Bay, one of our most treasured natural resources, has not been an afterthought, it has been a commitment we have reaffirmed each and every day. Through transparent engagement with our Bay Program partners and Virginia stakeholders, we have demonstrated that targeted investments combined with voluntary partnerships equal real results. Virginia is poised to meet our goals and accelerate our progress, and I am pleased that the actions taken by the Chesapeake Executive Council have set the partnership on a path for continued improvement by understanding the need for realistic targets and structural efficiencies.” Glenn Youngkin, Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was unanimously elected to be chair of the Executive Council, succeeding Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who has served in the role for the past two years. “My Administration has accelerated Pennsylvania’s progress in restoring local waterways across the Commonwealth and reduced our share of pollution to the Bay, ensuring every Pennsylvanian has access to clean air and water while supporting our farmers and our agriculture industry,” said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. “I’m honored to be elected as the next chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council by my fellow governors and I’m looking forward to continuing this work to get stuff done together for the people we serve.” 

The Executive Council was formed as part of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983 and consists of the governors of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, the mayor of the District of Columbia, the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who represents the federal government. 

“The Chesapeake Bay is one of our country’s most important resources,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi. “The efforts of the Chesapeake Bay Program over the past 42 years have shown the power of collaboration and cooperative federalism in restoring and protecting our nation’s waters. Partnerships such as the Chesapeake Bay Program help to carry out President Trump’s agenda to provide clean air, land and water for every American and support economic growth.”