|  Runoff
from roads, parking lots, farm fields and suburban lawns, as well
as discharges from wastewater treatment facilities and septic
tanks, carries excessive amounts of nutrients and sediment into
the Bay and its rivers, upsetting the delicate balance of the
Bay ecosystem.
Improving water quality in the Bay and its rivers is the most
critical element in ensuring the future health of Chesapeake Bay.
Pollution reduction efforts have focused on reducing the amount
of nutrients – nitrogen and phosphorus – entering
the Bay and its rivers. Despite an ever-growing population, these
efforts have led to improved water quality in many areas of the
Bay. However, more needs to be done.
Through Chesapeake 2000, Bay Program partners commit to
achieve and maintain water quality conditions necessary for the
Bay’s living resources to thrive.
To improve water quality throughout the Bay watershed, Bay Program
partners will:
- reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment entering the
Bay,
- prevent chemical contaminants from reaching the Bay’s
waters,
- develop a better understanding of air pollution’s effects
on the Bay,
- reduce waste discharge by boats, and
- develop watershed-level plans to improve water quality in
urban waterways that ultimately drain into the Bay.
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- Improved water clarity resulting from large scale
nutrient and sediment reductions will allow more sunlight
to reach underwater grasses that need it to grow and thrive.
The resurgence of underwater grasses will provide valuable
spawning and nursery habitat for juvenile fish and crabs.
- Abundant and diverse fish, shellfish and wildlife
populations residing throughout the entire Bay watershed.
- A Chesapeake Bay free of toxics, where chemical
contaminants have no impact on the living resources that
inhabit the Bay or on human health.
- Plentiful amounts of dissolved oxygen that support
vibrant populations of Bay plants and animals throughout
the Bay and its rivers.
- Working tributary strategies that outline actions
needed to achieve and maintain nutrient and sediment reduction
goals adopted as part of Chesapeake 2000.
[See All: Improving Water
Quality Commitments] |
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- On March 21, 2003, Bay Program partners agreed to reduce
nutrient pollution
by more than twice as much as was accomplished since coordinated
Bay restoration efforts began nearly twenty years ago.
Bay states and the District of Columbia agreed to reduce
the amount of nitrogen from the current 275 million pounds
to no more than 175 million pounds per year and the amount
of phosphorus from the current 18.8 million pounds to
no more than 12.8 million pounds per year.
- On April 15, 2003, Bay Program partners agreed to reduce
Baywide sediment
loads to provide water clarity necessary for underwater
grasses to thrive. Bay states and the District of Columbia
agreed to reduce land-based sediment runoff entering the
Bay and its rivers from the current 4.97 million tons
per year to no more than 4.15 million tons per year.
- The Bay states and the District of Columbia are developing
Tributary Strategies
that will outline the actions they will take to meet these
nutrient and sediment allocations. The Strategies will
be complete in April 2004.
- In 2005, water
quality standards for water clarity, dissolved oxygen,
and chlorophyll a will be adopted by Maryland,
Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.
- In 2007 a mid-course reevaluation will be conducted
on the Tributary Strategies and allocations will be refined
if necessary.
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[Protecting
and Restoring Living Resources] [Protecting
and Restoring Vital Habitats] [Improving Water Quality] [Soundly
Managing Lands] [Stewardship
and Community Engagement]
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