Chesapeake Bay cleanup hinges on agriculture, says report
A watchdog group gave the bay and its watershed a health grade of D+ for water pollution, habitat, and fisheries on Thursday, the same as its last assessment in 2020. “Overall, the unchanged score is largely the result of failures to make needed changes on farmland to reduce pollution,” said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Report: Pollution cleanup is falling short in Chesapeake Bay
With three years left to meet the goals of a “pollution diet,” the three major states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have greatly improved their wastewater treatment, though they still lag in three other areas, including reducing agricultural runoff, said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Dead zone in Chesapeake Bay forecast to be smaller this year
The low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay will be markedly smaller this summer than its long-term average size, said a team of researchers on Tuesday. The scientists said the forecast was the latest sign that efforts to reduce nutrient runoff into the bay were paying off. “In addition …
Report: farms in Chesapeake Bay watershed must ‘urgently accelerate’ conservation efforts
In a new report, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation calls on farms in the bay’s watershed to “urgently accelerate and scale up” their conservation efforts, not only to reduce water-borne pollution — a federal mandate — but to slash their greenhouse gas emissions and stoke local economies.
Time running out for Chesapeake Bay cleanup
At their current pace, the three major states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, responsible for 90 percent of pollution in the bay, will miss their targets for reducing sediment and nutrient runoff by 2025, said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Wednesday. Maryland and Virginia need to step up efforts to address agricultural pollution, and "Pennsylvania remains far off track," the foundation said.
Ag leaders seek Chesapeake Bay cleanup funds
The presidents of six state farm bureaus asked the USDA to share the cost with farmers of reducing sediment and nutrient runoff into Chesapeake Bay. "We are now at a critical stage in the Chesapeake Bay cleanup," with a 2025 deadline for reducing pollution, said the farm leaders in a letter.
Conservation group gives Chesapeake Bay a grade of D-plus
Most water quality measures are improving in the Chesapeake Bay but the overall grade of the 64,000 square-mile watershed remains a D-plus, said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in an annual report on Tuesday. Phosphorus and nitrogen runoff lessened in 2020 and the oxygen-depleted “dead zone” …
Rising seas pushing saltwater into historic farms on Chesapeake Bay
As sea levels rise and the land subsides, America's first colonial farms—350-year-old tracts along Maryland's eastern shore—are being inundated with saltwater, threatening the corn and soybean crops while salt-tolerant plants grow six feet tall, reports FERN's latest story, published with The Atlantic.
Activists prepare to fight Trump over Chesapeake Bay budget cuts
President Trump’s budget slashes all funding to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, but environmental activists and bipartisan supporters of the program say they are prepared for a sustained fight with the President, says The Washington Post.
Democrats add Van Hollen to Senate Agriculture Committee
Newly elected Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland will be the only Democratic newcomer on the Senate Agriculture Committee in the two-year session that opens Jan. 3, according to party leaders. Van Hollen will be the 10th Democrat on the committee, reflecting the closer balance of power between the Republican majority and Democratic minority.
Nutrient budgets — a European idea for U.S. farmers?
"Scientists in the Chesapeake Bay have been looking at nutrient budgets for close to three decades. But to date, no state has implemented one .... Nevertheless, the idea continues to percolate," reports the Bay Journal, ahead of a Chesapeake Bay Summit to be broadcast on Maryland Public Television on Wednesday.
Chesapeake Bay will stay on ‘pollution diet’
The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the EPA's "pollution diet" for Chesapeake Bay, which is intended to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff, reports the Baltimore Sun.
Congress nears final disapproval vote on WOTUS
The long battle over the EPA's "waters of the United States" rule defining the upstream reach of clean-water laws will reach a milestone this week.
Groups ask Supreme Court to review Chesapeake Bay pollution rules
The largest U.S. farm group asked for Supreme Court review of the EPA's "pollution diet" designed to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.
Warmer water in Chesapeake Bay may complicate recovery
Water temperatures in the Chesapeake Bay are rising by 1.2 degrees per decade, with some "hot spots" such as Baltimore warming more rapidly than that, says the Baltimore Sun in summarizing a University of Maryland study.
Supreme Court may get Chesapeake Bay ‘pollution diet’ case
Agriculture and homebuilder groups "appear headed for the U.S. Supreme Court" in their opposition to the EPA’s "pollution diet" for the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America, says the Newport News (Va) Daily Press.
Pennsylvania vows to boost Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts
Two Pennsylvania officials said the state will work harder to reduce pollution runoff into the Susquehanna River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay, reports Lancaster Online. The river is the main source of fresh water for the bay.
U.S. appeals court upholds Chesapeake Bay “pollution diet”
The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Philadelphia, upheld the EPA's "pollution diet" intended to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay, affirming a 2013 ruling by a U.S. district judge.
Eating blue catfish to help the blue crab
In the Chesapeake Bay, the Wide Net Project hopes to harness the human appetite as an ally to save the blue crab and other native marine life, says Civil Eats.