Bay Making Progress in Reducing Pollution Study Shows

New estimates show the Chesapeake Bay watershed is making progress in reducing pollution, but Virginia and the Eastern Shore still face significant challenges, particularly with nitrogen.

The Chesapeake Bay Program says the seven Bay watershed jurisdictions have now met the overall sediment reduction goal and are about 90 percent of the way toward the phosphorus target.

Since 2009, sediment entering the Bay has dropped nearly seven percent, while phosphorus pollution has fallen about 21 percent.

But nitrogen remains a major concern.

Nitrogen pollution has declined 15 percent since 2009, but that represents only 57 percent of the reduction goal.

That’s important for Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries directly affects commercial and recreational fishing, crabbing, oysters and tourism.

Excess nutrients can fuel algae blooms and create low-oxygen “dead zones,” conditions that can threaten fish, crabs, oysters and other marine life.

The Chesapeake Bay Program says improvements at wastewater treatment plants have produced most of the nitrogen and phosphorus reductions since 2009.

Agriculture and stormwater runoff are now increasingly important.

Agriculture has accounted for about 43 percent of the sediment reductions across the watershed.

Virginia says it remains committed to reducing pollution, with a record 304-million-dollar investment in agricultural conservation programs, along with additional funding for wastewater treatment and stormwater management.

The original deadline for meeting the Bay’s pollution targets was 2025.

Under a revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, Virginia and the other watershed jurisdictions will continue working toward those goals through 2030.

For the Eastern Shore, officials say the stakes are especially high — because a healthier Chesapeake Bay means healthier fisheries, cleaner water and a stronger coastal economy.