Lack of Political Will Sinking Chesapeake Bay Restoration

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, December 2, 2004 (ENS) - Efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay are failing and the health of the nation's largest estuary has declined over the past four years, environmentalists say.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's annual report card rates the Bay's health as dismal and finds that political rhetoric and promises of support for the restoration of the ecosystem are a far cry from the reality.

"There is no question: lack of progress stems directly from lack of leadership, the politics of postponement, inadequate enforcement of existing laws, insufficient funding, and little or no accountability," according to the 2004 State of the Bay report.

Satellite image of the northern portion of Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States (Image courtesy NASA)

The benchmark of 100 reflects the Chesapeake as described in the early 1600s, when clean water revealed meadows of underwater grasses, vast oyster reefs and abundant fish.

Today the ecosystem is "dangerously out of balance" largely from massive, unnatural influxes of nitrogen and phosphorous, which come from sewage wastewater, agricultural and urban runoff, and air pollution.

These pollutants feed massive algae blooms that kill fish and Bay grasses, which provide vital habitat for the Bay's famous blue crabs.

Robbing the water of oxygen, these algae blooms can form massive dead zones - this year a dead zone covered 35 percent of the volume of the Chesapeake.

The report finds that nitrogen pollution increased slightly compared to 2003 and phosphorous showed a modest decrease, but both indicators earned F grades from the foundation.

At least 2.5 times the amount of nitrogen pollution the Bay can absorb, and twice the amount of phosphorous, flowed into the estuary.

The report, which the foundation issued for the first time in 1989, evaluates 13 indicators to gauge the status of the Bay's pollution, fish and wildlife habitat.

Sea gulls on a Patuxent River beach. The federal/state entity overseeing for restoration of the Bay acknowledged last spring that models suggesting improvement were misleading. (Photo courtesy NOAA)

Indicators for dissolved oxygen, water clarity, underwater grasses, oysters, and shad all received Fs, and indicators for toxics and resource lands earned D grades.

Blue crabs changed little from last year and were given a C grade.

The overall lack of progress is of particular frustration for advocates because of the repeated promises by state and federal authorities to support Bay restoration efforts.

"Government has failed to meet written commitments and even to enforce existing laws," said Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William Baker. "The Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers, as well as all of the people of the region, are paying the price for that inaction."

There is little doubt that restoring the Bay is a daunting effort. The watershed covers more than 64,000 square miles, with 150 major rivers and streams, and encompasses parts of six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.

Cows, hogs and chickens in the Bay watershed produce 44 million tons of manure a year - far too much of the runoff ends up the Bay. (Photo courtesy USDA)

This collection of parties is spearheaded by an executive council made up of the governors of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as representatives from the DC government, the EPA and the commission that represents the state legislators from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

In 2000 the council agreed to a detailed plan to clean up the Bay, largely in line with the targets set by the foundation's 40 by 2010 goal - achieving this would also remove the Bay from the EPA's list of impaired waters.

But the executive council lacks the authority to adopt regional, legally binding restoration goals and has no means to ensure compliance with any measures it may agree.

In addition, the 2000 agreement provided no money for cleanup and funding for protection efforts have been spotty.

The blue crab - a symbol for many of the Chesapeake Bay - continues to suffer from poor water quality. (Photo courtesy Maryland Sea Grant)

"The Bay will not be saved unless funding of this magnitude is provided, and pollution control laws are vigorously enforced," Baker said. "When the Bay watershed's leaders meet in December, they must move immediately to implement the panel's recommendations, and as a show of their commitment, the leaders must pledge to provide the state and local funding called for in the report."

"The good news is that we can achieve our vision of a restored Bay," Baker added. "It is time for the region's leaders to take action and dedicate the necessary resources to fulfill their commitments."

Funding from the federal government is also seen as key to bridging the funding gap and 17 Congressional representatives federal lawmakers from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania have urged President Bush to make restoring the Bay "a top environmental priority."

The lawmakers sent a letter last week to Bush calling on him to support a $1 billion funding request for the Bay restoration - some five times what the federal government currently spends on restoration efforts.

A similar request made last year was ignored.