Chesapeake Bay Development Overwhelms Watershed Restoration Efforts

WASHINGTON, DC, September 12, 2007 (ENS) - New development around the Chesapeake Bay is increasing the runoff of excess nutrients and sediment at rates faster than restoration efforts are reducing them, a new report by the U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General has found. Developed lands contribute less than one-third of the loads of these contaminants entering the Bay but the report says they would require about two-thirds of the overall estimated restoration costs.

As a result, the EPA and its Chesapeake Bay watershed partners will not meet load reduction goals for developed lands by 2010 as established in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, according to the Office of Inspector General, OIG.

This review, released Monday, is one of several conducted by the OIG in response to a congressional request. "We sought to determine how well the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assisting its Chesapeake Bay partners in restoring the Bay," said the Inspector General, who audits EPA's performance.

Over 64,000 square miles of land drain to the Chesapeake Bay. Population in the watershed exceeds 16 million and is projected to surpass 19 million before 2030.

Excessive loads of nutrients and sediments have been identified as primary causes of Bay degradation.

From 1985 to 2005, that EPA estimated that loads from developed land sources increased up to 16 percent, while loads from wastewater disposal and agriculture decreased as wastewater facilities were upgraded and agricultural best practices were implemented.

The OIG said additional challenges impeding progress include lack of up-to-date information and limited funding as well as ineffective use of regulatory programs to achieve reductions.

A cost-effective start to reversing the trend of increasing loads from developed land is for communities to concentrate on new development.

Opportunities abound for EPA to show greater leadership in identifying practices that result in no-net increases in nutrient and sediment loads from new development and assisting communities in implementing these practices.

If communities do not sufficiently address runoff from new development, loads from developed lands will continue to increase rather than diminish. As a result, restoration costs will increase, and the Bay will not be restored to the health envisioned in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement because water quality degradation and loss of aquatic life will continue.

The OIG recommends that the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office director "prepare and implement a strategy that demonstrates leadership" in reversing the trend of increasing nutrient and sediment loads from developed and developing lands.

The strategy should include developing a set of environmentally sensitive design practices and support for the use of those practices, the OIG suggests.

The Chesapeake Bay Program Office director should also work with Bay partners to set "realistic, community-level goals for reducing loads from developed and developing lands."

In addition, the OIG recommends that the EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division director should establish a stormwater permitting approach that achieves greater nutrient and sediment reductions.

The EPA concurred with the recommendations in this report.

To view the full report, click here.

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