The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Executive Council recently approved the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
Earlier this week, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Executive Council approved the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which includes goals that will improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, increase access to nature, and support livelihoods that depend on this nationally treasured resource. The revised agreement supports the environmental and economic future of the Chesapeake Bay, which in Maryland alone generates $3.2 billion and 58,000 jobs a year in tourism and supports the 3,300 jobs in the state’s seafood industry that nets $600 million annually.
Representatives from the Chesapeake Bay’s six watershed states—Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and New York—as well as from the EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and Washington, D.C., reached consensus on the new agreement earlier this year, following more than two years of work with scientific advisors, community representatives, and Chesapeake Bay advocates. That work included a robust public feedback period that led to significant changes to the draft agreement, which strengthened the document’s overall environmental goals and outcomes.
The revised agreement commits states to reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution to the Bay by 2040. In addition to clean water, it also outlines goals for thriving habitat, fisheries, and wildlife; healthy landscapes; and engaged communities. These goals include specific objectives for oyster restoration, freshwater mussel restoration, wetlands preservation, waterbirds protection, land conservation, public access, and environmental workforce development, among many others. The revised agreement also sets a 2040 deadline for most of these outcomes with a midpoint check-in in 2033 that will align with 50 years of the partnerships’ work to restore the Bay.
The updated agreement aligns with Maryland’s new strategy for Bay restoration, which focuses on improvements to shallow waterways, such as streams, coastlines, and rivers—areas where people tend to have the most interaction with their watershed and places where targeted action can have large impacts. The five waterways supported by the Whole Watershed Act in Maryland will be test cases in how focused water quality improvement projects in a specific area can benefit habitats, communities, and economic opportunities.
