2017 Press Releases

Water Quality in Chesapeake Bay Approaches Record High

The Chesapeake Bay Program released today the groundbreaking results of the first comprehensive survey of stewardship actions and attitudes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Known as the Citizen Stewardship Index, this powerful package of data and information reveals which actions residents are taking to protect clean water and restore environmental health, as well as showing how much of the region has volunteered or spoken out on behalf of the environment. The data also forecasts future stewardship by measuring residents’ willingness to engage in certain actions and responses to perceptions that motivate environmentally responsible behaviors.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced more than $12.6 million in grants to support the restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in six states and the District of Columbia. The grants will generate more than $21.2 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $33.8 million.

In a report released today, the Chesapeake Bay Program encouraged the jurisdictions that manage the Bay’s blue crab fisheries to maintain a risk-averse approach as they set regulations in 2017. The report confirmed that while the 2017 estimated population of adult female blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay was higher than the target, the overall population of blue crabs declined. The annual Blue Crab Advisory Report, developed by the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee and approved by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team, provides Bay resource managers with scientific data and advice to inform their decisions regarding blue crab fishing regulations.

Today, at the annual meeting of the Chesapeake Executive Council, representatives from the six Chesapeake Bay watershed states, the District of Columbia and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, signed a resolution in support of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. The Chesapeake Executive Council, established in 1983, is responsible for guiding the Chesapeake Bay Program’s policy agenda and setting conservation and restoration goals. Members include the governors of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of the federal government. Federal law and practice prohibited EPA from signing this resolution due to the advocacy statements contained within.

The Chesapeake Bay Program is pleased to announce that in 2016, our partners opened 24 boat ramps, fishing piers and other sites that grant the public access to creeks, streams and rivers in the region. Virginia opened 14 sites along nine waterways; Pennsylvania opened four sites along three waterways; Maryland opened four sites along three waterways; and West Virginia opened two sites along two rivers. There are now 1,271 public access sites in the watershed for boating, fishing, swimming and other recreational activities.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office, along with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), released reports today outlining the progress made by Maryland and Virginia in recent years to increase significant acreage of oyster reefs. These multiagency efforts support the outcome outlined in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which seeks to continually increase finfish and shellfish habitat and water quality benefits from restored oyster populations, as well as to restore native oyster habitat and populations in 10 tributaries by 2025 and ensure their protection.

The Chesapeake Bay Program is taking steps to make its partnership better reflect the population of the 64,000 square mile watershed that it represents. The partnership recently published results of a diversity profile assessment of staff and partners, an important first step toward improving inclusion of diverse populations in environmental decision making and restoration efforts. The results show that the Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners are well below the national demographic for racial diversity, as 84 percent of respondents identified as white, while only 13 percent identified as non-white. By establishing this baseline, the Bay Program is committing to take actions to be more reflective of the population of the watershed, in which 35 percent of people identify as non-white.

Today, the Chesapeake Bay Program released its annual report on the environmental health and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Working across political and geographic boundaries, our partnership has reached—and in some cases, surpassed—the halfway mark toward half a dozen of the commitments built into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and is cautiously optimistic about the work that remains. Our partnership has renewed its emphasis on engaging landowners and local governments in achieving our vision of a sustainable watershed, and we stand with federal agencies, states, academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations in a united front against risks and threats.