Not a week passes in the Chesapeake Bay region without reference to restoring the bay and tributary water quality from more than a century of degradation.
Often politically contentious, proposed solutions to regional water quality are slow in coming and fraught with multiple disagreements struggling—or refusing—to find common ground.
Last month’s disclosure of additional toxic contamination near the former Bethlehem Steel mill at Sparrows Point, Baltimore, highlights environmental setbacks while $1.7 million in federal funds allocated to Virginia for tributary protection offer a token spark of hope for a cleaner bay ecosystem.
But what about the Chester River?
The 43-mile long Chester River, a major Bay artery, defines Chestertown and the Kent County region. Like any body of water sluicing through farmland and adjacent towns, pollution started to severely hamper water quality as nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from farmlands and septic systems choked the river with explosive algae growth, depleting oxygen and masking plant from sunlight.
In the mid-80s, concerned citizens from Kent and Queen Anne’s County founded the Chester River Association to address the river’s decline.
Today, the advocacy group is instrumental in our knowledge about the river, its problems, and implementing strategic solutions through its various programs. From individual homeowners and recreational lists, to farmers and businesses, a new awareness of our relationship to the river and how we can become better stewards has arisen because of CRA’s many efforts.
The Spy caught up recently with Chester River Association Executive Director, Anna Wolgast, and talked about the river’s report card (it received a C), the O’Malley-Hogan transition and how it relates to changing the phosphorus management program, wetland restoration and current CRA projects including recent innovations in farm fertilizer management using cutting edge sensory technology.
Wolgast has an extensive background in environmental policy, legislation, and regulatory enforcement, having worked for the Department of Justice Environmental Enforcement Division and as Deputy General Counsel and Appeals Judge at the Environmental Protection Agency
The Spy is impressed with the depth and breath of the CRA’s mission to educate and implement solutions to improve the river’s quality. From the Riverkeeper program and its Maryland Grow Oysters (MGO) partnership to its work with local farmers, or planting the thousands of trees within the watershed, CRA is an organization vital to the health of our region, our town and ourselves.
“Our biggest challenge is complacency,” Wolgast says.
Perhaps every time we cross the Chester River Bridge we should think about how might help.
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