MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
February 4, 2023

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy
Ecosystem Eco Notes

CBF’s 2022 State of the Bay Score Unchanged, States Must Focus on Agriculture and Stormwater Pollution

January 6, 2023 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation Leave a Comment

Share

Today, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) released its 2022 State of the Bay Report. The biennial evaluation graded the Bay and its watershed at a D+, unchanged from the 2020 score.

Efforts to restore the Bay are struggling to reduce agricultural pollution. Urban and suburban polluted runoff is increasing amid inconsistent enforcement by government agencies, new development, and climate change. Despite these challenges, the federal/state Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, based on the world’s best science, remains the most promising plan for restoring local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. What has been lacking is implementation.

“While we’ve made significant progress, far too much pollution still reaches our waterways and climate change is making matters worse,” said CBF President Hilary Harp Falk. “The good news is that the Bay is remarkably resilient and there is tremendous energy around the table. With many new leaders taking charge – EPA administrators, governors, legislators, and within environmental organizations – we have an opportunity to prove that restoring clean water is possible. By following the science, approaching our challenges with optimism, and holding each other accountable, we will leave clean water, strong economies, and vibrant communities for the next generation.”

Established in 1998, CBF’s State of the Bay Report is a comprehensive measure of the Bay’s health. CBF scientists compile and examine the best available data and information for 13 indicators in three categories: pollution, habitat, and fisheries. CBF scientists assign each indicator an index score from 1–100. Taken together, these indicators offer an overall assessment of Bay health. Reaching an overall score of 70 or more would mean a fully restored Bay, while a 100 represents the Bay’s condition before European settlers arrived in the 1600s.

In 2022, the overall State of the Bay score remained a 32, with seven of the 13 indicators unchanged, three increasing, and three decreasing.

In the pollution category nitrogen, toxics, and dissolved oxygen indicators were unchanged, the phosphorus indicator improved, and overall water clarity declined. Recent farm conservation funding at the federal and state levels should help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, which fuels harmful algal blooms that remove dissolved oxygen from the water. Monitoring data indicated the 2022 dead zone—the area of the Bay with low or no dissolved oxygen—was the 10th smallest in size since scientists began surveying it 38 years ago, an encouraging sign.  Water clarity dropped one point in the report due to average water clarity in the Bay decreasing slightly in 2022 compared to 2020.

In the fisheries category, the rockfish (striped bass) and oyster indicators rose, while the blue crab indicator declined.

Striped bass populations have been declining and this year’s juvenile striped bass survey found low numbers in Maryland. However, states along the Atlantic coast have put in place stronger measures to reduce the number of fish harvested as well as catch-and-release mortality. These regulations should allow the striped bass population to rebuild by 2029, which is why the score increased despite population declines.

Oysters are seeing a renaissance of sorts. After years of overharvesting and limited natural reproduction, in 2020 and 2021 Maryland and Virginia reported the highest rates of juvenile oyster production in the past 30 years. Large-scale oyster restoration projects have been completed in eight sanctuary tributaries in Maryland and Virginia, with two more sanctuary restoration projects planned to be completed before 2025. Scientists monitoring the oyster restoration sanctuaries have found high densities of oysters beginning to build vertical reef structure, an important marine habitat.

Blue crabs fell the most of any indicator, with the overall score dropping five points. In 2022, blue crab dredge survey results found the lowest number of crabs in the Bay in the survey’s 33-year history. In response, fishery managers decreased catch limits to try to reduce overall harvest. Efforts to increase underwater grasses—important nursery habitat for blue crabs—have stalled, with underwater grass acreage hovering around 70,000 acres each year after hitting a high of 105,000 acres in 2018.

In the habitat category, scores for underwater grasses, forest buffers, and wetlands remained unchanged, but resource lands fell slightly by a point. Resource lands refer to forests, natural open areas, and well-managed farmland. The drop in score was largely due to approximately 95,000 acres of farms and forests transitioning to development across the Bay watershed during the most recent reporting period, from 2013/14 to 2017/18.

Overall, the unchanged score is largely a result of failures to make needed changes on farmland to reduce pollution. After forests, the agricultural sector is the second largest land use in the watershed and about 90 percent of the remaining reductions needed to meet the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint must come from limiting farm-related pollution.

However, the cleanup is hitting a roadblock. For years, jurisdictions made continuous, incremental progress toward Bay restoration goals by upgrading wastewater treatment plants. Today, most of the major wastewater plants in the watershed have been upgraded to stringent standards that improve overall water quality. Because of this, future water quality improvements must come largely through efforts to limit polluted runoff from farms, buildings, roads, lawns, and other diffuse sources that are more difficult to control.

Efforts to do so are complicated by climate change, which is bringing stronger rainstorms that drop more precipitation in shorter time periods. The good news is that many of the same practices that will reduce agricultural and urban runoff—such as tree plantings, restoring soil health, and limiting impervious surfaces—are the same ones that help reduce greenhouse gases and make the region more resilient to a changing climate. Saving the Bay and addressing climate change are inextricably, and fortunately, linked.

There is hope on the horizon. The recently passed federal Inflation Reduction Act included $20 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support farm pollution reduction practices nationwide. And last year, Pennsylvania lawmakers approved $154 million for a new agricultural cost share program. In 2022, Virginia adopted a two-year budget that includes included $280 million to assist farmers who install farm conservation practices as well as about $190 million for urban sewer system upgrades and projects to reduce stormwater runoff.

“The State of the Bay is at a precipice,” said Beth McGee, CBF’s Director of Science and Agricultural Policy. “We need to accelerate our efforts at reducing farm pollution to ensure the watershed-wide restoration effort is successful. New funding at the federal and state levels is an opportunity to directly address the Bay’s largest pollution source, but it must be spent efficiently on the projects that provide the most benefit for each dollar spent.”

Investing in agricultural conservation practices also makes good economic sense. For every dollar spent helping farmers adopt practices that improve water quality in the Bay and its tributaries, the Bay region would see $1.75 in higher sales and earnings. Fully funding the farm pollution-reduction practices needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay would inject $655 million annually into the region’s economy, including $269 million per year in higher earnings for businesses and workers, according to a report prepared for CBF by Key-Log Economics, an ecological economics research and consulting firm based in Charlottesville, Va.

The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint requires the Bay jurisdictions to develop plans to decrease pollution to local creeks, rivers, and the Bay. However, an EPA assessment released last fall found that only Washington D.C. and West Virginia are on track to meet the 2025 goals. And in November, EPA rejected Pennsylvania’s most recent update to its Bay cleanup plan because it didn’t demonstrate how the state would meet pollution reduction requirements.

At its October meeting, the Chesapeake Executive Council agreed “to set a path forward over the next year to outline the necessary steps, and prioritize the actions needed, to meet the targets” that had been committed to.

CBF’s federal and state offices identified the following priorities to restore local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland

Maryland’s cities and towns are struggling to meet goals to reduce stormwater pollution. This source of Bay pollution recently surpassed the amount of pollution coming from wastewater treatment plants. To address this, state and local leaders should look for innovative ways to add green space, divert runoff from storm drains into rain gardens filled with vegetation, and reduce impervious surface. This should be coupled with increased enforcement to ensure permitted polluters are following the law.

CBF Maryland Executive Director Josh Kurtz said:

“Two years ago, the General Assembly approved a law to plant 5 million trees in the state by 2030. That was a good first step. However, continuing forest loss and degradation, mostly from development, is estimated at about 3,000 acres per year in the state. As the State of the Bay stagnates, Maryland would benefit from limiting forest loss as it adds new trees. Trees help prevent soil loss and reduce runoff, they naturally filter water and air, and create habitat for wildlife.

“While urban runoff is the only growing source of pollution, agriculture still remains the largest. State leaders should also focus on ways to connect farmers with state and federal resources to add conservation practices on their land, with strong priority given to permanent practices. Recent federal funding increases and a strong state budget provide a unique opportunity to alter the state’s agricultural landscape by improving soil health, which in turn would make fields more productive and reduce polluted runoff.

“Lastly, we hope the new administration being assembled by Gov-elect Moore and Lt. Gov-Elect Aruna Miller can reverse the 20-year decline in environmental enforcement activities in Maryland. Doing so would ensure that industrial polluters and others licensed to discharge pollution into local waterways aren’t violating pollution limits, which threatens the Bay and the health of Marylanders.”

Pennsylvania

With nearly 28,000 miles of polluted streams statewide, Pennsylvania has a lot of work to do to get back on track and meet its Clean Water Blueprint. As part of the $220 million Clean Streams Fund, state legislators dedicated $154 million toward a new statewide program to support family farmers in designing and implementing practices that keep soils and nutrients on the farm instead of in streams, called the Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP).

Agricultural activities are a leading identified source of stream impairment, and more than 90 percent of the Keystone State’s remaining pollution reductions must come from agriculture.

CBF Pennsylvania Science Policy and Advocacy Director Harry Campbell said:

“The recent commitments dedicating $220 million towards clean streams,have helped give the Commonwealth something it hasn’t had in some time—momentum.  ACAP provides critical resources to help farmers get the job done.

“These recent investments, along with enhancing its latest watershed implementation plan and being held accountable along the way, would be significant steps toward reaching the 2025 pollution-reduction goals.  

“It is critical that during this new legislative session, the Governor and legislators provide increased and sustainable funding that builds on momentum and leads to the clean water that is the right of every Pennsylvanian.

“Investment of financial and technical resources will create resilient infrastructure on farms and in communities, boost local economies, and protect human health.  CBF looks forward to working with the Governor and legislators to leave a legacy of clean water for future generations.”

Virginia

We are seeing some promising signs of cleaner waterways in Virginia but challenges remain, from harmful algal blooms to concerns over the blue crab population. Addressing these concerns requires accelerating efforts to reduce pollution from agricultural lands, sewage treatment plants and urban streets.

CBF Virginia Executive Director Peggy Sanner said:

“The legislative session that starts this month is an important opportunity for Virginia’s elected leaders to recommit to a healthy Chesapeake Bay through renewed investments in programs that reduce pollution from agriculture, wastewater treatment plants, and stormwater.

“We urge legislators to ensure investments in these crucial programs address the most effective farm conservation practices, such as fencing cattle out of streams and planting buffers of trees along waterways. This focus would pay dividends in the form of cleaner streams, thriving farms, and local economic benefits. 

“For healthy rivers and streams and strong fisheries, Virginia should support mussel restoration programs and a stock assessment of the threatened blue crab population. To address the growing threats from climate change and sea level rise, we will continue to advocate for nature-based solutions to erosion and flooding that also reduce pollution to waterways.” 

Federal 

Federal funds and leadership are critical to achieving the Blueprint goals.  In the coming year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin distributing the additional $20 billion the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allocated to Farm Bill conservation programs.  These programs are crucial to Bay restoration because they support farmers who use practices that help stop agricultural pollution at its source, improve water quality in local waterways and the Bay, and build climate resiliency on the farm. The 118th Congress is also due to reauthorize the Farm Bill this year.

USDA must direct a significant amount of the $20 billion IRA increase to areas in the Bay states where it can do the most to reduce farm runoff. It can do so through the Chesapeake Bay States’ Partnership Initiative it created last May. Congress should build on that investment with more conservation funding for farmers in the Bay region in the 2023 Farm Bill.  Congress must also provide USDA with enough money to hire more technical experts who can work directly with farmers to put these practices in the ground.

CBF Interim Federal Affairs Director Keisha Sedlacek said:

“The $20 billion IRA boost and next year’s Farm Bill give the Biden administration and Congress the perfect opportunity to jumpstart the cleanup effort. Farm practices that improve water quality are the most cost-effective way to tackle the largest source of pollution in the Bay and its tributaries. The same practices make farms more resilient to climate change and its effects. Devoting more federal dollars to agricultural conservation in the region is a smart investment that benefits local communities, businesses, and the Bay.” 

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

Report Details Local Economic Benefits of Investing in Farm Conservation Practices

November 3, 2022 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation Leave a Comment

Share

Fully funding the farm pollution-reduction practices needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay would inject $655 million annually into the region’s economy, including $269 million per year in higher earnings for businesses and workers, according to a new report released today by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF).

The increased economic activity would also support more than 6,600 jobs through 2025.

The report, Agricultural Conservation Practices: Clean Water and Climate Smart Investments, calculates that for every dollar spent helping farmers adopt practices that improve water quality in the Bay and its tributaries, the Bay region would see $1.75 in higher sales and earnings. This investment would also support an average of 6,673 full-time, part-time, and seasonal jobs a year through 2025.

The report was prepared for CBF by Key-Log Economics, an ecological economics research and consulting firm based in Charlottesville, Va.

Aerial view of a CBF-led forested buffer planting along a Maryland stream in October 2022 – AJ Metcalf – CBF

The study examined 17 conservation practices states are implementing to achieve the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint’s pollution cuts. It used 2020 data from the states’ Bay cleanup plans, Chesapeake Bay Program, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to estimate the cost of implementing each practice. The study then looked at how much implementation work states have left to complete by 2025. It ran those numbers through the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ Regional Input-Output Modeling System to calculate the economic impacts.

The new research is being released as Congress works on next year’s Farm Bill and USDA decides how to allocate the $20 billion the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) added to existing Farm Bill conservation programs. The report makes a strong case for USDA and Congress to devote a significant share of funding from the IRA and the 2023 Farm Bill to helping Bay states meet their pollution-reduction requirements.

“We already know investing in agricultural conservation pays big dividends in cleaner water, more productive soil, climate-resilient farms, and healthier fish and wildlife habitat,” said CBF Director of Science and Agricultural Policy Beth McGee. “Today’s report makes it clear these investments produce economic benefits for local businesses and workers as well.

“To get the most bang for their conservation buck—and curb the largest single source of pollution in the Bay and its waterways—we urge USDA to direct a significant share of the IRA’s $20 billion conservation funding boost to farmers in the Bay watershed,” McGee added. “We also urge lawmakers to consider the many economic, environmental, climate, and community benefits investing in agricultural conservation brings as they draft the 2023 Farm Bill.”

Conservation practices that improve soil and water quality, like planting forested buffers or fencing livestock out of streams, are the most efficient and cost-effective way to achieve the pollution cuts needed from agriculture. Implementing them benefits businesses such as tree nurseries, landscapers, lumberyards, building supply companies, contractors, and environmental engineering firms.

“Using widely accepted economic tools, our study quantified the economic stimulus and job creation the Bay region would experience as a result of spending on full implementation of agricultural practices in the states’ watershed implementation plans,” said Key-Log senior economist Carolyn Alkire. “These results highlight how investing in conservation can stimulate the region’s economy while advancing Bay restoration.”

More than 90 percent of the states’ remaining pollution reductions must come from agriculture.

The report estimates that implementing the conservation practices necessary for Pennsylvania to achieve its remaining pollution cuts under the Blueprint would yield an estimated $352.5 million in economic benefits a year. That total includes $145.1 million in higher annual earnings for Pennsylvania businesses and workers. It also would support 3,457 jobs a year.

Virginia would see an annual return of $191.2 million, including $78.6 million in added yearly earnings for businesses and workers, from investment in conservation practices to meet its pollution-reduction commitments. The investment would also support 2,067 jobs annually through 2025.

In Maryland, investment in the needed conservation practices would generate around $41.2 million a year in economic benefits, including $16.5 million in higher annual earnings for businesses and workers, and would support 423 jobs each year.

The report also illustrates how conservation practices vary in how much they cost to reduce pollution and produce additional benefits for communities and the environment. For example, it takes a $7.62 investment in forested buffers, compared with investing $2,350 in animal waste management systems, to reduce a pound of nitrogen.

Forested buffers provide many other benefits, such as shade and habitat for wildlife, carbon storage, and flood mitigation. Buffers can also be a source of additional revenue for farmers who use them to produce nuts, fruit, livestock forage, and even honey.

“Targeting funding to practices like forested buffers that are cost‑effective and provide a holistic range of benefits can, and should, help ensure the greatest outcomes for the region’s water quality and community wellbeing.” McGee said.

Additional related research: 

Earlier this year, CBF evaluated how conservation practices protect the environment, mitigate climate change and its effects, and improve farmers’ bottom line in the Farm Forward report.

A 2016 economic report concluded that a healthy Bay ecosystem would provide $130 billion annually in natural resource benefits such as air and water filtration, agricultural and seafood production, greater recreational opportunities, higher property values, and protection from floods and hurricanes.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

5th Annual Maryland Rod and Reef Slam Winners Announced

October 21, 2022 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation Leave a Comment

Share

The Chesapeake Bay’s unique fishing tournament, the Rod and Reef Slam, wrapped up this past weekend with 35 participating anglers catching more than 130 fish, including 19 different species, over restored oyster reefs.

Unlike traditional fishing tournaments, in the Rod and Reef Slam anglers are trying to catch the most different species over oyster reefs to showcase the diversity of species that use oyster reefs for habitat.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Coastal Conservation Association Maryland (CCA), and Chesapeake Oyster Alliance (COA) are proud to announce the following overall and division winners in the catch-and-release fishing tournament that ran from Oct. 8 to 16:

Chris Morgan – Rod and Reef Slam overall winner speaks to the crowd at the tournament after-party – Credit – Chesapeake Bay Foundation – Isabella DeFrancesco

  • Overall: Chris Morgan, of Drayden, who caught 12 different species of fish ranging from black sea bass, lizardfish and Northern puffer to white perch, toadfish, and spot.
  • Powerboat: Herb Floyd, of Trappe, who caught 11 different species, and was the only angler among the winners to catch a pumpkinseed and spotted seatrout.
  • Kayak: Ronnie Kirin, of Crownsville, broke a 5-way tie between anglers who all caught three species in the kayak division thanks to his largest three fish—striped bass, white perch, and spot—totaling 39.5 inches in length.
  • Youth: Parker Barniea, of Annapolis, edged out other competitors ages 17 and under by catching three different species—bluegill, white perch, and spot.
  • Invasive Species: Matthew Shoultz, of Forest Hill, took home the title in this division by landing a 38-inch blue catfish, the longest fish caught in the tournament.

Parker Barniea – Youth Division Winner – Accepts prizes at tournament after-party – Credit – Chesapeake Bay Foundation – Isabella DeFrancesco

The most common fish caught during the tournament was white perch, followed by spot, then striped bass. The hardest-to-catch fish included pumpkinseed, Northern puffer, lizardfish, and bluegill; only one of each these species were caught during the tournament.

Other species caught by anglers during the Rod and Reef Slam were black sea bass, blue catfish, kingfish, pigfish, sand perch, spotted seatrout, summer flounder, and toadfish.

The winning anglers as well as second and third place in each division received prizes such as All Tackle gift certificates, Under Armour apparel, Engel coolers, fishing rods and reels, Costa sunglasses, Ike Jime tools, and other items.

“Each year this tournament continues to grow and with that comes a brighter spotlight on the importance of oyster reefs for fish habitat,” said David Sikorski, CCA’s Maryland Executive Director. “We’d like to thank all the anglers who participated and we hope they share their experiences with others so we can continue this tournament that joins together recreational anglers and conservation practices.”

The winners were first announced at the tournament after-party at CBF’s Philip Merril Environmental Center in Annapolis on Oct. 16.

“CBF is proud to partner with CCA to continue to organize and host this tournament that’s about far more than just catching fish,” said Allison Colden, CBF’s Maryland Senior Fisheries Scientist. “We encourage anglers everywhere to learn more about how efforts to restore oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay will help increase the populations of many different species of fish. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who helped make the tournament possible.”

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

After 45 Years, CBF’s Longtime Leader Reflects on the Chesapeake Bay at a Crossroads

December 14, 2021 by Bay Journal

Share

Will Baker never intended to become an environmental activist. He studied art in college and planned to become an architect, like his older brother. Then, one hot summer day in 1976, while he was up in a tree pruning it for a little cash, the homeowner walked outside with an iced tea in hand, looked up and asked, “Will, would you like to save the Bay?”

“And I said, ‘Yes, Mr. Semans, that would be fine,’” Baker recalled. “And he said, ‘Come into the house and talk to me when you’re finished.’”

Truman Semans, a Baltimore investment executive, was on the board of trustees of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, then a small environmental nonprofit with a catchy slogan, “Save the Bay.” It was founded in 1967 by a group of well-heeled Maryland businessmen worried that pollution from industry, development and population growth would ruin the sailing, hunting and fishing they enjoyed in their spare time.

Semans sent Baker to Annapolis to see the foundation’s executive director for a job. He started as an office assistant whose duties included running out at lunchtime to pick up sandwiches.

Now, 45 years later, Baker, who recently turned 68, is retiring from CBF at the end of December after four decades as its leader, a tenure virtually unmatched in the nonprofit world. Over that time, the organization has grown into a regional environmental powerhouse, with a staff of 210 and about 300,000 members.

“It’s become a huge, impactful enterprise, and it was really built by Will Baker,” said Brian Frosh, Maryland’s attorney general who earlier served 28 years as a state lawmaker and one of the legislature’s leading environmental advocates.

“Everything that I worked on, and everything that was accomplished in the area of the environment while I was in the General Assembly,” Frosh said, “had the fingerprints of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on it.”

Over the decades, CBF has helped to push through a series of laws — mainly in Maryland and Virginia— to protect wetlands and forests, require farmers to limit fertilizer use and curb waterfront development. It has advocated for tighter catch limits on the Bay’s striped bass, oysters, crabs and menhaden, while pressing for increased state and federal funding to upgrade sewage treatment plants and pay farmers to limit runoff from their fields. It has sued polluting industries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the Clean Water Act, and it has taught legions of youngsters and adults about the Bay.

Through it all, Will Baker has been there, insisting with seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm that the Bay can be saved and, lately, that this is its best and maybe last chance, if only political leaders can muster the will.

Yet after all this time, the Bay is still not saved. In some important ways, it’s in better shape than it was 45 years ago. But it’s not back to anything like the natural bounty that English explorer John Smith found in the early 1600s.

The Bay restoration effort is at a crossroads, some say. The Bay watershed states, District of Columbia and federal government have failed three times to achieve cleanup goals they set for themselves, and they’re falling short as the 2025 deadline looms for their latest effort. An internal review by the state-federal Bay Program earlier this year warned that the region will likely fail to achieve seven restoration outcomes by the 2025 deadline. Among the efforts in deep trouble is CBF’s main focus, reducing nutrient pollution.

CBF, too, is at a crossroads, facing a generational change in its leadership at a time when environmental groups are reckoning with a legacy of White privilege and the need to diversify their makeup and broaden their mission to address the disparate impacts of pollution.

On-the-job training

That CBF would even survive, much less grow, was by no means assured when Baker took the helm in 1981. He’d been on staff barely five years when the board made him interim executive director while it searched for a new leader. After a few months, Baker decided to make a bid for the job himself. He got the nod, though some on the board wanted someone with more experience. At the time, Baker said, he had no particular environmental awareness or training for taking over a nonprofit like CBF.

“I learned on the job,” he said.

He had to learn quickly. When he took the reins, CBF was in dire straits, he said, with “a huge deficit.” Over the years, both Baker and CBF have become prolific fundraisers. Its 2020 annual report lists $38 million in revenues, more than 80% from membership contributions, gifts and grants. It boasts endowments totaling $46 million and net assets of around $120 million, according to its financial statements.

Such fundraising prowess has allowed CBF to expand its activities and establish a presence in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. It’s also underwritten construction of its LEED platinum headquarters overlooking the Bay in Annapolis and a similarly green education center near the Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach.

CBF president Will Baker participates in 2012 Bayfest, celebrating CBF’s members. (Janice Wagner Photography/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Education has been a big part of CBF’s work since its early days, when Arthur Sherwood bought a workboat, then a fleet of canoes to get schoolchildren out on the Bay so they could learn to love it. By CBF’s count, more than 1.5 million students, teachers and other adults have passed through the 15 education centers the group established in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

He said he’s been told by many people now in government, business and academia that their interest in the environment was first sparked by going on a CBF field trip.

Baker calls CBF’s education program its “best long-term investment in the future of the Bay.”

Choosing its battles

CBF’s other core activities have been lobbying for environmental protections and litigating to punish polluters or stop harmful projects.

In the early 1970s, it successfully argued that the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland shouldn’t get licensed without a federally mandated review of the facility’s environmental impacts. The foundation also sued to block an oil refinery in Hampton Roads VA, and it went after big industrial corporations like Bethlehem Steel, Gwaltney of Smithfield and Phillip Morris for violating federal and state pollution laws.

CBF has also deployed staff to lobby state legislators and members of Congress for more funding for Bay restoration, and it has pressed the case for imposing enforceable pollution reduction targets on the states through the EPA-imposed cleanup plan CBF now dubs the Clean Water Blueprint. More recently, CBF has branched out into restoring vital Bay resources that have been lost, including streamside forests, wetlands and oysters.

Baker acknowledged that he is frustrated that the Bay isn’t closer to recovery. Some Bay advocates are suggesting that it’s time to publicly acknowledge the restoration effort is going to come up short again and begin discussing a new agreement to carry on beyond 2025.

“We’ve got to look at new tools and ways of doing things,” said Roy Hoagland, who spent 22 years on CBF’s staff, seven of it as vice president for environmental protection and restoration. He and others suggest the restoration effort needs to “broaden back out” from its focus on nutrient pollution to attack other largely unaddressed problems, like climate change, growth and toxic contaminants.

But Baker contends that admitting failure now would be a “huge mistake, because to say that takes all the pressure off.”

Instead, CBF has again gone to court, joining with three Bay states and the District of Columbia last year in suing the EPA for not taking more aggressive action to make Pennsylvania do its part to clean up the Bay.

“We’re not giving up,” he said. “Every month, [meeting the 2025 goal is] less likely, but there’s no reason to give up and to say, ‘Let’s just start thinking about moving the goalposts again.’ I’m so sick of that, you know?”

The biggest challenge to fulfilling the Bay cleanup, Baker contends, has been Pennsylvania. The state’s House of Representatives has repeatedly balked at proposals for raising revenues to pay farmers to install runoff-limiting practices on their fields and feedlots. Baker calls the Pennsylvania House “as fiscally conservative as any legislative body I’ve ever worked with.”

CBF also has scrapped with commercial fishing interests as it pressed for tighter controls on harvests of striped bass, blue crabs, oysters and menhaden. Its advocacy in the 1990s for tighter limits on crabbing angered watermen, who erected a billboard on Smith Island criticizing CBF. A storage building CBF owned there was torched amid the controversy.

Conflicts with watermen have continued, at least in Maryland, where CBF successfully lobbied state lawmakers against reopening some of the state’s oyster sanctuaries for commercial harvest. CBF also pressed for legislation requiring scientific and consensus-based management of oysters to identify and curb overharvesting. That earned the group a public rebuke from Gov. Larry Hogan, who promised to look out for watermen when he was first elected in 2014.

Yet some environmentalists, particularly in Maryland, contend that CBF has gone easy on the agricultural industry, even though farm runoff is the leading source of nutrients fouling the Bay.

“What we have tried to do that some of our colleague organizations haven’t always bought in on is we have tried to get funding for agriculture,” Baker countered. CBF has “raised millions of dollars to put best management practices on farmland. And to do that you have to gain the trust of the farmer to go in and start working with him.”

Will Baker, retiring president of CBF, walks near the organization’s Annapolis headquarters with incoming president Hilary Harp Falk. Photo by Dave Harp, Bay Journal

Rethink and retool?

A growing number of Bay advocates say CBF, like many organizations of its kind, needs to address the lack of diversity within its ranks and focus more on environmental inequities. Communities of color will continue to disproportionally suffer from environmental health hazards if advocacy groups fail to call attention to it, they say.

Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman, a vocal CBF critic, contends the foundation’s size and reliance on corporate financial support keep it from pursuing the social justice needed to address environmental inequities.

“I think it has its heart in the right place,” he said, “but no concept of the stakes on the ground … If you want to clean up the Bay, you have to right some wrongs.”

Baker counters such criticism by pointing out that CBF has hired an attorney to focus on environmental justice cases. But CBF’s top management is all White, and its staff is nearly 90% White. Only 4% of the staff identify as Black. The board of trustees is more diverse, with 19% of its members identifying as Black.

“Our numbers are not where we want them to be,” Baker acknowledged. “We’re working like crazy,” he added, to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Andres Jimenez, executive director of Green 2.0, a group that monitors diversity at nonprofit organizations, said that CBF is at least acknowledging it has a problem.

“Could they be doing better? Yes,” Jimenez said. “Could they be working faster? Yes.” But he credited CBF and Baker with being up front about the problem and seeking his advice and help in addressing it.

Change of command

On Jan. 2, CBF will have a new leader. Hillary Harp Falk, announced as Baker’s successor in late October, interned at CBF and after college worked for three years teaching students about the Bay at CBF’s Port Isabel Island center. Her budding career in conservation then took her to the National Wildlife Federation, where she advanced to become chief program officer. (She is the daughter of Bay Journal staff photographer Dave Harp.)

Many say she’s a good choice to build on what Baker accomplished and take it in new directions.

“She’s a coalition builder, a very strong communicator,” said Ann Swanson, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and a former CBF staffer. “In hiring Hillary, they’ve reached another generation that was really raised understanding more about diversity, equity and inclusion … and the strength of power sharing.” Whether she can woo the big donors Baker did remains to be seen, Swanson said.

Baker said that he’s doing more fundraising in his final weeks to ensure his successor can start out on a firm financial footing.

After New Year’s Day, Baker said, he plans to “sleep, read a book, you know, smell the roses.” He said his wife once told him he’s a workaholic, which he acknowledges with some chagrin. “I’ve got a couple of things on the drawing board,” he said, but he wasn’t ready to share them just yet.

Looking back, the only regret he was willing to share is that the job he signed up for is not finished. He recalled running into former Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer in downtown Annapolis shortly after the governor left office in 1995. After exchanging pleasantries, Baker said he was walking away when Schaefer called out to him. “‘I thought it would be easier,’” Baker heard him say. ‘I said, ‘Governor, what was that?’ He said, ‘Saving the Bay.’”

By Timothy B. Wheeler

Filed Under: Eco Portal Lead Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Education, environment, hilary harp falk, save the bay, will baker

Prizes Announced for Rod and Reef Slam Fishing Tournament that Starts Oct. 9

October 7, 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Share

Anglers who catch the most different species of fish in the unique Rod and Reef Slam Fishing Tournament can win a grand prize worth up to $1,400 in Under Armour fishing apparel and All Tackle gift certificates while division winners receive other exciting prizes.

The tournament takes place from Oct. 9 to 17 and registration remains open. The entry cost is $25. Today, tournament organizers Coastal Conservation Association Maryland, Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation are announcing the following prize packages for the tournament:

Overall Grand Prize

  • $300 All Tackle gift certificate; Under Armour Apparel Kit that includes footwear, bottoms, shirt, and fleece or outerwear with a retail value of about $1,400; and a Coastal Conservation Association MD soft-body Engel backpack cooler.

Powerboat Division

  • First Place– $200 All Tackle gift certificate and Under Armour shirt and fleece or outerwear with a retail value up to $150.
  • Second Place – $125 All Tackle gift certificate and an Under Armour top.
  • Third Place– $75 All Tackle gift certificate and an Under Armour hat.

Kayak Division

  • First Place– $200 All Tackle gift certificate and Under Armour shirt and fleece or outerwear with a retail value up to $150.
  • Second Place – $125 All Tackle gift certificate and an Under Armour top.
  • Third Place– $75 All Tackle gift certificate and an Under Armour hat.

Youth Division

  • First Place– $100 All Tackle gift certificate, Chesapeake Bay Foundation or Coastal Conservation Association hat, and an Under Armour shirt and fleece or outerwear with a retail value up to $150.
  • Second Place– $75 All Tackle gift certificate, Chesapeake Bay Foundation or Coastal Conservation Association shirt, and an Under Armour shirt.
  • Third Place– $50 All Tackle gift certificate, Under Armour hat, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Coastal Conservation Association stickers.

Invasive Species Division

  • 50-quart Engel hard side cooler with an estimated value of $300 and an Under Armour shirt and fleece or outerwear with an estimated value of $150.

All winners will also receive a 40 percent off Under Armour apparel coupon.

The contest is designed to highlight the diversity of fish that surround oyster reefs. To do that, anglers will fish in areas where oyster reefs have been restored in Maryland. Anglers will use the iAngler Tournament app to document their catches and fishing locations.

During the past two centuries, Maryland has lost nearly all its oyster reef habitat due to overfishing, pollution, and disease. The loss of reef habitat has corresponded with less fish that frequent oyster reefs, such as sheepshead, black sea bass, and tautog. However, ongoing oyster reef restoration throughout the Bay is showing signs of success and the potential to lure more of these types of fish back into Maryland waters. Oysters are also valuable in the Bay for their natural filtering abilities. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.

All anglers who register will also be entered into the new invasive species division this year. The person who catches the longest 3-fish stringer of blue catfish, flathead catfish or Northern snakehead will be declared the winner of that division.

Anglers can pick fishing locations ranging from the large-scale restoration tributaries on the Eastern Shore such as Harris Creek, the Little Choptank River, and the Tred Avon River to smaller Western shore restoration sites, including those in the South, Severn and Magothy rivers around Annapolis. There are more than 100 reefs to fish in the tournament that can be found using the tournament’s interactive map.

Winners in previous Rod and Reef Slam tournaments have caught more than a dozen different species including white perch, spot, toadfish, drum, blue crabs, rockfish, and bluefish.

A live online awards ceremony will take place to announce the winners.

Anglers interested in participating can register on the CBF website. More information about the tournament is on the iAngler Tournament page.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

August Dead Zone is Bad News for the Bay

September 19, 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Share

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation raised concerns about Bay restoration efforts following the August dead zone report. The report, from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Old Dominion University, found that dissolved oxygen conditions in Maryland and Virginia were worse than average this August following two better-than average months. The report attributed the increased size of the dead zone to significantly warmer than average temperatures, lower-than-average wind speeds, and greater-than-average precipitation.

The Bay’s living resources, including fish, crabs, and oysters, require healthy levels of oxygen to survive. For example, Atlantic sturgeon, a federally endangered species, require 5 mg/l of dissolved oxygen throughout their range.  An expanding dead zone may curtail recovery efforts for this ancient fish.

“Warmer waters and greater precipitation, both hallmarks of climate change, are a growing threat to the Bay and its living resources,” said CBF’s Maryland Senior Scientist Doug Myers. “Combined with declines in both the number of crabs and acreage of Bay grasses, it is clear that we must significantly ramp up efforts to reduce pollution and combat climate change.”

Time is running out for the watershed states to adopt the Bay restoration practices and policies they committed to in the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. While Maryland and Virginia have plans to achieve the 2025 goal, additional funding and implementation are critical. Pennsylvania’s plan, however, is sorely deficient and the Commonwealth needs to increase spending by more than $300 million dollars annually to implement a plan that falls short of achieving Pennsylvania’s clean water commitments.

These plans require farmers, primarily in Pennsylvania, to achieve 80 percent of the remaining pollution reduction necessary by the 2025 deadline. That means that farmers will have to significantly increase the use of conservation practices.

Conservation practices, such as planting forested buffers and rotating where livestock graze, are among the most cost-effective ways to reduce pollution from agriculture. The same practices also help mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon as well as boost local economies by creating jobs and generating business in the community.

Achieving the Blueprint goals will require more than just conservation funding. All the federal partners must step up to the plate. To date, EPA has failed to meet its Clean Water Act responsibilities by refusing to hold Pennsylvania, and to a lesser extent New York, accountable for failure to develop plans that meet the Blueprint requirements.

More than a year ago, CBF and its partners Anne Arundel County, The Maryland Waterman’s Association, Robert Whitescarver and Jeanne Hoffman, and the State Attorneys General for Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia filed suit in federal court.  To date that litigation continues, and EPA has not taken action.

“The good news is that CBF is working with a broad range of partners to increase conservation funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, partners are working to put in place a program in Pennsylvania that would, for the first time, provide significant state funding for conservation practices,” said Alison Prost, CBF Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration. “The bad news is that without EPA leadership to hold the states accountable, and additional conservation funding, the Blueprint will be just another failed effort to save the Bay.”

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

Rod and Reef Slam Fishing Tournament Returns This October In Maryland

September 9, 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Share

Anglers cast lines in the Chesapeake Bay in northern Maryland.

The Rod and Reef Slam Fishing Tournament returns for its fourth year in Maryland waters this fall from Oct. 9 to Oct. 17. 

In this unique fishing tournament, anglers who catch the most different species of finfish can win gift cards and prizes worth up to $300. The family-friendly tournament includes powerboat, kayak, and youth divisions.  The entry cost is $25 and all entrants receive a shirt if registered before Oct. 1. 

The contest is designed to highlight the diversity of fish that surround oyster reefs. To do that, anglers will fish in areas where oyster reefs have been restored in Maryland. Anglers will use the iAngler app to document their catches and fishing locations.  

Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Coastal Conservation Association Maryland are organizing the contest. 

“We’re hoping to demonstrate the value of oyster reef restoration through this tournament,” said Allison Colden, CBF’s Maryland Senior Fisheries Scientist. “Oyster reefs provide habitat to a wide range of Chesapeake Bay marine life. The reefs are important to dozens of types of fish, which hunt for food and use the space between oyster clumps for protection. The reefs are ideal for recreational anglers to target different fish species.” 

A contestant in the 2017 Rod and Reef Slam Tournament holds up a toadfish caught while fishing over an oyster reef. Credit: Will Parson/ Chesapeake Bay Program

During the past two centuries, Maryland has lost nearly all its oyster reef habitat due to overfishing, pollution, and disease. The loss of reef habitat has corresponded with less fish that frequent oyster reefs, such as sheepshead, black sea bass, and tautog. However, ongoing oyster reef restoration throughout the Bay is showing signs of success and the potential to lure more of these types of fish back into Maryland waters. Oysters are also valuable in the Bay for their natural filtering abilities. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. 

“If we want more fish in the Chesapeake Bay, we need more oyster reefs,” said David Sikorski, Executive Director of Coastal Conservation Association Maryland, which works to protect the state’s marine resources. “For years now, CBF and CCA have worked together to advocate for and undertake reef restoration. During the past decade hundreds of acres of Bay bottom have been restored. Fishing in this tournament is a way for us to enjoy that progress and gather information about the types of fish gathering at rebuilt reefs.” 

All anglers who register will also be entered into the new invasive species division this year. The person who catches the longest 3-fish stringer of blue catfish, flathead catfish or Northern snakehead will be declared the winner of that division. 

Anglers can pick fishing locations ranging from the large-scale restoration tributaries on the Eastern Shore such as Harris Creek, the Little Choptank River, and the Tred Avon River to smaller Western shore restoration sites, including those in the South, Severn and Magothy rivers around Annapolis. There are more than 100 reefs to fish in the tournament that can be found using the tournament’s interactive map. 

In previous years, the tournament took place only at oyster reefs on the Eastern Shore. This will be the first year it’s expanded to restoration reefs throughout all of Maryland. 

Winners in previous Rod and Reef Slam tournaments have caught more than a dozen different species including white perch, spot, toadfish, drum, blue crabs, rockfish, and bluefish.  

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no formal gathering, but a live online awards ceremony will take place to announce the winners. 

Anglers interested in participating can register on the CBF website. More information about the tournament is on the iAngler page.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

CBF Outdoor Education Program Restarts this Fall After Pandemic Shutdown

September 3, 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Share

Photo credit: CBF

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) educators are excited to welcome teachers and students back to outdoor education programs this fall. The outdoor class program was suspended in March 2020 when the pandemic began.

Since the early 1970s, CBF’s award-winning outdoor education program has guided over one million students from Chesapeake Bay watershed schools to forests, rivers, and on the Bay to teach them about the nation’s largest estuary.

“Our education program’s mantra has always been to ‘learn outside,’ so we’re thrilled to get back on the Bay as well as the watershed’s rivers and trails to teach, learn, and explore with students in person,” said Tom Ackerman, CBF’s Vice President of Education. “We are eager to make up for the opportunities students have missed with us during the last 18 months. However, our priority has always been the health of our participants.”

CBF is taking several steps to protect the health of students and educators as outdoor education programs resume this fall for the first time since the pandemic began.

Photo credit: CBF

This year’s outdoor programs will be different than in previous years due to pandemic precautions. All day trip activities will take place outdoors, where studies have shown the risk of transmitting Covid-19 is much lower compared to indoor activities. Students will be required to undergo a health check 24 hours before attending a day program and wear masks when social distancing isn’t possible, such as on boats. To protect their own health and the health of others, All CBF educators have been vaccinated.

For residential programs, when students stay overnight at CBF facilities such as Smith Islandor the Karen Noonan Center on the Eastern Shore, students and other participants must be vaccinated. At the residential centers, participants will also be required to wear masks when indoors, with exceptions made for eating and sleeping.

In Maryland, CBF provides day trip education programs at the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center and Arthur Sherwood facility in Annapolis as well as out of the Baltimore Harbor. Schools in the Washington, D.C., area have the option of joining the Potomac River program in the nation’s capital.

On these experiences, students perform water quality tests, trawl for fish, examine plankton, and learn about the history and ecology of the Bay, its tributaries, and watershed. Participation in a CBF meaningful watershed educational experience is an important part of schools’ environmental literacy programs.

Studies of outdoor education classes have found students are more engaged and develop important skills such as perseverance, self-efficacy, and leadership through their participation. Students report after learning outside they feel more confident and connected to nature.

Teachers interested in signing their class up for a fall program can visit CBF’s education website to do so. This year’s fall field experiences will take place from late September through early December. Teachers can choose from canoe, boat, or land-based experiences.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

CBF Adds 14 Million Oysters to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland in 2020

February 13, 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Share

CBF Oyster planting vessel Patricia Campbell on its way to seed oysters in the Tred Avon River.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) continued its long-term push to restore oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay by adding more than 14 million oysters in Maryland waters during 2020’s pandemic-affected season.

More than 10 million of the oysters were added to the Tred Avon River on the Eastern Shore, where CBF is working under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to restore oyster reefs at the tributary scale along with other state and federal partners. This effort contributes to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement goal of restoring oyster reefs in 10 tributaries by 2025.

Despite the pandemic limiting CBF staff’s ability to connect with volunteers, CBF’s cadre of oyster gardeners contributed 500,000 adult oysters to the 2020 tally. These oysters were added to Maryland’s portion of the Bay from as far south as the Virginia border to the Baltimore area in the north. The work helps engage citizens with limited access to the Bay and exposes them to this iconic reef-building species they may only be familiar with from eating.

Volunteers also helped CBF collect more than 1,200 bushels of oyster shells, which will be recycled, re-set with oyster larvae and put back into the Bay to grow. In the Bay, oysters naturally produce larvae that attaches to existing oyster shells and grows into larger oysters, which helps build reefs.

CBF Oyster Restoration Manager Karl Willey in front of oysters that were later added to the Tred Avon River – Summer 2020

The oyster restoration figures were down from CBF’s annual average of adding about 25 million oysters to the Bay. This was mostly due to limitations on restoration activities to ensure safety during the pandemic. CBF limited the number of staff working closely on boats as well as how many volunteers could gather for oyster gardening events.

“As soon as we became aware of the pandemic in early March of last year, we took immediate action to change our oyster restoration operations to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers,” said Doug Myers, CBF’s Senior Maryland Scientist. “What we didn’t do is halt the program. Instead, we worked within safety guidelines and continued planting millions of water-filtering oysters in the Bay. We’re so thankful to our dozens of volunteers who were able to assist our efforts during these trying times by helping to pick up and clean recycled shells.”

Chesapeake Oyster Alliance and Large-Scale Restoration Efforts 

CBF’s effort coincided with work by other groups that are also adding more oysters to the Bay. The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, a coalition of oyster-related businesses, academic institutions and environmental organizations, has now added more than 2 billion oysters to the Bay as it continues its march toward its goal to add 10 billion oysters to the Bay by 2025.

CBF Oyster Restoration Specialist Patrick Beall stands next to one of four trucks used to transport oysters raised by volunteers for planting in Herring Bay in fall 2020. Credit – AJ Metcalf

In 2020, the Alliance and CBF joined forces to help oyster aquaculture operators sell farm-raised oysters directly to consumers. Oyster aquaculture businesses were hit particularly hard by reduced restaurant demand for oysters during the pandemic.

“We were able to help four oyster farmers sell more than 18,000 oysters during oyster pop-up sales hosted throughout Maryland during the summer and fall,” said Tanner Council, Chesapeake Oyster Alliance Manager. “Oyster farming has been one of the great seafood economic success stories during the past decade, with the industry growing by about 24 percent per year in Maryland from 2012 to 2018. We wanted to help any way we could to ensure businesses survive the reduced demand for oysters caused by restaurant closures during the pandemic.”

This past year, CBF also celebrated the completion of oyster restoration work in the Little Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where 358 acres of Bay bottom have now been seeded with 2 billion spat-on-shell oysters. CBF added about 66 million oysters to the Little Choptank during the restoration work, which began in 2015.

The large-scale restoration work is targeted to meet the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement’s goal of restoring oyster populations in at least 10 Bay tributaries by 2025. So far, those efforts have been completed in Maryland’s Harris Creek and Virginia’s Lafayette River and the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, as well as the Little Choptank.

Oyster Innovation 

CBF has been innovating to respond to oysters’ ongoing challenges. In 2020, staff continued monitoring a 700-foot oyster reef ball living shoreline installed in the South River in 2019 in partnership with the Arundel Rivers Federation. The concrete reef balls placed near an eroding shoreline were seeded with spat, or juvenile oysters. Some of those oysters have since grown much larger. CBF is reviewing the project to see if reef balls seeded with oysters could be used in living shorelines elsewhere along the Bay to provide habitat, filter water, and reduce shoreline erosion.  By growing vertically, this nearshore reef could continue to provide shore protection better than bulkheads and other shoreline armoring because the growth can keep pace with sea level rise.

CBF has also been working with engineering firm Northrop Grumman to develop ways to more easily monitor oyster reefs below the often murky water of the Bay. In 2021, CBF and Northrop Grumman plan to deploy new SONAR and acoustic listening devices to help better understand how oysters are faring in the Bay and identify new target reefs for restoration.

Oysters are a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, their reefs provide habitat for fish, crabs, and other marine life, and oysters are an important part of the region’s seafood economy. For these reasons, CBF has prioritized the protection and restoration of the Bay’s oyster reefs.

More information about CBF’s oyster-related work can be found in the 2020 Maryland Oyster Annual Report.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news

Bay Foundation Challenges Wastewater Permit for Lakeside Development in Trappe

February 2, 2021 by Spy Desk

Share

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) contesting the legality of the wastewater discharge permit it issued for Lakeside at Trappe. ShoreRivers also is challenging the discharge permit.

The permit, which MDE approved in December, allows the proposed 2,500 home and commercial development in Talbot County to use spray irrigation over farm fields to dispose of treated wastewater, CBF said in a press release.

Under the permit the development can spray up to 540,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day over the fields. The treated wastewater must contain no more than 3 mg/L of nitrogen and 0.3 mg/L of phosphorus on average before being applied to the fields.

While this is the standard for wastewater plants disposing of treated wastewater, the current assumption for wastewater disposed onto fields — as is proposed in this project — is no net pollutants once it leaves the field, according to CBF. Nitrogen and phosphorus from treated wastewater can fuel harmful algal blooms in local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay that create oxygen-deprived dead zones inhospitable to marine life.

In a press release, CBF outlined two primary concerns related to this method of wastewater disposal.

The first is that the department did not fully account for the connection between groundwater and surface water. Multiple studies have shown that even under the best conditions, nutrient pollutants applied to agricultural land can reach nearby streams through shallow aquifers under farm fields.

However, MDE asserted, without sufficient evidence, that the nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater will be taken up by crops in the spray field, according to CBF. MDE contends that this will effectively result in “zero net discharge” of pollutants to local waterways, which may enable the development and MDE to bypass requirements to reduce pollutants under the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, also known as the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load.

Neither the department, nor the developer has effectively proven that this plan to dispose wastewater won’t increase pollutants entering the Bay.

The second issue is that MDE did not publish the nutrient management plan for the project during the public comment period. The plan is intended to demonstrate how the proposed development would use specific crops to take up nutrients in the wastewater being sprayed on the field to prevent them from entering nearby waterways.

Instead, MDE accepted the plan after the public comment period was closed and deemed it “satisfactory” without providing the public with an opportunity to weigh in on it, CBF said in a press release.

The development is being built near Miles Creek and the Choptank River. The Lower Choptank River is already impaired by sediments, nutrient pollutants, and fecal coliform in its tidal portions.

“The department’s approval of this wastewater permit sets a risky new precedent enabling large developments to use spray irrigation to bypass Bay pollution reduction requirements,” Alan Girard, CBF’s Maryland Eastern Shore director, said. “We already know legacy pollutants such as fertilizer, manure, and chemicals can seep from the ground via groundwater and flow into nearby streams and creeks. However, by claiming the Bay TMDL that obligates Maryland to reduce pollution is not applicable to wastewater treatment plants that use spray irrigation, the department has basically ignored that fact.

“This appears to circumvent established state policy to manage water quality. The state must account for pollution from septic systems that discharge to groundwater, but by obtaining a state groundwater discharge permit to spray irrigate instead, developers will be able to ignore these limits,” Girard said. “We are deeply disturbed that the department will not close this loophole that allows the state to disregard Bay restoration requirements.

“MDE must also follow its own public notice regulations, which it did not do in this case. While the department did eventually make the nutrient management plan for this project available, it did not do so when the formal public comment period was open as required by law,” he said. “This is unfair to those who could be affected by the pollution that this project could generate, and we are asking the court to recognize this fact. There are substantive issues with the plan and its application here which could have been addressed through the public notice and comment process.”

Petition for Judicial Review 2-1-21

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, discharge, environment, lakeside, Trappe, wastewater

Next Page »

Copyright © 2023

Affiliated News

  • The Cambridge Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Health
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2023 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in