As many of you know, the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America. Its watershed covers 64,000 square miles and includes parts of six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay suffers from extreme pollution, mostly due to nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. I live in Annapolis, Maryland directly on the Severn River, which is a river right off the Chesapeake Bay so I am both involved and affected by the major amounts of pollution in the bay. Last year we hosted a party for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and talking to all the members really got me concerned with the condition of the bay.
Very recently, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin announced the details of the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009 which amends section 117 of the Clean Water Act. Being an advocate of reducing the pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, I support this bill entirely. The bill gives states and local governments more than 1.5 billion dollars in new grant authority to restore the bay’s health. This includes controlling urban/suburban polluted storm water, which is the only pollution sector that is reportedly still growing. Also, it sets a firm deadline of May 2020 for all restorations to be in place, which setting a date is very important for enforcement of the bill. It provides bay watershed farmers with financial incentives to implement conservation practices on their land. Finally, the bill implements a force of law behind President Obama’s recent Executive Order which requires every federal department to work toward restoration of the bay.
I believe the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009 should be signed into law as soon as possible to start restoration of the bay. This bill would not only provide incentives for farmers and local and state governments to help restore the bay, but increase awareness for the need for drastic changes to the pollution being put into the bay. Seeing as the pollution of the bay is a major issue, this bill would help improve the health of the bay and require change to accomplish it. In conclusion, signing this bill into a law would be very essential to the health state of the Chesapeake Bay, and would be very beneficial to the overall wellbeing of the environment.
-Alex Athans
