A great blue heron finds a resting spot in Chesapeake Bay. Stock.adobe.com photo by flownaksala .
Progress and potential. That is how the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) described current Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts in its latest two-year milestone report .
In its report, the EPA commended states’ achievements toward our 2025 pollution reduction goals. They included reducing pollution from wastewater treatment facilities and agriculture, as well as forest buffer initiatives.
But with Maryland reporting 83% to 100% achievement toward its goals for nutrient and sediment pollution reduction, some might wonder – why aren’t we seeing more improvement in Bay water quality?
To answer that question, we must dive deeper. Buried in the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) overview are areas where pollution is actually increasing. The worst offender: stormwater. According to CBP data, between 2009 and 2023, Maryland has made 0% progress reducing stormwater pollution. But we have a chance to change that.