Chesapeake Bay improves to health grade to C+, first time in 20 years

The Spark

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES)’s 2023/2024 Watershed Report Card found the Chesapeake Bay has improved its health score for the first time in 20 years.

According to the report card, the Chesapeake Bay received a C+. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration Alison Prost stopped by The Spark to share her thoughts on the progress.

“Pennsylvania was a standout. The Susquehanna River basin has improved its grade and is one of the highest grades. The other one that’s a standout is the lower portion of the bay. Where the bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, because there’s a lot of mixing and different water sources coming in that lower portion.”

The Chesapeake Bay watershed includes Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The health is a reflection of the multistate watershed.

“You know someone said yesterday and I agree with that sentiment that, water knows no political boundaries. It also doesn’t know any geographical boundaries. Like we do have to work together because the water that comes in Pennsylvania does impact someone that lives in Virginia and Virginia waters impact Maryland and DC. You know, we kind of have to lean into the connectedness. I don’t think it probably helps us to point the fingers and try to take a divided approach to cleaning up, because it’s a natural system. It’s all connected.”

In the past Pennsylvania has faced harsh feedback for not doing enough to prevent pollution from flowing into the bay. In the 2023/2024 UMES report, Pennsylvania’s efforts were highlighted to block pollution from entering state waterways. Prost commented on what that says about Pennsylvania efforts.

“I think Pennsylvania has learned in. I think they have leveraged the influx of federal dollars to establish an agricultural cost share program for the first time in the state to get more practices on the ground. I think there is a recognition that, while many people in Pennsylvania may not be connected to the bay, they’re connected to their local waters and take great pride in spending time in their communities, hunting, fishing, other forms of recreation. And if they focus on and we all focus on clean water for Pennsylvania, the bay will still benefit. And so I think it was, a shift from organizations like my own in terms of how much blaming to do versus rolling up or sleeves and working together. I think we’ve just seen a different approach in the last few years, and the report card demonstrates that it’s working.”

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