Feds to Release Plan to Clean Up Chesapeake Bay
Today, officials from EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture will be releasing reports with a series of recommendations to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The reports
Feds to Release Plan to Clean Up Chesapeake Bay
Today, officials from EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture will be releasing reports with a series of recommendations to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The reports are called for under an Executive Order, signed by the President in May, that recognized the Chesapeake Bay as a national treasure and called for federal leadership in protecting our nation's largest estuary.
Pollution in the Bay comes from a variety of sources. Runoff from lawns and parking lots, agricultural crop production and large-scale animal feedlots, and sewage all add dangerous levels of nutrient and pathogen pollution to our waters. These anticipated Executive Order reports will include recommendations that touch on all of the sources of Bay pollution. NRDC has been particularly focused on recommendations to improve agricultural practices and reduce urban and stormwater runoff.
When these recommendations come out later today, we'll especially be looking for a few big things:
- With 22 percent of the watershed in agricultural production, improved agricultural crop practices have a tremendous impact on 