State of the Bay
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) recently released their 2016 report card assessing the state of the bay. The Foundation is committed to preserving the Bay through pollution reduction, protection and rehabilitation of the habitats and encouraging sustainable fish management.
The CBF gave the Bay a C-, an improvement over 2014’s D+. CBF President William Baker is pleased with the improvement, but concedes it is “a grade that is far from acceptable.” Oxygen levels have increased though levels of toxins have stagnated withut reduction. The Maryland Blue Crab population improved though oyster numbers have decreased.
The quality of the Bay also impacts the Chesapeake Watershed, a network of above and below ground waterways that feed the water table extending from the bay into Western Virginia and Southern New York.
Harry Campbell / Will Baker
Will Baker will join Smart Talk with Harry Campbell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Pennsylvania Office. They will discuss the positives and negatives of the report, discuss the impact on the regional economy and the water safety for those living within the watershed.
The Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace Maryland./Photo by Scott LaMar/WITF.
EMAILS
– After seeing that the zebra mussel invasion has cleaned up the saint larence river I feel that the inevitable invasion of the susquehanna will be a benifit to both the river and the bay. Please explain why it’s not mentioned. – Bradlee
– could your guests please address the health of the Susquehanna and how it impacts the bay? And what steps are we taking to improve the health of the Susquehanna? – Mark
– I live in Lancaster county which still has many active farms. My question is:
- How does the ‘dirty gray” water that farms pay to have trucked out of farms get treated and where is it treated, say in the Manheim area?
- How is treated water used or returned to earth? – Jack, Lancaster
– In and around 2005 I’ve watched a PBS report on the Bay pointing out and with a video -residential,commercial and agricultural development directly on the shores of the Bay and in clear violation of a setback of natural growth to prevent “any” type of run off.
Anyone can just Google Earth and see these violations.
I’m all for the clean up of the Bay here in Pennsylvania,but what about these on site problems. – David
– Both yesterday and today it keeps being mentioned that Pennsylvania farmers are doing improvements on their own without getting credit. I believe this is probably tied to only crediting those farmers who are taking advantage of government subsidies to make these improvements. The Plain community does not believe in, nor will they take, government subsidies. They may be slow to adopt some of these measures, but for those who do, they will not be on the radar because of not accepting the subsidies. – Lisa
– While the conversation is on PA waterways and run off.
But what is the impact of global warming as well?
Has there been any benefits to the bay from any federal ,environmental laws?
And is their any controversy with the incoming president that can harm our bay? – David
