Pa. waterways contribute to Chesapeake Bay earning its best grade in over two decades in this year’s report card

• Unnati Akhouri
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Efforts to clean Pennsylvania’s local waterways have contributed to the best overall health of Chesapeake Bay –– the largest estuary in the United States — in over 20 years, according to a recent analysis. 

But  the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a non-profit environmental organization, says at the current pace of restoration, the bay will not meet its 2025 clean-up deadline. 

The bay got a C+, its highest grade since 2002, in an annual report card released by The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The grade for the watershed – the land drained by the bay – was a C, the same as last year. 

Alison Prost of the bay foundation said the current pace of restoration is not sufficient.

“While a C+ is an improvement, it’s clear that far too much pollution is still entering the bay,” she said. 

The bay, which spans Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia, is home to more than 18 million people and 3,600 species of plants and animals. It suffers from excess agricultural sediments, stormwater and wastewater contaminants. 

Those states, plus the federal government and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, signed the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which sets goals for reducing pollutants by 2025. Pennsylvania has to reduce its nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution by 32%, 26%, and 25%, respectively.

“Chesapeake Bay restoration is seen as a global model of sustainability. The report shows we are moving in the right direction, but we need to pick up the pace of these efforts due to climate change,” said Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, president of UMCES.

The report puts a score on the health of the bay based on aquatic conditions like the total nitrogen level, clarity of water and condition of organisms living in the bay. 

In the report, the watershed scores are given based on how the land performs on ecological, societal and economic aspects.​​ 

Out of the 15 regions in the bay, the score for 11 regions increased. The upper bay got the second highest score among the regions. The Susquehanna contributes sediments and pollutants to the upper bay.

In the past, Pennsylvania and the Environmental Protection Agency have been criticized for not developing plans to meet the watershed agreement’s goals. Last year, EPA reached a settlement to prioritize efforts in cleaning up the most polluted regions in Pennsylvania.

Adam Ortiz, regional director of EPA, said that since then, Pennsylvania has stepped up in a bipartisan way that is reflected in the improved results and relations between the states.

 “We are making progress and getting back on track,” Ortiz said. 

In a news conference, Gov. Josh Shapiro said that since 2019, Pennsylvania has invested about 1 billion dollars in bay restoration efforts. Through the Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program, $154 million has been distributed to 700-plus farmer-led projects to clean streams. 

He said the efforts have protected 3,500 acres along the watershed and planted 834 miles of buffers – more than half the buffers planted in the entire bay – along rivers and streams.  

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Jill Whitcomb said that has helped reduce erosion and pollutant runoff, and restore over 100 miles of streams. Lancaster County alone aims to restore 350 miles of impaired streams in the coming years, officials said. 

Prost acknowledges that there has been reduced nutrient pollution and sewage going into waterways, but added, ”sediment from other sources, specifically urban stormwater runoff and agriculture, remain areas for improvement.”

Ortiz agreed that these “non-point” sources are the toughest challenge. Of the 31 goals listed in the agreement, the bay has achieved 18. Ortiz said investments in the non-point sources will be key to helping the bay continue to improve.