Mid-season monitoring of underwater bay grasses in Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay is showing beds of eelgrass and widgeon grass that are similar to or slightly denser and larger than 2008, reflecting continued recovery from a large-scale eelgrass die-off in 2005, according to updates from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. (Learn more)
Related links: Underwater Bay grasses (SAV)
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program will provide $3.5 million in grants to support existing environmental education programs, foster the growth of new programs, and encourage the development of partnerships among environmental education programs throughout the watershed. (Learn more)
Related links: Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET)
Virginia has received $80.2 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to upgrade and improve wastewater treatment facilities throughout the state, which will help lessen a major source of nutrient pollution to the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers. (Learn more)
Related links: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act | Wastewater Treatment
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has officially ended a five-year study of oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. The final decision confirms that the Army Corps, Maryland and Virginia will not introduce a non-native, Asian oyster and instead focus solely on native oyster restoration. (Learn more)
Related links: Final Oyster Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Website for the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order will be used to distribute news, events, documents and other information from the various federal agencies working on a new strategy to advance Bay cleanup. (Learn more)
Related links: Chesapeake Bay Executive Order Website
Give the EPA your thoughts on the future of its national water enforcement program between now and Aug. 28. (Learn more)
Related links: Online Discussion Forum
On Monday, Aug. 3, the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee held its second hearing on reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Program, listed in section 117 of the federal Clean Water Act. (Learn more)
Related links: Hearing Testimony and Webcast
(Image courtesy Ben Longstaff/IAN Image Library)
An office building in Jessup, Md., is working to protect the Chesapeake Bay by capturing and treating polluted runoff on its site, rather than allowing it to run off into a nearby stream.
Anne Arundel County Watershed Stewards Academy trains residents to work in their communities to reduce the pollution that flows into storm drains, local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
Visit the Annapolis Maritime Museum - dedicated to preserving and commemorating the maritime heritage of Annapolis and the neighboring waters of the Chesapeake Bay - and schedule a trip to Thomas Point Light.
