A notice and initial request for public input on the Chesapeake Bay-wide Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) has been published in the Federal Register. The notice announces that EPA is starting the process of developing the TMDL, or “pollution diet,” for nutrients and sediment in the Bay and its tributaries. (View the notice)
Related links: Chesapeake Bay TMDL Website
(Image courtesy Jane Thomas/IAN Image Library)
From the BayBlog: A member of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Fostering Stewardship Team describes her experience helping to restore marsh grasses at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge on a less-than-perfect weather day. (Read the blog entry)
Related links: Wetlands Restoration
Thirty-two locally based restoration projects are awarded more than $2.8 million in grants to develop conservation plans, preserve valuable natural lands and implement on-the-ground restoration practices across the Chesapeake Bay’s six-state watershed.
Related links: Small Watershed Grants
Seven draft reports on protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay are now available on the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order website. The reports were developed by multiple federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense and Interior. (Read the reports)
Related links: Chesapeake Bay Executive Order Website
From the BayBlog: Two members of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Healthy Watersheds team blog about a nonprofit in Sidney Center, N.Y., that is working to monitor, restore and protect its local creek, which eventually drains to the Chesapeake Bay. (Learn more)
Related links: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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)
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.