BALTIMORE DISTRICT

The Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Water Resource and Restoration Plan watershed assessment will serve as an integrated water resource evaluation of the ecological problems and opportunities in the Chesapeake Bay region. The aim is to identify environmental restoration actions that can be implemented and to synchronize similar agency efforts taking place across the region in order to more efficiently and collaboratively address the issues at hand. 

The Corps is the lead federal agency for the study, while the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is the non-federal sponsor. 

The Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, spanning approximately 64,000 square miles, is the nation’s largest estuary. The Bay's watershed encompasses portions of the states of New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware; the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia; and the District of Columbia.  

Since 1984, the Corps has been a vital component of Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection efforts. Virtually everything we do in the Baltimore District affects the Bay. 

This watershed assessment directly supports the goals of the Chesapeake Bay protection executive order, E.O. 13508, and the plan will produce actions to assist in the implementation of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Program Agreement goals and supporting management strategies.

Significant environmental problems have developed in the watershed due to a variety of land-use activities. 

The loss of important habitat and the introduction of pollutants and contaminants have led to:

• Diminished fisheries resources
• Impaired stream health and function
• Fish-passage blockages
• Loss of critical habitat for threatened and endangered species
• Shoreline and stream-bank erosion

Other opportunities in the watershed include urban flooding mitigation, coastal storm damage reduction and the management of dredged material.

Long-term protection of the Bay is essential, as it holds great ecological, cultural, historical, economical, recreational and social value.

• Collecting and assembling relevant data on existing ecosystem conditions and ongoing restoration efforts to make maximum use of existing information;
• Analyzing data to determine where action is needed beyond what is being done by others through the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement;
• Documenting the technical analyses and recommendations for Corps' action in a watershed assessment report for submission to Congress;
• Conducting public involvement activities and public review of the report;
• and reviewing all documentation and models to ensure quality.

At the outcome of this study, at least one action will be established for each of the states, commonwealths and the District of Columbia. The plan will give priority to actions that entail minimal risk and uncertainty and can be implemented without further research in order to achieve immediate, meaningful environmental benefits to the Chesapeake Bay. There will also be an implementation strategy developed that specifies the scope, goals, and timing and extent of the proposed opportunities and anticipated benefits.

While the assessment will help determine the most effective areas for Corps involvement in the restoration efforts, the plan must serve to further the existing restoration efforts of the sponsors and participating stakeholders and serve as a pathway to future partnerships. Opportunities for Corps involvement include feasibility investigations, research projects, and work through the Continuing Authorities Program, technical assistance programs and Department of Defense and Interagency and International Support. It is important to note that the plan does not result in construction but does identify site-specific options for federal and non-federal investment.

Fiscal 2016 Chesapeake Bay comprehensive plan activities include completion of initial stakeholder coordination activities and watershed geospatial analyses that will lead to the identification of problems, needs and opportunities in the Bay watershed.

With optimal funding, the watershed assessment can be completed in fiscal 2018.

Study authorization: Resolution of the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the U.S. Senate, adopted Sept. 26, 2002; Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014, Sec 4010(b).

This study was initially funded in fiscal 2014, and the funding has been used by the Corps Baltimore and Norfolk districts to identify non-federal sponsors in the Chesapeake Bay region, complete a 905(b) reconnaissance report, and prepare a project management plan to conduct the feasibility phase. 

Click here to download the full reconnaissance report.

The roughly $3 million feasibility watershed assessment will be cost-shared 75 percent federal and 25 percent non-federal sponsor.