{"id":2908,"date":"2019-04-12T15:11:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T19:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2019-04-12T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T19:17:06","slug":"maryland-releases-draft-chesapeake-bay-restoration-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/2019\/04\/12\/maryland-releases-draft-chesapeake-bay-restoration-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland releases draft Chesapeake Bay restoration plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARYLAND RELEASES DRAFT CHESAPEAKE BAY RESTORATION PLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Public invited to comment on draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan<\/em><\/p>\n

BALTIMORE (April 12, 2019) \u2013 A draft plan for continued progress in restoring Maryland\u2019s portion of the Chesapeake Bay is now available for public review and comment.<\/p>\n

The draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan represents the next step in Maryland meeting its commitments as part of a multi-state bay restoration effort. Maryland developed the draft plan to meet targets by 2025 using a locally driven, stakeholder process to identify achievable pollution reduction strategies that balance responsibilities across wastewater treatment plants, urban stormwater runoff, septic systems and farms.<\/p>\n

This draft plan is the first to factor in the potential impacts of climate change in addition to a first-ever restoration plan specifically for the effects of the Conowingo Dam on water quality in the lower Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.<\/p>\n

Maryland continues to value a collaborative process, with several regional meetings and a webinar scheduled this spring to guide local governments and other stakeholders through the process. All comments received by June 7, 2019, will be considered. Maryland\u2019s final plan is due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chesapeake Bay is a top priority and this comprehensive plan keeps us on track to meet our restoration goals and show continued regional and national leadership,\u201d said Governor Larry Hogan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governor\u2019s Chesapeake Bay Cabinet is committed to ensuring this locally driven, science-based plan benefits from the comments and recommendations from local governments and the public,\u201d said Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles.<\/p>\n

The Bay \u201cTMDL\u201d and \u201cWIP\u201ds<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2010, EPA established the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, or \u201cTMDL,\u201d to reduce the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment polluting the bay and its tributaries. This \u201cpollution diet\u201d is the scientific estimate of the maximum amount of these pollutants the bay can receive to remain healthy and meet water quality standards.<\/p>\n

Maryland, the other five bay watershed states, and Washington, D.C., were required to develop three phases of Watershed Implementation Plans, or \u201cWIPs\u201d, with roadmaps to reduce water pollution by the required amounts. As part of Maryland\u2019s Phase II plan counties across the state developed pollution reduction plans. The draft Phase III plan \u2013 developed by the Maryland departments of the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Planning in collaboration with the others that make up the Governor\u2019s Chesapeake Bay Cabinet \u2013 builds on that previous work. Each new plan incorporates improved data, improved understanding of natural systems and enhanced modeling tools to better determine pollution rates.<\/p>\n

Maryland\u2019s draft Phase III plan Executive Summary states: \u201cHaving reached the mid-point between development of the 2010 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which establishes current Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction goals and the ultimate 2025 restoration deadline, the good news is that healthy signs of recovery are being seen in both water quality and living resources like bay grasses and blue crabs. This third phase of Maryland\u2019s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) identifies the strategies, opportunities, and challenges in not only meeting the 2025 Chesapeake Bay Restoration targets, but also sustaining restoration into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public participation is key<\/strong><\/p>\n

MDE, in conjunction with the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland\u2019s Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Eco\u200blogy, conducted 11 regional workshops in 2018 to inform participants about the WIP process and obtain feedback. Three information sessions and one webinar to be held this spring will feature an overview of the draft Phase III WIP and provide the opportunity to ask questions of state agency representatives. There is no cost to participate in the sessions and webinar. They are sponsored by the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology and funded by the Town Creek Foundation.<\/p>\n

For information on the meetings and webinar, including links to register, and for information on submitting formal comments go to<\/p>\n

mde.maryland.gov\/programs\/Water\/TMDL\/TMDLImplementation\/Pages\/Phase3WIP_PublicParticipation.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

To view the draft Phase III WIP, please visit<\/p>\n

mde.maryland.gov\/programs\/Water\/TMDL\/TMDLImplementation\/Pages\/Phase3WIP.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since taking office, Governor Hogan has invested a record $5 billion toward Chesapeake Bay restoration. These efforts are making a difference: the Chesapeake Bay is the healthiest it has been in recorded history. Governor Hogan has led the charge against the federal administration\u2019s proposed cuts to Chesapeake Bay funding; in a letter to Congress<\/a>, the governor even pushed for an increase in bay funding.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARYLAND RELEASES DRAFT CHESAPEAKE BAY RESTORATION PLAN Public invited to comment on draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan BALTIMORE (April 12, 2019) \u2013 A draft plan for continued progress in restoring Maryland\u2019s portion of the Chesapeake Bay is now available for public review and comment. The draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan represents the next  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,25,5,79,14,1],"tags":[85,28,30,98,94],"class_list":["post-2908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bay-restoration","category-chesapeake-bay","category-climate-change-2","category-conowingo-dam","category-press-release","category-uncategorized","tag-chesapeake-bay","tag-clean-water","tag-climate-change","tag-conowingo-dam","tag-secretary-ben-grumbles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2908"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2912,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2908\/revisions\/2912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}