Chesapeake Bay
•Largest US estuary
Restore
it!
•Six states + DC
•64,000 mi2
•10,000 miles of
shoreline
•Home to 17+ million
http://www.baygateways.net/images/regionmaps/watershed.gif
Chesapeake Bay
TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load
•EPA puts Bay on a ‘pollution diet’
•http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/
•TMDL: a regulatory tool of the federal
Clean Water Act
•Caps on: in millions lbs/year
•Nitrogen
•Phosphorus
•Sediment
•Goal:
to achieve state clean water
standards for dissolved
oxygen, water clarity, Bay
grasses and algae
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/umcesreportcard09.jpg
Excess nutrients low or
no Dissolved Oxygen in
summer
 N and P help algae grow
 When algae die and sink to
the bottom, bacteria feed on
it, using up all the DO
 DEAD ZONES anoxia
BAY WATERSHED
60% of Virginia Drains into the Bay
Cities, parking lots, roads,
neighborhoods etc…
www.epa.gov
Major Pollutants
Nutrients:
 Nitrogen & Phosphorus
 Fertilizer, animal manure,
sewage treatment,
airborne
 Stormwater
Sediment:
 Agriculture
 Urban suburban runoff
 Construction sites
Stormwater runoff: N, P & Sediment
N
N
P
N
P
P
For Bay TMDL Each state/DC develops Watershed Implementation Plans
(WIPs) to reduce nutrient & sediment loads.
Phase I WIPs allocate pollutant loads for states by river basin (Dec. 2010)
Phase II WIPs allocate pollutant loads on a local (county) scale (39 VA watershed segments)
– currently being done by state committee (draft due Dec. 2011)
Phase III WIPs provide additional detail of restoration actions beyond 2017
•60% reduction by 2017
•100% reduction by 2025
Set 2 year milestones for reducing loads
Accountability to EPA (hit goals or lose Federal funds!)
Jane Thomas http://ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary
Bay Health is defined as progress of 6 indicators towards
established scientifically derived ecological goals.
Example Index:
Water clarity
• a measure of how much light
penetrates through the water
column.
• dependent upon the amount of
particles (e.g. suspended sediment
and plankton) and colored organic
matter present.
• Water clarity plays an important role
in determining bay grasses and
phytoplankton distribution and
abundance.
• For other indices see:
•
http://www.eco-heck.org/reportcard/chesapeake/2010/indicators/
This map shows how often water clarity was above or below threshold
concentrations from Mar -to Nov 2010. Good water quality is
characterized by having water clarity that is frequently above the threshold
(shades of green), while poor water quality tends to have water clarity that
is frequently below the threshold (shades of orange and red).

Why did it decline from 2009???
Progress?
Students can track what’s happening with the Bay TMDL…….
http://stat.chesapeakebay.net/
State Updates

Wastewater Treatment Plants


90% cleaned up to point where they are at, or almost at, the
limits of technology….which means that treatment plant
effluent pollutant concentrations really can’t be lowered
much further!
Turf/Landscape/Golf
by 2017, they expect 65% of 2.5 million acres of maintained
urban landscape to be reporting pounds of N/sq ft2
Currently only 1% (2200 acres ) Voluntary reporting
 95% reporting by 2025. Phosphorus only applied based
on soil test result, new training developed for applicators


Farming
All crops have allowable N & P amounts, but there is little
enforcement. P index calculated (how close to stream, soil
permeability, nutrients in soil already…).
 Shenandoah Valley has Poultry Litter Transport Incentive
Program Get litter out of Bay watershed!

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/stormwater_management/nmlitter.shtml
BMP Cost Share Program – if funds received, nutrient mgmt
plan must be filed
 What do farmers do with excess manure if soil is already
saturated with phosphorus?????? ??

State agencies guide local jurisdictions
PWC has a municipal stormwater permit (MS4) will allows certain levels of nutrients,
sediment etc.. to be washed into local streams, Occoquan River and onto the
Potomac River.
Who pays for clean-up efforts ? PWC Stormwater Fee: – monthly fee based on
the total impervious area of a typical SFH detached in the County.
More Funding is Needed for TMDL Compliance
VA Bay Legislation
General Assembly convened in January, new bills introduced by No. VA
senators & delegates in response to Bay nutrient issues
New stormwater rules for builders:
includes wider set backs from
streams, more control of sediment
during construction….more $$$
New rules for lawn care providers and
homeowners. Zero phosphate
fertilizers (unless establishing new
lawn), no fertilizer used for snow
melting
Moving Forward…
A difference downstream begins in your schoolyard or neighborhood upstream
.
What can you do to help?
GET KIDS INVOLVED IN STEWARDSHIP PROJECTS
Keep stormwater on site & out of streams!
•Keep leaves & grass clippings
away from storm drains
•Use mulching mowers to return
grass clippings and their nutrients
to the lawn
•Use compost instead of fertilizer
•Decrease lawn size, add native
plants
•Plant trees
•Monitor local streams
•Compacted soil can’t absorb water,
•Plants in compacted soil have
reduced absorption of nutrients
•Keep soil aerated for healthy
plants, more water in root zone
•Car waste – car fluids, exhaust and
cleaning products contain nutrients
•Maintain vehicles (and yard
equipment) to prevent leaks &
minimize emissions
•Thoroughly clean up spills
•Wash vehicles on the lawn or at a
car wash with environmentally
friendly products
•Always pick up animal poop.
•A Dog produces 275lbs of waste a
year, full of nutrients & bacteria
•Don’t flush it
•1 Goose produces 1lb of N a year