Chesapeake Bay Restoration

The Chesapeake Bay is a 200-mile-long estuary extending from Norfolk, VA to Havre de grace Maryland. On average this bay contains about 68 trillion liters of water. This bay is the largest estuary in North America. It inhabits more than 3,000 species of plants, animals, and fish. “Since the early twentieth century, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced serious environmental degradation. Problems include large reductions in sea grass, reduced amounts of finfish and shellfish (especially oysters and crab), seasonal depletions in dissolved oxygen, and increases in sedimentation.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003) These changes are brought on by pollution (Eutrophication and Toxic Contamination), development, deforestation, and agriculture. And according

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

Types of human activity that affect the Bay's health. Humans either do not see or do not care about the pollution they send into the water. As humans build more factories close to the water or send more waste out of their homes it goes into the Bay causing many problems for the ecosystem. "waste from people's homes, stores, and offices is also treated and discharged into the Bay and its rivers. " (Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem) People do not understand the effects of pollution the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem says that people believe the water where the pollution is going will dilute the pollution and won’t be as bad. Humans do no understand the problems pollution will cause. The population of the Blue Crabs in the Bay was below average for over 10 years. From 1998 until 2009 the crab ecosystem was so unhealthy they were unable to live and reproduce.

The importance of the Chesapeake Bay is introduced. The bay is home to a large amount of seafood businesses, and many people fish the bay and its tributaries for sport. Grass beds are essential to many of the organisms living in this ecosystem, but are being destroyed by pollution. Agriculture involves more than a fourth of the bay's watershed. This makes agricultural runoff a big focus. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus causes eutrophication. These nutrients come from pesticides and sewage also. A goal was set in 1985 to cut back the percent of nutrients being put into the bay by these two sources. It is thought that redirecting the flow of soil with nutrients in them will reduce the runoff, but if the nutrients seep into groundwater they still get into the Chesapeake Bay. Farmers have ways to help reduce these nutrient levels, but it is not the cheapest way to farm, so not all farmers are doing their part to save the bay. Another contributor of runoff land development. Runoff can occur from exposed land being prepared to be developed, or because of what has been used to replace what used to naturally be.

Scene in Fig. 1.1., the Chesapeake Bay is substantial in size; at roughly 64,000 miles, it contains roughly fifty rivers and thousands of streams and creeks. It encompasses parts of 6 states, including all of Washington, DC. The Chesapeake Bay is what is known as a watershed, an area that contributes to the drainage to a water body, stream, river, lake or ocean. Rainwater that falls within the 64,000 square miles that is the Chesapeake Bay will subsequently travel through many streams and rivers, eventually making its way into the largest estuary system in the United States.

Due to the large bodies of water in the county, there is a high risk for drowning. Water quality pollutants in the county come from fertilizers, bacteria from animal feces, sediment from land that are being cleared and stream channel erosion. When the rain falls into farms, parking lots, construction sites, and lawns the water collects pollutants and they get carried to the stream and then eventually end up in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2010 10 out of 15 streams sampled were rated far to poor, E-Coli, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, Chlorophyll-A and Polychlorinated Biphenyls were noted in the samples (2013 Natural Resource Indicator Report, 2014). C & R Battery Company Inc. and the Defense General Supply Center DLA were found on the national priority list for the most hazardous waste sites identified by the Environment Protection Agency because it is a risk to human and/or the environment (Virginia Superfund Sites, 2013).

The bay has fifty major rivers and streams that drift into it. Nitrogen and Phosphorous are rapidly getting released into the bay. Most of the Nitrogen and Phosphorous comes from agriculture, air, and sewage. The excessive nitrogen and Phosphorus degrade the bay's water quality. Each year roughly three hundred pounds of polluting nitrogen gets into the Chesapeake Bay. Just like the Everglades the Chesapeake's water is in danger.

The food chain of the Chesapeake Bay is very simple. It has fish, big fish depend on small fish. The small fish feed off of oysters or sometimes zooplankton. Oysters then feed off of many small zooplankton. Once, it gets down to what the zooplankton feed off of it is mostly algae or grass. Now, since there is a major decrease in the algae population, this

Nowadays, people stay away from analyzing how their actions impact the environment producing long lasting consequences. The opportunity to act is right where anyone stands and the closest one to this area is known as the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Therefore, the amount of nutrients going into the Chesapeake Bay should be reduced since the use of fertilizers has increased dramatically over time causing water pollution and the death of many species.

New Bedford Harbor, the world’s famous whaling seaport and current number one fishing port in America, continues to be plagued by toxic pollution, which has caused it to become one of the largest EPA Superfund cleanup sites. The harbor, an urban estuary, contains sediment that is highly contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The PCB-containing industrial waste was introduced into the harbor by two manufacturing facilities from the 1940’s to the 1970’s when the EPA banned the production of PCBs. The result was contamination of six miles of the harbor bottom from the Acushnet River into Buzzards Bay; over 100,000 people currently reside within 3 miles of the contaminated area. PCBs do not break down easily in the environment and therefore pose a serious risk to human health and the environment. Thus, in 1982, the harbor was put onto the EPA’s National Priorities

The author mentioned that the level of toxic water run off to the lakes is affecting the habitat in the water. Puget Sound water is becoming more acidic and dangerous to the marine life. One solution I have is to create toxic clean programs that are available and accessible in all areas of this region. This would cost the state money but it would be benefiting to everyone including the marine life. People living here can also prevent storm water pollution by disposing of their household hazardous wastes correctly such as pesticides, garden chemicals. Also by using nontoxic dish soap at and other eco-friendly products at home littering, picking up animal waste and not

However, the plan called for a $66 million dollar cut in capital funding for environmental program and land preservation compared to last year’s budget. In doing so, water quality improvement projects will get hit the hardest from the budget cut. This truly was a shock to the supporters for the Chesapeake Bay and agriculture industry because this negates the possibility of continuing the talks on the issue of the phosphorous pollution regulation. This imposed heated issues with reports of millions of dollars at stake for Shore farmers and billions for industries located by the bay. This decision angered many environmental supporters. Allison Prost, the Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said, “This is a sad day in the long fight to make Maryland waters clean enough for swimming and fishing” (www.delmarvannow.com).

Oh America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we’re run by big time corporations and the individual voice isn’t listened to. Environmental problems worldwide have been an ever growing problem based on our ignorant attitudes towards hazardous waste and an increase of CO2 being released by big time corporations. There are only so many things the public can do to change the spatial limitations of environmental destruction, yet governments care less about the environment and more about the money they make from destroying the environment. Humans are essentially the parasites of this world. In the movie “In Our Water”, Frank Kaler emphasizes his concern for the water pollution in South Brunswick and how getting help from local, county, state, and federal governments is like asking if Rutgers can give you free tuition for being an ordinary student. Frank Kaler’s emphasis on “making it more expensive to pollute than not to pollute” is a very strong solution to maintain the environment, yet to do this would be extremely hard from a political point of view because the public would have to pay more for electricity and other utilities. When Frank Kaler went to different levels of government in seek of help, he was told that they didn’t know what the problem was and told him to go ask someone else (run around strategy), which is what happens a lot to environmentalists seeking answers from the government.

New York City’s ground and surface waters are being contaminated with heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and nutrients that have an adverse effect on human health (Bharali, 2007). However, eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) act as nature’s biofiltration system, each providing ~50 gallons of purified water per day (Merrill, 2014). New York harbor once had up to 350 square miles of oysters, producing roughly about 300,000 bushels a year (Nigro, 2011). Today, that population has substantially decreased due to the effect of bacterial contamination, over harvesting, pollution and sewage (Munoz, et al. 2010). Only a small number of oysters remain in the NYC harbor, and that damage cannot be fixed without proactive conservation

The Chesapeake’s Oyster population could clean the entire water volume of the estuary within three or four days. A process that would take about a year without the Oysters.