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Achieving Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: An Evaluation of Program Strategies and Implementation

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The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), a partnership among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the six watershed states, and the District of Columbia, is working at federal, state, and local levels to restore the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. In 1987, the CBP partners committed to reduce “controllable” phosphorus and nitrogen loadings to the Bay’s main stem by 40 percent by 2000. The CBP’s initial goals were modified in 1992, which led to a variety of actions directed at point and nonpoint sources of nutrient and sediment loading to the tributaries of the Bay.

Unfortunately, progress has been limited and the nutrient and sediment reduction goals have not yet been attained. During the years since the 1987 agreement, water pollution management under the Clean Water Act (CWA) shifted toward more quantitative assessments of water quality impairments. The CWA requires states and
tribes to identify and maintain lists of water bodies that do not meet water quality standards and to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that the water bodies can receive and still comply with water quality standards.

In 2000, the CBP partners signed an agreement that provided an alternative to developing a TMDL based on the expectation that actions would be taken that would result in the attainment of water quality standards within a 10-year period of time. However, a reevaluation in 2007 of nutrient and sediment target loads revealed that insufficient progress had been made toward improving water quality and meeting the intent of the 2000 agreement was unlikely. In response, the CBP and the federal government launched a new era of accountability, accompanied by more aggressive approaches to controlling nutrient and sediment pollution in the Bay watershed, including the development of a TMDL for the Bay, watershed implementation plans, and a two-year milestone strategy (described in more detail in Chapter 1).

In 2009, the EPA requested that the National Research Council (NRC) evaluate and provide advice on the CBP nutrient reduction program and strategy. The EPA specifically directed the NRC to evaluate the tracking of
best management practice implementation, tracking and accounting efforts, the two-year milestone strategy, and the states’ and federal agencies’ adaptive management strategies, and to suggest improvements to these strategies that might better attain the CBP goals (see Box S-1). The committee has not been charged to review the TMDL or the models used to develop it.

To carry out this work, the NRC appointed a multidisciplinary committee of experts to provide advice to the EPA, the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the District of Columbia, other federal agencies, and other interested parties. Our committee is indebted to many individuals for their contributions of information and resources. Specifically, we appreciate the efforts of our committee’s EPA technical liaisons—Julie Winters and Rich Batiuk—who assisted the committee with numerous requests for information and with utilizing the vast resources of agency expertise when needed. The committee also owes a debt of gratitude to the many individuals who educated our committee through their presentations at the open sessions of the committee’s meetings.

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Ketersediaan

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

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Penerbit

New York : National Academy of Sciences., 2011

Deskripsi Fisik

258 pages, 6 x 9 , PAPERBACK (2011)

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

978-0-309-21079-9

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

LINGKUNGAN HIDUP

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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