Clock is Ticking on Chesapeake Bay

The following was first published in the Baltimore Sun.

We have a national treasure right in our backyard. While we have made great progress in improving the health of the rivers and streams feeding the Chesapeake Bay, the ultimate success of the restoration effort for the nation’s largest estuary is at risk. As highlighted in the recent article “2025 deadline for Chesapeake Bay cleanup could be pushed back, EPA says” (Oct. 5), the data is clear that the federal-state cleanup plan of the bay will not meet its cleanup goals by the 2025 deadline.

To date, the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council has not discussed a plan to ensure all of our cleanup goals are achieved by the set deadline. Initial conversations on the issue have floundered with suggestions to wait until the 2025 deadline passes before discussing new commitments. But there is no time to waste. The executive council must acknowledge we are not on track to meet our 2025 goals and recommit to new goals to restore our rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay. Crucially, these goals must have a specified timeline that addresses the remaining pollution reductions, ensures accountability and centers people in the cleanup.

Far too much pollution still reaches our waterways to the detriment of communities, wildlife and other living resources that depend on it. We feel the effects of pollution every day: Too many rivers and shorelines are unsafe for swimming and fish consumption, too many people face hazards to their health, and too many fish and wildlife struggle to survive.

We need to accelerate our efforts to realize clean water for the 18 million people whose local waterways feed the bay. Starting at their meeting Tuesday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Chesapeake Executive Council must launch the next chapter of the bay’s cleanup effort. The many benefits of clean water are too important to delay action. With the council’s leadership, we can leave a legacy of clean water to future generations and effectively steward a national treasure.

Kristin Reilly is the Director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition