BALTIMORE — Governor Wes Moore and the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council approved a revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement on Tuesday at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, setting a new 2040 deadline for states to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution to the bay.
Representatives from all six Chesapeake Bay watershed states—Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and New York—as well as the EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and Washington, D.C., attended the meeting.
Initially, the deadline for Maryland and other watershed states to reach the reduction goal was set for 2025, but the revised agreement establishes broader environmental objectives.
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In addition to clean water, officials want to maintain thriving habitats, fisheries, and wildlife in the bay, including healthy landscapes and engaged communities.
Just last October, Baltimore celebrated the largest oyster restoration in decades in the Bay. The oyster population in the Bay tripled in the last 20 years thanks to the Oyster Recovery Partnership planting 13 billion oysters back into the bay and restoring almost 3,000 acres of oyster reefs.
According to officials, the bay generates $3.2 billion and 58,000 jobs a year in tourism and supports 3,300 jobs in Maryland's seafood industry that garners $600 million annually.
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"Today we made a commitment to the Chesapeake Bay and a commitment to the people of Maryland and our neighboring states," said Gov. Moore. "The revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement will make our rivers and streams cleaner. It will bolster Maryland's seafood, tourism, and recreational businesses. Most importantly, it will ensure we protect the precious heirloom that is the Chesapeake Bay so we can pass it down to the next generations in a better condition than we received it."
The 2040 deadline includes a 2033 midpoint check-in that officials say will "align with 50 years of the partnership's work to restore the bay."
Maryland has invested $15.9 billion in bay restoration since 2000, with the state surpassing multiple goals initially set in the 2014 agreement.
"The partners in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement have put together goals that are ambitious but also achievable," said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. "Maryland fought to strengthen this agreement and we're proud of what the partners signed onto today. The agreement ensures that this important partnership continues to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watershed for the next 15 years."
