By james art 
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The health of the Chesapeake Bay is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Chesapeake Bay Program. The Chesapeake Bay Program released a progress report Thursday.
News 3 contacted people who were walking along the shoreline at Ocean View in Norfolk on Friday. Several people said they usually pick up trash along the water while walking. One man said he made the effort because he was concerned about pollution in the area he lives and enjoys.
But the effort to clean up the bay isn’t just left to concerned passers-by. Various groups are cleaning up the banks, and others are working to deal with pollutants in the water like nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments that come from the entire watershed.
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“There are sources from sewage treatment plants. There are sources from developed lands, from lawns, lawn fertilizers from people’s lawns, as well as from agriculture,” said Joe Wood, a Virginia senior scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Really the whole catchment contributes some level of pollution, but these buckets are quite significant.”
So why do groups express concern when they see high levels of these elements?
“They lead to unsustainable algal growth, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, and blooms really, really quickly. And then these big, massive algal blooms die and sink to the bottom. As a result, they essentially suck the oxygen out of the water. It’s really harmful to fisheries and wildlife, oysters, crabs, striped bass, a lot of the things that we care about, that we like, in the Chesapeake Bay have been degraded as a result,” Wood said.
“Sediment also causes problems here. Sediment can suffocate bottom lands. It can create poor water transparency and sunlight cannot penetrate to support underwater grasses. And underwater grasses are critical habitats for the many, many different species that live in the area. “
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Virginia and neighboring states signed a Watershed Agreement to clean up the bay. It has a deadline of 2025 and several ambitious targets. The latest EPA report shows that cleanup efforts over the decades have had mixed results.
The report shows a slight improvement over previous years, saying there is slightly more dissolved oxygen, which could lead to a smaller dead zone. But the report also shows that more than two-thirds of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers and streams will not meet clean water standards between 2020 and 2022.
“There is a clear sign that we still have challenges. There is still too much pollution still reaching the bay, and the bay is still degraded as a result of that pollution,” commented Wood.
While there is work to be done, Wood said local governments, farmers, businesses and other groups have come together to implement best management practices that have helped move the needle.
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There’s also a new assessment tool, the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Indicator, which is expected to help track recovery efforts and narrow down what’s working.
“It’s not just about how hard we try, it’s about what worked and what didn’t work. And I think this new tool that they’ve released is really going to help advance restoration initiatives across the watershed,” Wood said.
Wood added that for him, the effort is all worth it because the bay is important to Virginia’s economy, ecology and sustainability.
“Personally, I think the Chesapeake Bay is one of the most special places in the world. I think a lot of people in our region feel that way,” Wood said. “I mean, the clean Chesapeake Bay is one of the great things about Virginia, you know, and it provides a number of different benefits, whether it’s seafood, wildlife or oysters. Also healthy grasses and healthy oyster reefs are good for sustainability,” Wood said.
Despite progress, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation does not believe states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement will meet pollution reduction commitments by the 2025 deadline. A commission hopes to update the agreement by the end of the year, including new deadlines. This will be discussed by some of the region’s leaders at the Chesapeake Executive Council meeting on December 10.