THE CHESAPEAKE BAY:

What Ails It and What is Being Done About It

Cosmos Club

September 24, 2015

• Largest estuary in the country

• 64,000-square-mile watershed

• 11,684 miles of shoreline

• 17 million people and growing

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

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Nutrients• Primarily nitrogen and phosphorus• Promote growth of algae

– Decaying algae deplete dissolved oxygen, creating “dead zones” and killing marine life

– Algae block sunlight, killing sub-aquatic vegetation (“SAV”)

Fish Kills4

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• Block sunlight • Smother benthic organisms

Sediments

Main Sources of Pollution to the Bay

Stormwater

Industrial and

Municipal

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What Are We Doing?

What Are We Doing?To clean up the Bay we need to change behavior:

Of developers Of farmers and CAFO operators Of wastewater treatment operators Of municipalities Of the rest of us

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The Pollution Diet (EPA 2010)

 

Baywide Caps (per year) Reduction from 2009 Nitrogen 185M lbs 25% Phosphorus 12.5M lbs 24% Sediment 5.5B lbs 20% Achieve 60% by 2017Achieve 100% by 2025

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MilestonesGoal is to have all measures necessary to

meet water quality standards in place by 2025

WIPs contain schedules of when each step is to be accomplished

Biannual reports to EPA

Mid-point assessment in 2017

Targeting the Main Sources

Farm Runoff, esp. factory farms

Contaminated Stormwater

Wastewater Treatment Plants

Septic Systems

Others

Discharges from “point sources”

(Clean Water Act Regulates)

Discharges from “non-point sources”

(Clean Water Act Does Not

Regulate)

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Many PlayersState, County and Local

Governments

NGOs and Choose Clean Water Coalition

Riverkeepers

Individual citizens

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Big or Small, They All Need Lawyers

Federal and State Laws and Regulations; Permit Requirements; Zoning Codes; Ordinances; Guidelines; Contracts, and more . . . .

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Chesapeake Legal Alliance“Lawyers for the Bay”

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We are UniqueCLA is the only organization whose only mission is to provide pro bono legal services on cases relating to the restoration or protection of the

Bay or its watershed

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CLA ResourcesPool of 160 volunteer lawyers and growing

Annapolis Office: 4 people

Board of Directors

In 2014 we handled 85 cases

Annual budget of $250k produces nearly $2 million worth of legal services

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The Cases We HandleAgriculture and Contaminated Stormwater

Illegal discharges - Permit violations

TMDL Implementation

Local zoning and Land use

Programmatic solutions, e.g., incentives for farmers to reduce runoff

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Plans for GrowthDemand exceeds supply

Additional staff attorney needed

Need to serve broader area than MD,VA, DC and a few PA

Big need for help in PA; some in W.Va., Del and NY

Training and Education – big demand

Questions and Discussion