When the 2012 State of the Bay Report on the Chesapeake Bay was released, the Bay was graded higher than it had been two years earlier, but still had a D-plus grade.
Now, a year later, the 2012-13 Interim Progress Report from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation shows the Virginia Bay is improving, but still has more improvements in its future.
“There are signs that the Chesapeake Bay and our local rivers and streams are starting to recover,” the report reads. “Underwater grasses and oysters have expanded in some areas, and the 2012 oxygen-deprived deadzone was the smallest in decades – due, in part, to pollution-reduction efforts. But, the system is still dangerously out of balance.”
Nitrogen, phosphorus and pollution levels are a main focus for improvement; a number of sources such as fertilizer, animal waste and septic systems are to blame for the high levels. The U.S. Environmental protection Agency and Bay jurisdictions set limits for the pollutants in the Bay; by 2017 the goals should be more than half way met, with the goals being reached 100 percent by 2025.
Two-year milestones are being used to track efforts to reduce pollutants; the 2012 report was the first to analyze the effort.
Virginia was rated on-track for five of eight categories and ranked not on track for the other three.
Virginia is on-track with:
- Forest buffers: With a 2013 target goal of 20,467 acres of forest buffers, Virginia has met 42 percent of the 2012 goal for 1,839 acres.
- Stream access controls with fencing: This control prevents livestock from entering streams. The 2012 goal of 2,105 acres was surpassed: Virginia met 554 percent of the goal.
- Traditional stormwater ponds: The 2012 goal of 11,355 acres was met 134 percent.
- Urban stream restoration: The report calls for the 2025 goal for urban stream restoration to be reevaluated due to 436,049 percent of the 2012 goal of 42 feet being met. The 2013 target is 4,280 feet and 183,140 feet were met in one year.
- Wastewater treatment plants: Graded on the number of permits meeting blueprint requirements, the goal of 71 facilities for 2013 has been met 100 percent.
Virginia is not on track with:
- Grass buffers: The state is at negative 563 percent of the 2012 goal, with 36,542 acres needed to meet the 2013 goal.
- Conservation tillage: This is a farming practice where a previous year’s crop residue, such as corn stalks, is left on a field during planting a new crop to prevent runoff and soil erosion. The state has met negative 1.3 percent of the goal.The report details a lack of reporting in this category, which means the state needs to implement a program to better track the data and increase reporting.
- Modern stormwater infiltration practices: These systems slow the process of runoff into subsoil by controlling runoff from impervious surfaces such as roads and parking lots. Only 6.3 percent of this goal has been met.
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