ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It's not a big improvement but every little step counts. The Chesapeake Bay Program announced Monday that 29.8 percent of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries met water quality standards for the 2020-2022 assessment period. That is a small improvement over the 28.1 percent recorded during 2019-2021.
Despite the boost, water quality still isn't where it needs to be for it to be considered a healthy Bay ecosystem.
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, the recent improvement is due to higher dissolved oxygen levels, which cut down the Bay’s dead zone. However, water clarity is still rated as poor, and a lack of underwater grass acreage is hindering it.
In order to keep things going in the right direction for the bay it's going to take a reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution.
River monitoring data from 2022 showed decreases in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment compared to the previous year. However, overall trends reveal mixed results, with some rivers showing improvement and others getting worse. The U.S. Geological Survey will continue to monitor and track these changes.
Experts continue emphasizing collaborative efforts to address excess nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment—the primary pollutants fueling algae blooms and harming Bay habitats. Martha Shimkin, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office says, “While some areas of the watershed are showing recent gains in water quality, others are displaying less than ideal conditions. As the partnership is hard at work in determining the next phase of Bay restoration beyond 2025, tidal and non-tidal water quality monitoring and modeling will continue to serve as a foundation for our conservation- and restoration-driven work.”