DEWEY BEACH, DE — On Friday, Environmental leaders signed a plan by the Center for the Inland Bays to keep the estuaries on Southern Delaware clean.
The 2021 Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) aims to restore the water quality and natural habitats of the Inland Bays.
The 2021 CCMP is different from the 1995 and 2012 plans. it separates water quality issues by landscape, addressing the problems that affect the agricultural *and developed lands.
"Some of our projects can cost up to $100,000, and we need money for implementation. We also really need funding for planning. The best way for us to do work is to plan ahead, where we're doing projects is where we'll get the most nutrient benefit," Michelle Schmidt, Watershed Coordinator, Center for Inland Bays, said.
Nutrient benefit refers to the agricultural landscape of the inland bays. Agriculture is the number one industry in Delaware, and since 2019, the Center for the Inland Bays has implemented a pollution control strategy which will help approximately 308 acres of land be reforested.
The Center of Inland Bays has multiple plan to preserve, protect, and enhance the bays, including a Watershed Reforestation plan, which the Center of Inland Bays says began in 2019 and is expected to be completed by 2025.
A digital copy of the CCMP can be found on https://www.inlandbays.org/wp-content/uploads/CIB-CCMP-FINAL.pdf