W2 PM Chesapeake Bay Restoration (Part 2)
Wednesday, 16 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 2

(BEA-1122-325172) Water Quality Protection and Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay: A Maryland Perspective.

Beaman , J¹, Eskin, R¹, ¹ Maryland Department of the Environment

ABSTRACT- The overarching water quality goal of the Chesapeake 2000 ("C2K") Agreement is to achieve and maintain the water quality necessary to support the aquatic living resources of the Bay and its tributaries and to protect human health. To that end, Maryland and the other Bay jurisdictions and watershed states embarked on a process to, "correct the nutrient- and sediment-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to remove the Bay and the tidal portions of its tributaries from the list of impaired waters under the Clean Water Act by 2010". The major tasks associated with this goal included defining the water quality conditions necessary to protect aquatic living resources, assigning load reductions for nitrogen and phosphorus to each major tributary, and adopting new or revised water quality standards consistent with the defined water quality conditions. The new standards will now be used as the basis for removing the Bay and its tidal rivers from the list of impaired waters. The presentation will address Maryland's perspective on dealing with the scientific and management complexities of developing and promulgating Chesapeake Bay water quality standards and attainment procedures into state water quality standards and how they have become the drivers for meeting the goals and commitments within the Chesapeake 2000 agreement.

Key words: Chesapeake Bay, Water Quality, Maryland