U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Tom Carper (D-DE) on Friday joined the Secretary of Agriculture from Maryland and Delaware, representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency and local farmers to highlight water quality improvements in the Chesapeake Bay. These improvements are the result of partnerships forged over a decade ago between agriculture, environment and government to make changes to agriculture industry practices.
In the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2012 State of the Bay report, five of 13 indicators improved, seven stayed the same, and only one declined. Dissolved oxygen, nitrogen/phosphorus levels, and blue crabs showed the most improvement. Levels of dissolved oxygen show the greatest improvement of any indicator. The summer of 2012 saw the smallest “dead zone,” the area of the Bay where there is not enough oxygen for aquatic life to survive, since 1985. The EPA recently issued its 2011-2012 Bay Barometer report, which also shows decreasing amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment and fewer “dead zones” in the Bay.
“The Chesapeake Bay is our region’s greatest natural resource and these newly released reports clearly show that ‘best practices’ by farmers can help make a real difference in improving and sustaining the overall health the Bay,” said Senator Cardin, the chair of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “The federal-state-local partnership that has been forged over decades can drastically reduce nutrients that are contaminating the Bay.”
“These positive results in the Chesapeake Bay are evidence that we can have both a clean Chesapeake Bay and sustainable, profitable farming on the Delmarva Peninsula,” said Senator Carper. “Federal support for farm stewardship through conservation practices is a good investment that is paying off. While we should all be proud of the important work our farmers do — not only feeding the world but also changing the Chesapeake Bay for the better — these reports show that there’s still progress that can be made.”
“Farmers, being stewards of the land, are contributing to the water quality improvements we’re s
