Chesapeake Bay watershed report card, leaves environmentalists thinking ahead for improvements

MARYLAND – Environmentalists along with Senator Ben Cardin are addressing some major improvements needed to get the next Chesapeake bay watershed report, to an A. Senator Cardin along with three experts from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science says, the report slightly improved from the previous year, but they are definitely not where they want to be.

Some of the major topics discussed at the live event included, oyster population, aquaculture in the Chesapeake bay, bay pollution and run off, and how communities are being impacted. Officials say the Chesapeake bay is one of the most important bodies of water to all of Maryland and surrounding states, and the report shows major areas that need improvement to continue healthy aquatic life, and healthy communities affected by the bay. “It just shows everyone that even in your area, there are things that we’re still trying to work on there are things that still need to be addressed it’s not just in one area. It’s a watershed wide issue that we need to come to together to address,” says Imani Black, Founder of Minorities in Aquaculture.

Meanwhile Dr. Bill Dennison, Professor and Vice President for Science Application at UMCES says  “We’re interested in applying our research and our knowledge to practical real world problems. We see the Chesapeake as one of the grand challenges. A national treasure, the largest on this hemisphere, it’s also one of the most vulnerable, one of the most impacted and one of the most iconic.”

Officials say funding for environmental preservation is needed to help improve bay infrastructure to deter run off and other pollutants affecting the bay. They say these types of improvements will hopefully get their next report card to an A.