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Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Division |
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Environmental Programs |
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West Virginia Department of Agriculture |
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Chesapeake Bay Program
Background The Chesapeake Bay is North America’s largest and most biologically diverse estuary and, for more than 300 years, has sustained the region’s economy and defined its traditions and culture. In the mid-20th century, concerned citizens began to take notice of troubling signs: diseases were killing oysters in the Bay and water quality started declining. In the 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, citizens formed watershed groups and officials banned certain pesticides and toxic chemicals. In 1983, the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, representing the federal government, agreed to establish the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay’s extraordinarily productive ecosystem. West Virginia Governor Bob Wise officially signed the Chesapeake Bay Program Water Quality Initiative Memorandum of Understanding on June 18, 2002, making West Virginia, along with New York and Delaware, a Headwaters Partner in the Chesapeake Bay Program. By signing the agreement, West Virginia demonstrated its intent to significantly improve water quality by establishing and implementing strategies to meet goals and objectives to reduce nutrient and sediment loads. Further information about the Chesapeake Bay Program is available on the Chesapeake Bay Program's website.
WVDA’s Involvement In West Virginia, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), West Virginia Conservation Agency (WVCA), and West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) have partnered together on the Chesapeake Bay Program Water Quality Initiative. Since West Virginia joined the initiative in 2002 as a headwater state, WVDA’s Environmental Programs staff has spent a considerable amount of time in Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts. It was decided that we would take an active role in many of the committee, subcommittee, and workgroup meetings in order to have a seat at the table, and to have input concerning agricultural practices in West Virginia.
Staff has been involved in the West Virginia Tributary Strategy Implementation Committee which began its work in April 2003. This group is challenged with implementing a tributary strategy with nutrient and sediment reduction goals that will meet the cap load allocations set forth by the Chesapeake Bay Program. Load reductions of 33% for nitrogen, 35% for phosphorus, and 6% for sediment were established for West Virginia to achieve between 2002 and 2010. The West Virginia Tributary Strategy includes an “input deck,” which is a list of various Best Management Practices (BMPs) that, once put in place, will meet the cap load allocations for the state. The process to reach this point has taken a lot of time and effort by multiple agencies and stakeholders. The proposed cost for the implementation of these efforts is $873,546,759 in West Virginia. Stakeholders are now involved in an aggressive implementation procedure to meet the goals set forth in the document. Part of this effort includes an educational campaign to encourage participation in cost share programs/BMP implementation that directly and indirectly affects both West Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay.
West Virginia is involved in the Water Quality Steering Committee (WQSC) to further define the role West Virginia will play as we head toward the 2010 TMDL. |
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This page last modified on September 19, 2006 © WVDA 2006 |
