RICHMOND – The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are the lifeblood of Virginia’s agriculture, and farmers’ efforts to improve the bay are paying off.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science released its annual report card on July 9. The Chesapeake Bay received an overall grade of C+ or 55% – the best grade since 2002. The 17thThe annual ecosystem report card shows an improvement of half a grade over the previous year, four points more than in 2022.
Of the 15 regions in the 64,000 square mile catchment area, eleven showed improved values, five even showed a significant improvement.
Virginia’s Tidewater region received the highest score. The Lower Bay region, which stretches from Norfolk to the Northern Neck, again received the highest overall score at 70% – a solid B grade.
Improvements in water quality, habitat and fisheries have resulted from public investment in upgrading wastewater systems, controlling runoff from construction projects and farmers’ efforts to reduce nutrients in waterways.
“There is still much work to be done, but this is a strong indicator of progress,” said Adam Ortiz, EPA’s regional director for the Mid-Atlantic region. “After getting off course, the partnership is now accelerating progress. In recent years, EPA has increased enforcement, accountability and investment, and it’s paying off. These efforts have helped deliver historic results in states upstream and downstream, and across all sectors, especially agriculture.”
However, the underwater areas of the Lower Eastern Shore received the lowest scores in some categories. Although these three regions represent only 7% of the Bay’s total watershed, nearly 40% of this land is used for agricultural activities such as soybean and poultry farming, which impact smaller tributaries that flow into the Bay.
According to the report, these impacts can only be addressed through continued cooperation with farming communities.
“For years, East Coast farmers complained that they were being shortchanged and needed more money for conservation,” said Martha Moore, senior vice president of government relations for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “They were right when the model was wrong. With the latest version of the model, their share of conservation funding has increased, and now they’re working hard to implement those conservation measures.”
Thousands of other producers have also taken this initiative and, with support from federal and state agencies, have done their part. Between 2002 and 2022, over 39,000 agricultural best management practices were implemented in sensitive areas, reducing nutrient and sediment runoff by approximately 23 million pounds, according to the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Waters Clean-up Plan 2023.
Last year’s General Assembly approved $249.5 million for conservation and technical assistance, with full funding earmarked for the next biennium. Moore said that means agriculture is “well on its way” to meeting the nutrient reductions mandated by the federal maximum total daily load.
