This post was adapted from the Bay Backpack blog.
Get involved in National Environmental Education Week, which runs from April 11th to the 17th. The theme this year is Be Water and Energy Wise. Water and energy conservation are a very important part of the Chesapeake restoration effort. As more and more people move into the Chesapeake region, our need for electricity and water increases while the supply remains about the same. So how can we address the needs of a growing population? The answer is simple: through CONSERVING our resources.
So how can YOUR school conserve during National Environmental Education Week?
Hold a School Water Audit
School water audits are a great way to get the entire school involved in a project for EE Week. Audits are fun, hands-on and educational. During a water audit your students will examine the ways they use water everyday and then discuss ways they can conserve water by using it more efficiently. Look through the Water Audit Teacher’s Guide to find out how to get your school involved before, during and after your water audit.
Then use the Water Audit Lesson to actually conduct an audit at your school. In this lesson students will examine the school’s water use over the past year, use flow meters to determine how much water sinks and toilets use and finally compare water use between classrooms. Once your school completes its water audit you can share your data online with classrooms around the country!
Test the Water in Your Creek
Testing the quality of the water in your local creek or river is a great way to engage students in hands-on learning about our water resources. By purchasing a simple water testing kit (about $30) you can test your stream for the following:
Using the water testing kit students can record observations about the health of their local stream. With data in hand, you can examine the land around the stream to hypothesize why the stream is healthy or polluted. Your class map pipes from stormdrains and development in the area to try to determine the source of your water pollution. Using this information students can then suggest ways to redesign development to minimize the impact on our water resources.
So get involved and BE WATER WISE this week!
The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) has released the 2009 Bay Barometer, which shows that the Bay continues to be degraded and illustrates a clear need to continue to accelerate restoration efforts across the region. The science behind the Bay Barometer indicates that the Bay remains in poor condition, receiving an overall average health score of 45 percent, with 100 percent representing a fully restored ecosystem. It also states that the CBP partnership has implemented 64 percent of the needed actions to reduce pollution, restore habitats, manage fisheries, protect watersheds and foster stewardship.
At a more detailed level, the Bay Barometer presents some slight improvements for specific health indicators such as water clarity, deep-water habitat, blue crabs and bay grasses. While these upticks are important, they must be considered in the context of the Bay health overall. Water quality, for example, is only at 24 percent of its goals. The Bay’s poor condition is not surprising given that it will take time for the Bay’s water quality and living resources to respond to ongoing restoration efforts. Bay Barometer also shows that much more progress is needed to reduce nonpoint source pollution from agricultural, suburban and urban runoff.
The CBP’s Bay Barometer: A Health and Restoration Assessment of the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed in 2009 is the science-based annual review of the progress of the CBP partners toward achieving Bay health goals and implementing the needed restoration measures to fully restore the Bay ecosystem. It provides overall scores for both health and restoration efforts as well as scores for individual indicators of the Bay’s condition. In addition to the 12-page Bay Barometer executive summary, a full set of data, charts, graphs and videos about each indicator can be found in our online Bay Barometer section.
Some statistics on the health of the Bay in 2009 include:
Restoration highlights from 2009 included:
Partner restoration highlights were included in the Bay Barometer this year, summarizing efforts by the states, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Bay Barometer also includes a “What You Can Do” section, giving suggestions to the watershed’s nearly 17 million residents for how they can do their part to aid in Bay restoration, such as not fertilizing lawns, picking up after pets, planting native trees and shrubs, and volunteering with local watershed groups.
Because of the influence of the Bay watershed’s 17 million residents, Bay Barometer includes a section that shows seven simple actions people can take to help restore the Bay and its local waterways:
For more information about the data included in Bay Barometer, view a PDF of the full report or see additional details on each indicator in our Bay Barometer section.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a draft permit to the District of Columbia requiring the District to continue improving its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program for controlling stormwater runoff.
“This permit can serve as a model to other municipalities for preventing runoff from washing harmful pollutants into streams and rivers in the Bay watershed,” said Shawn M. Garvin, the EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator.
Medium and large MS4s such as the District’s are required by federal law to have permits covering their discharges. The permit announced today requires the District to take progressive steps that were not required by the old permit issued in 2004, including:
The new permit conditions are necessary because large portions of impervious surfaces such as roads, rooftops and parking lots in the District channel stormwater directly into local streams and rivers. Improperly managed stormwater runoff can damage streams, cause significant erosion and carry excessive pollutants downstream and into the Chesapeake Bay.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the permit through June 4, 2010 and expects to finalize the permit within three months of the close of public review.
Welcome to the latest installment of the BayBlog Question of the Week! Each week, we're taking a question submitted on the Chesapeake Bay Program website, or a frequently asked question, and answering it here for all to read.
This week's question is one that is probably on a lot of people's minds right about now since it is one of the most anticipated events in the Chesapeake Bay watershed every year:
When does the Maryland blue crab harvest season begin? What are the regulations for this year's harvest?
When people think of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, they inevitably think about blue crabs. As the weather turns warmer, you can begin to taste the Old Bay. Whether you enjoy going crabbing, ordering crabcakes or sitting at a summer crab feast picking them for hours on end, the blue crab is undeniably a favorite and definitive species in the Chesapeake Bay. In fact, it is estimated that one-third of the nation's blue crabs come from the Chesapeake Bay.
Luckily for those crab-lovers out there, the time is here. Maryland's blue crab harvest officially began yesterday, April 1, and will continue until Dec. 15.
The regulations for blue crab harvest vary based on whether you are crabbing for commercial or recreational purposes. Check the information below for minimum size requirements and time regulations.
Crabbing Hours
Commercial Crabbing Soft Shell Size Minimum
Commercial Crabbing Hard Shell Size Minimum
Recreational Crabbing Soft Shell Size Minimum
Recreational Crabbing Hard Shell Size Minimum
Check the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service webpage for more specific and localized information about the Maryland crabbing season. It is important to follow all regulations for harvest in order to sustain the health of the blue crab fishery in the Chesapeake Bay, but be sure get out there and enjoy the Bay this spring and summer!
Do you have a question about the Chesapeake Bay? Ask us and we might choose your question for the next Question of the Week! You can also ask us a question via Twitter by sending a reply to @chesbayprogram! Be sure to follow us there for all the latest in Bay news and events!
