The State of the Chesapeake Bay_2002
- Published:
- July 1, 2002
- Originator:
- Chesapeake Bay Program
- EPA Number:
- EPA 903-R-02-002
For nearly 20 years the Bay Program partners have sought to protect and restore this unparalled resource. The second Chesapeake Bay Agreement, adopted in 1987, established a vision for the Bay's restoration. Its principal goals included reductions of harmful nutrients. In 1992 the Bay Program moved upstream with strategies for attacking nutrients at their sources in the Bay's tributaries. The Chesapeake Executive Council-composed of the governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the mayor of Washington, D.C.;the EPA administrator; and the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commissiion-signed five directives in 1993 that addressed key areas for action. These areas included the tributaries, toxics, underwater grasses, fish passages and agricultural nonpoint source pollution. In 1994, the partners outlines initiatives to restore aquatic, riparian and upland habitats, reduce nutrients in the Bay's tributaries and reduce toxics, emphasing the prevention of pollution.