The Chesapeake Bay Program has developed a series of commitments over its history to guide its Bay restoration and protection efforts. These science-based goals help Bay Program partners track critical health measures and implementation of restoration activities. Goals are updated each year to reflect the previous year’s health status and restoration efforts.
Chesapeake Bay health and restoration goals have been formed through a series of commitments over the Bay Program’s history. The 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement set the first numeric goals to reduce pollution and restore the Bay ecosystem. At that time, agreeing to numeric goals with specific deadlines was unprecedented. The practice has since become a hallmark of the Bay Program.
In 2000, Bay Program partners signed Chesapeake 2000, a comprehensive agreement that set a clear vision and strategy to guide restoration efforts through 2010. Chesapeake 2000 established 102 goals to reduce pollution, restore habitats, protect living resources, promote sound land use practices and engage the public in Bay restoration.
By 2009, it was clear that Bay Program partners needed to dramatically accelerate the pace of Bay restoration. That year, the Executive Council decided to focus on short-term restoration goals called milestones.
In addition to pursuing long-term deadlines like in past agreements, the seven Bay jurisdictions would set and meet goals every two years. By achieving their two-year milestones, the jurisdictions will put in place all restoration measures necessary for a restored Bay no later than 2025.
In 2010, the EPA established the landmark Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The Chesapeake Bay TMDL is a federal “pollution diet” that sets limits on the amount of nutrients and sediment that can enter the Bay and its tidal rivers to meet water quality goals.
Each of the seven Bay jurisdictions is creating a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) that spells out detailed, specific steps the jurisdiction will take to meet these pollution reductions by 2025. The WIPs will guide local and state Bay restoration efforts through the next decade and beyond. The Bay jurisdictions will use their two-year milestones to track and assess progress toward completing the restoration actions in their WIPs.
