Protecting Watersheds
The Chesapeake Bay reaches far beyond its shorelines and tidal marshes. The Bay watershed stretches across more than 64,000 square miles, encompassing parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and the entire District of Columbia. The Chesapeake's land-to-water ratio (14:1) is the largest of any coastal body of water in the world. This is why our actions on the land have such a significant influence on the Bay's water quality.
With this in mind, Bay Program partners are working throughout the watershed to preserve land, restore forested stream buffers and help communities plan for growth. Restoration activities that take place upstream of the Bay will benefit both the Chesapeake and its many local waterways and diverse communities.
Bay Program partners work with local governments, community groups and watershed organizations to develop and implement locally supported plans that protect and restore natural resources and enhance quality of life.
The amount of land in the watershed is a finite resource. Land preservation is an important tool to keep high priority natural and resource lands in the watershed from being developed.
Riparian, or streamside, forest buffers provide habitat for wildlife, stabilize stream banks from erosion, filter pollution and keep river waters cool, an important factor for many fish.