Save the Bay News: Restoration at a Crossroads, a West Virginia Success Story, and What Happens to Fish in a Dead Zone

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Fencing and native tree seedlings run beside a stream at the start of Lost River in West Virginia.

Lisa Caruso/CBF Staff

This month we look at the importance of recommitting to the Bay’s restoration and the consequences for current and future efforts

Chesapeake Bay restoration is quicky approaching a critical moment in the 40-year effort: the 2025 deadline for reducing pollution that the six watershed states, the District of Columbia, and federal partners have been working toward since 2010. It is now clear that states will miss the deadline. So what comes next? In our recent report, we explain what the partnership is and how it drives local-led restoration successes across the watershed—from rebuilding oyster reefs in Virginia and expanding public access sites in New York to re-wilding landscapes and rivers in West Virginia. We also outline why the future of restoration depends on action this December by the region’s leaders, what steps they should take, and what the public can do to help (including urging these leaders to recommit to clean water restoration and set bold new goals for the future of our Bay). In a nutshell, we’re at a crossroads where the Bay watershed could become a more vibrant, thriving network of waterways enjoyed by all, or it could backslide, returning to a heavily polluted mess overwhelmed by the pressures of climate change, development, and the region’s population growth. The consequences are very real; the effects of dead zones on striped bass and other fish in the Bay are just one example. Algal blooms in the North Fork Shenandoah River are another. But there is also good news this month: the continued recovery of Bay grasses, a step toward more action to protect menhaden, increased funding for clean rivers and streams in Pennsylvania, and more.  

A sunset over a calm body of water, with rays of light breaking through the clouds of an approaching storm and a bridge already in darkness.

Roberta Mangos

Restoration at a Crossroads

For 40 years, the Chesapeake Bay watershed states, the District of Columbia, and federal partners have worked together toward clean water, thriving wildlife, and healthy habitats. Yet the partnership is at a pivotal moment. CBF’s latest report explains why the future of restoration depends on action this December by the region's leaders.

A woman stands in a field surrounded by white protective tree covers.

Farm owner Hope Yankey is surrounded by one-and-a-half year old trees, protected by white tree tubes, in this "re-wilding" area on Wilding Woolly Farm. Areas of the farm are being reforested to help protect water quality in the Lost River headwaters stream that runs through the farm.

Lisa Caruso/CBF Staff

Wild, Wonderful Waterways

At Wilding Woolly Farm, owners Hope and Bev Yankey are working to reforest part of their land and protect the headwaters of the Lost River. Their efforts aim to help native brook trout—which are sensitive to water temperature and conditions—as well as improve water quality in the Potomac River and downstream to the Chesapeake Bay. 

Docks flank kayakers on their way out into a lake surrounded by mountains.

Paddlers on Otsego Lake, New York.

Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program

Seven Watershed Success Stories

From rebuilding oyster reefs to expanding public access sites, much of the funding and resources for watershed restoration are funneled through the Chesapeake Bay Partnership, which also helps coordinate efforts among jurisdictions. These seven examples help illustrate how the partnership provides critical support for local-led projects, often through federal and state grant programs.

Hands hold two juvenile striped bass.

Juvenile striped bass, which stay in the Chesapeake Bay year-round, may endure low oxygen levels in summer dead zones.

Steve Droter/Chesapeake Bay Program

Life in a Dead Zone

Imagine running in the middle of a summer heat wave when suddenly someone removes much of the oxygen from the air around you. This is essentially what happens to striped bass and other fish in low-oxygen ‘dead zones.’ The stressful conditions, coupled with rising temperatures, aren’t only potentially deadly—they can change the fish themselves. 

Water runs over river rocks; a bridge crosses the river in the background.

David Everette

Take Action for Our Bay’s Future

The 40-year unprecedented Bay partnership and any hope of achieving a revitalized Chesapeake Bay will break down unless the watershed’s governors and other state and federal leaders take action. If you care about the Chesapeake and its waters, our leaders need to hear from you now. Urge them to recommit to the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint and set bold new goals that will restore the health of our rivers, streams, and Bay.  

In the News

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