Download The Homeowner Guide For a More Bay-Friendly Property 

Chespeake Stormwater Network 

This guide presents a step by step approach for analyzing your property to find out whether it makes sense to install a rain garden or other residential stewardship practices. We then take you through the design and installation of several of the homeowner practices, so that you can install them on your own. Many Bay communities offer technical and financial assistance to help you install stewardship practices on your lot. To read more about this document, click here.

Chespeake Bay Program

The Potomac Conservancy has reported an improvement in the Potomac River's health for the third year in a row, giving the waterway a "C" in its seventh annual State of the Nation's River report.

2013 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the first Chesapeake Bay Agreement which, in 1983, established the Chesapeake Bay Program. 

Early history and formation of the Bay Program 

It all began in the late 1970s, U.S. Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias (R-Md.) sponsored a Congressionally funded $27 million, five-year study to analyze the Bay's rapid loss of wildlife and aquatic life. The study, which was published in the early 1980s, identified excess nutrient pollution as the main source of the Bay's degradation. These initial research findings led to the formation of the Chesapeake Bay Program as the means to restore the Bay.

1983 Agreement

The original Chesapeake Bay Agreement was a simple, one-page pledge signed in 1983. The agreement recognized that a cooperative approach was necessary to address the Bay's pollution problems. It also established a Chesapeake Bay liaison office in Annapolis, Maryland. The signatories of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983 became the Chesapeake Executive Council and included: the governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the mayor of the District of Columbia, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

Moving the Partnership Forward

The Chesapeake Bay Program has accomplished a great deal since the signing of the first Chesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983, but there is still much left to be done. Three decades later, Bay Program partners are working to guide the continued evolution of the Bay ecosystem restoration and stewardship effort with the creation of a new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

This new plan for collaboration across the Bay's political boundaries will clarify our vision, mission and values and establish shared goals and outcomes for the protection, restoration and stewardship of the Bay, its tributaries and the lands that surround them. The agreement, now being drafted, is intended to encourage a forward-looking approach to conservation and restoration, focusing on immediate results and recognizing our long-term effort must be sustained by and for future generations. For the full timeline, click here.

Recent court case looked at whether stormwater runoff from poultry operations required a permit.

For the past few weeks, Alt vs. EPA is being cited as a victory for agriculture over the EPA. The case boiled down to whether or not storm water runoff from chicken houses is agricultural storm water discharge; turns out that it is. This type of runoff is exempt from requiring a permit and is outside of the EPA's jurisdiction.  

While storm water discharge is the general idea of the case, "reasonable care", the good stewardship and conservation efforts of the Eight is Enough farm were cited by the district court in supporting Alt's argument. Many in the local and not-so-local media, as well as the Farm Bureau, were quick to point out that Lois Alt runs a model conservation farm that has been recognized for this on numerous occasions.

She is not alone in conservation efforts. There's a lot of acknowledgment for the good job West Virginia farmers have done in cleaning things up in local streams and rivers. Our state is on pace to achieving its goals in reducing nutrients and sediments that go to the Chesapeake Bay. Exclusion fencing, water troughs, cover crops, litter sheds, nutrient management and independent effort are examples of best management practices to reduce discharges to the Bay. Click here for entire article

The AgEP program allows Conservation Districts to choose the Best Management Practices to address specific needs in their areas.

The West Virginia Agricultural Enhancement Program (AgEP) is administered by the West Virginia Conservation Districts (CDs) with assistance from the West Virginia Conservation Agency.  The mission of the program is to assist the agricultural cooperators of West Virginia Conservation Districts with the voluntary implementation of best management practices (BMPs) on West Virginia agricultural lands in order to conserve and improve land and water quality for all West Virginia residents.

The Town of Bath receives Small Watershed Grant for erosion and stormwater issues in Greenway Cemetery.

 The Town of Bath is pleased to announce it has

been awarded a $50,000 Small Watershed
Grant through the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship
Fund, a program administered by the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The
Town of Bath will use these funds to address
erosion and stormwater issues occurring within the Greenway Cemetery. 

On May 17, 2013 the Town of Bath/Greenway was selected to receive assistance under the pilot Community Environmental Management Program (CEM). The technical assistance provided by the Eastern Panhandle Planning and Development Council (Region 9) through CEM aided the town in developing a competitive application for the Small Watershed Grant. CEM is a collaborative effort of the WV Chesapeake Bay Tributary Team that includes the WV Department of Environmental Protection, Conservation Agency, Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry, Freshwater Institute, Region 9 and Cacapon Institute. CEM focuses on assisting well-organized groups motivated to improve their environment through community education and technical assistance.

The Town hopes to begin the project planning process this winter. For the full article, click here.