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Welcome
...and thank you for subscribing to our monthly newsletter, BayStat, your link to the Bay and the BayStat website, the public side of the process. Learn how to use the site. |
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You Can Make A Difference!
Don't top off your gas tank! Topping off your tank with gas can cause spillage, which releases pollutants into the air. When it rains, pollutants end up in the water and hurt the Bay. | |
One of our first actions after coming into office was to create BayStat, an innovative program to help us better track, target and increase accountability for state efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Less than a year later, this exciting tool has already improved the way our government programs work for Bay health -- establishing a new ranking system for land acquisition, refocusing the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and better targeting our limited cover crop resources. Looking forward, BayStat will help target the allocation of $50 million in new funding under the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund to provide the most cost-effective water quality benefits. To allow for a more transparent process and to afford every citizen access to information about our Bay's health and our work to improve it, we launched our public website in September. Today, I am pleased to introduce the BayStat monthly newsletter -- another tool to keep you up to date on our progress, and to hopefully inspire you to join us in our shared work to revive the Bay that we love.
Martin O'Malley
Governor
State of Maryland |
Maryland Leads Major Regional Bay Efforts
| In December Governor Martin O'Malley hosted the 2007 Chesapeake Executive Council annual meeting in Annapolis. Conceived in an effort to reinvigorate the region's efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution throughout the Bay watershed the Governor was joined by Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson and Chesapeake Bay Commission Chair James W. Hubbard, along with representatives from Delaware, West Virginia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Governor O'Malley led the Executive Council in signing a new Forest Conservation Implementation Plan to permanently protect an additional 695,000 acres of forest in the Bay watershed and to significantly increase the acreage of riparian buffers and urban tree canopies. Click here for more information. | |
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Maryland State Agencies working for the Bay....
 Maryland's Department of Agriculture (MDA) reports that, as of the end of the year, 97% of the state's 6,100 eligible farmers had filed nutrient management plans covering 1.295 million acres. These farmers document ongoing compliance to MDA by filing annual implementation reports describing how they implemented those plans during the preceding year. Enforcement actions are underway to assure compliance. In 2007, MDA conducted 500 farm inspections to assure compliance, and issued 90 first notices, 43 warning letters, and 16 charge letters and 2 fines to farmers who had not submitted plans. Click here for more information. |
The  Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently certified three new Clean Marinas: Chesapeake Yacht Club and Clark's Landing Boat Sales in Shady Side (Anne Arundel County) and Riverside Marine in Essex (Baltimore County). Clean Marinas work actively to prevent pollution from their businesses and their boating customers, and play an important role in efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Click here to read more about the program. |
 Maryland's Department of the Environment (MDE) provided funding through the Bay Restoration Program to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant in the City of Havre de Grace (Harford County). The project includes completion of combined Biological Nutrient Removal Program (BNR) and Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR) facilities to achieve nutrient reductions required under the Chesapeake Bay Program. MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson said "This upgrade will make a significant contribution to reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay." Click here to read the press release. |
 The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) is developing its 2007 Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card, which will be released in April. The report card continues to play a significant role in the development of BayStat, providing a geographic foundation for decision makers responsible for targeting Bay restoration efforts. To see the 2006 report card click here. | |
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| Business Working for the Bay
The Brick Companies, headquartered in Edgewater, Maryland, owns and manages commercial, residential, and recreational properties including three golf courses and two marinas. The company's actions on behalf of the Bay have included significantly reducing nitrogen releases from its golf courses, and entering both marinas into the Maryland Clean Marinas program. For information about opportunities for your company to help restore the Bay, visit Businesses for the Bay. |
| Bay Fact
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America. The Bay is nearly 200 miles long and contains over 18 trillion gallons of water. |
Contact Info
For comments and suggestions regarding this newsletter, please send an email to gdeems@dnr.state.md.us |
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