Dear Friends,
 
Last week marked the beginning of sweeping changes in our efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay, both regionally and within our great State of Maryland. 
 
There is much to report from last week's Chesapeake Bay Executive Council Meeting, which I attended with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrien Fenty, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and our other regional Bay partners. Under the leadership of President Obama, we applaud the federal government for elevating its Bay restoration efforts. 
 
Historically albeit with the best of intentions  policy makers have set and reset restoration goals far into the future, when true progress relies on holding ourselves accountable for what we can do here and now. Not only do we now have clear goals based on the best science available, but we also have clearly defined actions and a visible timeframe that, when taken, will have a direct contribution to achieving the goals we have established.   
 
As agreed to late last year, the Bay partners also announced new, individual 2-year milestones. In Maryland, the new short term goals were developed over the past several months by our BayStat team to better target, focus and accelerate our efforts and measure results. We also announced our intention in Maryland to meet our current nutrient reduction goals by 2020  five years earlier than many of the other jurisdictions. This will be a major challenge, but one well worth tackling. 
 
Working together, we have identified specific actions tied to and tailored to addressing specific solutions. We will continue to use BayStat  a publicly verifiable data system that is becoming a national model to track and monitor progress of what is and is not being accomplished  to apply the most efficient actions to where they will have the greatest impact. 
  
Earlier last week I toured the Bush River with some of our top scientists to learn more about "tipping points," in which the targeting of restoration efforts to selected tributaries can reach a point where the natural resiliency of the Bay serves to complement and accelerate the success of our continuing actions. As scientists work to learn more about how we can use tipping points to further our Bay restoration efforts, I am especially excited because, through BayStat, we are already refocusing our efforts on best management practices that are most cost effective and geographically targeted to generate the greatest benefit.
 
Finally, at this writing, we are working on a new grass roots action plan to involve every citizen, business and government entity in improving our water quality. All Maryland families  even those who do not live within the watershed  benefit from what the Chesapeake brings to our great State. 
 
And working together  as One Maryland and with our partners across the watershed  we are creating a smarter, greener more sustainable future for Maryland families and our treasured Chesapeake Bay.

 

Sincerely,