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What Can I Do?
Take the Compost Challenge. Did you know food scraps and yard trimmings make up nearly a third of the municipal waste stream in Maryland? Maryland Green Registry and Maryland Green Travel members have established a Compost Challenge collection program in the workplace, restaurants and at public events to run through June 2015.
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Bay Fact
Vibrio is a bacteria that occurs naturally in estuarine and marine waters worldwide, such as the Chesapeake Bay. To learn more about this bacteria and how you can prevent infection, please
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From the desk of...
Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland 
Dear Friend,
We stand on the threshold of a new era for American Progress. A new era where open data, innovation and accountability come together to drive progress, public engagement and a greater interest in what we do together as a society for the greater good. In Maryland, we are working toward that achievement.
At a recent event, programmers, students, CEOs and other supporters of the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort gathered together for the DataBay: Reclaim the Bay Innovation Challenge. This civic hacking challenge, put together by the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Department of Natural Resources, the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the University of Maryland's Future of Information Alliance, encouraged participants to work together using new technologies to develop data-driven applications that strengthen public engagement and interest in restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Prominent environmental "futurists" contributed to the challenge, providing their own input on environmental issues and the expanding role of technology in environmental protection. Scientists from our State agencies were on hand to explain what the data meant and how it could be used to reach our goals.
Ultimately, four teams were awarded cash prizes for the applications they created. These teams will spend the next several weeks improving their applications and present their completed work at the Governor's Cup at the end of the month. I'll be proud to present the winners with the Cup and a grand prize of $4,000 from DataBay sponsors.
We should all be proud of what these finalists were able to accomplish over a short weekend. Please take the time to view their ideas ─ maybe they will spark some of your own. Or learn more about what you can do, everyday, to help Reclaim the Bay.
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Eyes on the Bay
Check out the late-July 2014 Bay sampling, which shows that hypoxic volume (dead zone) in Maryland's portion of the Bay continues to be much smaller than average. It is the smallest Maryland late-July hypoxic zone recorded in 30 years of sampling and follows the smallest early-July dead zone seen in three decades.
BayStat Update
The BayStat team met with Governor O'Malley's office on July 29 to discuss a number of critical items, including: tree planting and forest buffer efforts across the State; the Genuine Progress Indicator; the recently released draft recommendations for Maryland's Infill, Redevelopment & Revitalization projects; and an update on the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act. |
Explore and Restore Program in Action
School started early for 23 elementary and middle school teachers from six Maryland counties who gathered to explore and assess a local Montgomery County stream. While braving the hinged jaw of a dragonfly nymph and flooding their boots in stream pools, the team measured water quality and surveyed which aquatic insects call that stream home.
Is your class ready for a stream adventure? The Explore and Restore your SchoolShed program has great resources for students of all ages interested in monitoring what's happening in their local stream.
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Your Government at Work  Local Governments Improve Water Quality
The Department of the Environment evaluated 22 sets of goals for local water restoration activities and found that Maryland's communities are not only committed, but also making progress in improving the water quality of their streams, rivers, lakes and drinking water reservoirs. This assessment of two-year milestone goals is part of the landmark Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, established by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010. |
Nuisance Floods Increase as Sea Levels Rise
Eight of the top ten U.S. cities that have seen more "nuisance flooding" alongside rising seas are on the East Coast, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Four of the top ten cities are in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including Annapolis and Baltimore. |
 New Collaborative Improves Environmental Education and Research
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science has established a new collaborative that will offer state-of-the-art education in statistics to provide UMCES students, faculty and partners with the best possible tools to study and solve the world's pressing environmental challenges. The Institute will open this month for consulting and research services and will teach its first course for students in January 2015. |
 Farmers: Sign Up for CREP by September 30
Farmers interested in earning extra income by taking environmentally-sensitive cropland out of production and installing a range of conservation practices to protect water quality should sign up for Maryland's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. CREP can help farmers establish buffers next to waterways, create wetlands and wildlife habitats, protect highly erodible lands, install stream protection practices and meet Maryland's nutrient management requirements. |
 Need a Course in Bay Restoration 101?
The Department of the Environment recently launched a new website to provide information on Maryland's blueprint for Bay restoration - Phase II of the Bay Watershed Implementation Plan. The easy to navigate site offers Chesapeake facts, information on our milestone goals and progress, and other useful resources on our State's action plan to restore and protect the Bay. |
 Submit Applications for Climate Change Risk Assessment
Do you need technical assistance on understanding and planning for the risk associated with flooding, storm surge, increased precipitation and sea level rise? If yes, apply now to work collaboratively with Maryland's Chesapeake & Coastal Service and NOAA to formally assess risk and vulnerability to your community. Application deadline is August 20. |
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