ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Chesapeake Bay and its watershed received a grade of D+, unchanged from the 2020 score. This news was announced by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) in its 2022 State of the Bay report.
RELATED: D+ grade for protecting the Bay
The efforts to restore the bay are struggling to reduce agricultural pollution. Urban and suburban polluted runoff is increasing amid inconsistent enforcement by government agencies, new development and climate change.
"While we've made significant progress, far too much pollution still reaches our waterways and climate change is making matters worse," said CBF President Hilary Harp Falk. "The good news is that the Bay is remarkably resilient and there is tremendous energy around the table."
Established in 1998, CBF's State of the Bay report is a comprehensive measure of the Bay's health.
CBF scientists compile and examine the best available data and information for 13 indicators in three categories: pollution, habitat, and fisheries. They assign a score from 1-100, and together these offer an overall assessment of Bay Health.
Reaching an overall score of 70 or more would mean a fully restored Bay.
The unchanged score is largely a result of failures to make needed changes on farmland to reduce pollution.
Efforts to do so are complicated by climate change, which is bringing stronger rainstorms that drop more precipitation in shorter time periods.
Many of the same practices that will reduce agricultural and urban runoff are the same ones that help reduce greenhouse gases and make the region more resilient to a changing climate, so all hope is not lost.
CBF's federal and state offices identified the following priorities to restore local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.
