With my colleague Tom Pelton out of town and far away from internet connection, he has entrusted Bay Daily to a few of us at CBF.
In today’s edition of the Baltimore Sun, Tim Wheeler writes that scientists are predicting “The fish-smothering "dead zone" now forming in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay is likely to be one of the smallest in the past 25 summers.” The (Annapolis, MD) Capital carried a similar article.
This is great news, but why the change?
Many scientists hypothesize that the declining dead zones may be more a product of a decades long shift in prevailing winds, than a direct result of pollution reduction.
Bay Daily’s Tom Pelton reported on this issue a few weeks ago and spoke with leading scientists who explained that the prevailing winds used to come mostly from south and build up speed over the body of the bay, creating waves and mixing oxygen into the water. Something changed in the 1980s. The prevailing winds started coming from the west and with land and trees slowing the wind down, less oxygen is mixed into the water.
If, as some scientist think, the prevailing winds are shifting back towards southerly, this is good news for the Bay. And while we are thrilled to potentially see fewer dead zones this summer, let’s not rely on Mother Nature’s whims to lead Bay restoration efforts.
Government and the private sector have reduced pollution from every major sector but one. Sewage treatment facilities, air sources, and farms are all producing less pollution; only stormwater is still increasing.
While pollution levels are down, especially on a per-capita basis, we are not there yet. The Bay and the rivers and streams that feed it are in critical condition. The Bay and thousands of miles of rivers and streams in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia are still listed by EPA as impaired.
A shift in prevailing winds might give us a healthier Bay this summer, but what if the winds shift back next year?
We are in the fortunate position of controlling this outcome. All we have to do is listen to the well-document science and implement the pollution reduction science has told us is the path to a restored Bay. Let’s divorce the politics from this discussion and focus on accountability and the ultimate deliverable: a clean and healthy Chesapeake Bay system, including its tributaries and streams.
And that's why CBF, our 240,000 members, and hundreds of partner organizations are actively supporting the "Chesapeake Clean Water Act." With a Senate committee considering this bill soon, now is the time to ask your Senator to support CCWA.
-Patrick Miller
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