The Chesapeake Bay Watershed includes the largest and most important estuary in the United States, but the watershed is much more than the bay itself. I'd venture a guess that many of us living in northern Virginia don't realize that we live in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Sure, we live in the Potomac River Basin, but guess what? The Potomac River is one of the many major streams that comprise the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. What body of water does the Potomac River drain to, the Atlantic Ocean? Wrong. It's actually the Chesapeake Bay.

The watershed is large, 64,000 square miles. Parts of six states from New York south to Virginia and all of the District of Columbia comprise the watershed. More than 17 million people live in the watershed including the greater Washington-Baltimore area. Major river basins besides the Potomac in the watershed are the Susquehanna and the James River basins.

The Chesapeake Bay is the crown jewel of the watershed. More than 3,000 species of plant and animal life are supported by the bay. Because much of the land surrounding the bay is agricultural, the plant and animal life in the bay are continually threatened by pesticides and by nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers that are flushed into the bay primarily by stormwater runoff.

The Chesapeake Bay Program partnership was formed in 1983 by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia and others including the Environmental Protection Agency. The partnership recognized the extent of the pollutants entering the bay and began to look for ways to stem the deterioration of the bay and where practicable, work at restoration. Significant success has been achieved but there still is a long way to go.

To this end, the new Chesapeake Watershed Agreement signed in 2014 brought Delaware, New York, and West Virginia into full partnership thus broadening the partnership to include the full watershed.

The new agreement includes 10 goals aimed at restoration and protection of the watershed:

Sustainable Fisheries – sustain all fisheries to provide a balanced ecosystem

Vital Habitats – restore/enhance land and water habitats to support fish and wildlife and other public benefits such as recreation and scenic value

Water Quality – reduce pollutants to achieve better water quality

Toxic Contaminants – ensure that the bay and rivers are free of toxins that impact resources and human health

Healthy Watersheds – maintain state-identified healthy watersheds

Stewardship – increase the number and diversity of local citizen stewards to support conservation and restoration

Land Conservation – conserve landscapes to maintain habitat, forests, farms and maritime communities and conserve lands of cultural and indigenous value

Public Access - expand public access to the Bay and tributaries through parks, refuges, trails, etc.

Environmental Literacy - educate students with skills to protect and restore local watersheds

Climate Resiliency – increase the resiliency of the watershed to withstand adverse impacts from changing environmental and climate conditions

The program partners are aware that Rome wasn't built in a day and that continued future progress must be made in a strategic manner with a focus on efforts that will achieve cost-effective results.

In my opinion, this partnership is trying to do the right thing for the bay and watershed and deserve the support of all of us living in the watershed. Look at the goals, particularly environmental literacy and stewardship. Each of us in a small way can contribute to this effort.