March 19, 2012 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $4 million in grants to help restore the Chesapeake Bay. The grants, from the EPA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will be awarded to local governments for road maintenance, flood plain management and water quality improvement projects.
The EPA established a pollution diet for the Bay in 2010 with a mission to reduce phosphorous, nitrogen and sediment from seeping into area waterways. Scientists say the nutrients cause algae blooms and oxygen-deprived dead zones, making it difficult for many organisms to survive.
EPA officials say the new grants will help jurisdictions stick to their diet and meet their pollution reduction goals.
Listen to the story at NPR affiliate WAMU.
Analysis: While there has been recent progress on combatting the growth of dead zones (areas of water with low amounts of dissolved oxygen) in the Chesapeake Bay, large amounts of nutrient runoff from agriculture and population growth in Chesapeake Bay watershed have made them an enduring problem. While environmental advocates have made the claim that dead zones could be reduced by increasing the menhaden population, a recent study suggesting that menhaden contribute little to improving overall water quality means that pollution and nutrient reduction efforts, like the EPA's, remain the best way to mitigate dead zone growth.