January 19, 2023 — Warming water is threatening to undo decades of efforts aimed at improving aquatic habitat in the Chesapeake region, from headwater streams to the open water of the Bay itself.
The increasing water temperatures, which threaten species like brook trout and striped bass, are already offsetting some of the habitat benefits of the multibillion-dollar Bay restoration effort, a new report warns. Worse, some actions taken to reduce pollution are actually contributing to warmer, more stressful, stream conditions for fish.
“We’re behind the eight ball right now in considering this in our major policies,” said Rich Batiuk, a former senior science official with the state-federal Bay Program partnership, who helped organize a 2022 workshop focused on the region’s rising water temperatures.