June 21, 2024 โ As environmental groups and policy analysts in the Mississippi River basin seek solutions to shrink a massive โdead zoneโ that forms off the coast of Louisiana each year, they have looked to a regional cleanup program in the Chesapeake Bay as a model.
A key component of that effort, known as the Chesapeake Bay Program, is regulation.
For nearly 15 years, itโs included a legally enforceable, multistate pollution quota โ one of a select few in the nation. This โtotal maximum daily loadโ aims to reduce the amount of nutrients, like phosphorus and nitrogen, that run off into the Bayโs waters.