Clean water: To save the Bay, we must work together

The movers and shakers of Chesapeake Bay restoration got together recently in Richmond to update the public on the Bay cleanup effort.

Present were the "big three" Bay state governors from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson; Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray; Chesapeake Bay Commission Chairman Michael Brubaker; and others.

The official news from the meeting was upbeat: The Bay states are all generally on track to meet their first pollution reduction goals. These interim two-year goals, called milestones, are critical and make the new federal-state Bay cleanup initiative different — and much more promising — than past restoration agreements.

Earlier Bay agreements set lofty goals and established far-off deadlines that didn't come due until long after governors and policymakers making the promises had left office. The result: no accountability, no responsibility, and after more than two decades of talk, the Chesapeake Bay is still polluted.

This time, Virginia and the Bay states agreed to set smaller, interim goals to be achieved every two years, with biennial status reports to the public on the progress being made (or not made) toward the 2025 end-game of full implementation.

So hearing that Virginia is on schedule to hit its first cleanup milestones is encouraging. With apologies to Ronald Reagan, however, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and the Choose Clean Water Coalition are taking a "trust but verify" stance. In keeping with the transparency and accountability promised by EPA and Virginia, we will be digging into the milestone reports to verify findings.

The Richmond Bay summit also produced what Gov. McDonnell called candid discussions about the cost of Bay cleanup. Publicly, he called Bay restoration "an expensive venture" and voiced concern about the cost to the commonwealth and localities. All the governors emphasized that EPA and federal funding are critical to the success of the cleanup effort.

CBF wholeheartedly agrees. That's why it is crucial that the region's congressional delegation strongly oppose efforts already afoot in Congress to drastically cut or eliminate federal funding for Chesapeake Bay restoration. Yes, Congress must deal with federal deficits, but slashing EPA's clean-water funding not only threatens to undo past restoration progress but serves to kill the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg.

Restoring the Bay will have significant costs. But the costs are manageable, especially when spread over the 15-year restoration timeframe and when new, innovative tools are combined with proven, cost-effective pollution reduction approaches, such as widespread use of farm conservation practices, nutrient management, rain barrels, and rain gardens.

Then there's the cost of not cleaning up the Bay. As Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley remarked in Richmond, "Cleaning up the Bay is expensive. But letting her die is even more expensive, and we're not going to allow that to happen."

As a society, we have for decades talked about how wonderful the Bay is and simultaneously used it as a "free" waste dump. Now that we understand the serious and cumulative consequences of this environmental schizophrenia — polluted rivers, dwindling fish and shellfish populations, thousands of lost jobs, millions in lost seafood revenue, closed beaches, water-borne illnesses — we must finally confront reality: There is no free lunch. If we're serious about revitalizing the Bay's immense ecological and economic potential, we must pay the piper. As any out-of-work waterman will tell you, seafood workers and others downstream have been paying the price for years.

Not surprisingly, voters are ahead of many elected leaders on Bay cleanup issues. While the politicians fret, voters in overwhelming majorities consistently tell pollsters they want the Bay and their local rivers cleaned up.

Virginia voters not only want clean water; they deserve and are legally entitled to it. The Virginia Constitution calls upon the commonwealth to protect its waters for the benefit of all Virginians, and the State Water Control Law, passed 60 years ago long before federal action, requires it.

Virginia has a solid Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, the will of its citizens to implement it, and 15 years to get the job done. Working together, we can succeed.