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Improving bay health cheers Chesapeake's stewards

The improving health of the Chesapeake Bay and a greater government commitment to its restoration have given bay stewards new optimism that a saved bay is coming.

The State of the Bay report released Wednesday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation found improvement in five of the 13 indicators the organization uses to measure the health of the bay and decline in only one sector - underwater grasses that withered in higher-temperature waters and were smothered during record storms in 2011.

Overall, the bay's health increased one point since 2010 to 32 out of a possible 100 on the foundation's scale. A saved bay would score a 70 or above.

The foundation attributed the improvement to governments, businesses and individuals cooperating to curtail pollution and a mandatory pollution "diet" that is "for the first time … in place and beginning to work."

"We have never before had this level of accountability and transparency in bay restoration efforts," foundation President William C. Baker said. "This is indeed THE moment in time for the bay."

Responsibility for the bay's cleanup - and credit for its progress - is spread throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed, which includes the Susquehanna River and its local tributaries.

The foundation's report highlights efforts to limit nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment pollution through better wastewater treatment facilities, stormwater controls and agricultural practices to limit runoff. Mandated pollution limits have spurred costly improvements to area wastewater systems in Scranton, the Abingtons and the lower Lackawanna Valley.

The report also says that Pennsylvania must do more to curb pollution from farms and roads.

The bay and many of the waterways that lead to it are still clearly damaged: Health departments still caution people to stay out of the bay water for 48 hours after a heavy rain, the report notes, and nearly a quarter of Pennsylvania's miles of streams and rivers are considered impaired.

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com


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