Environment: Issues for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, providing critical habitat for thousands of species of fish, birds, and mammals. As streams and rivers meander through the mountains and valleys of the enormous 64,000 square mile Chesapeake Bay watershed, they pick up nutrients and sediment from farms, wastewater treatment facilities, forests, and developed areas. The rivers eventually flow into the northern portion of the Bay, where they deposit nutrients and sediment-enriched water, resulting in oxygen depletion and habitat destruction. In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Program, which places limits on pollutants and imposes schedules for pollution reduction plans for the 6 watershed states. This program impacts farm operations, waste-water treatment facilities and urban/suburban land use. To provide reasonable assurance that EPAs TMDL nutrient allocations will be met by 2025, the watershed states have begun to impose restrictions on turfgrass fertilizers and blackout dates for fertilizer applications. States have also initiated nutrient certification programs for fertilizer applicators. Some state and local governments are demanding changes in the way urban land is developed and managed. Future development in urban areas within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is likely to include smaller lawns, less area as impervious surfaces, rain gardens, buffer strips, and diverse plantings.
September 24, 3:30 pm HORT 117
Reception at 3:10 pm HORT 117 If you are interested in meeting with the speaker, please contact Jennifer Deiser at 41301 or jdeiser@purdue.edu
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture