WASHINGTON — With the Chesapeake Bay facing ongoing environmental pressures and federal funding under threat, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland has introduced legislation aimed at reauthorizing NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office and ramping up restoration efforts across the bay’s vast watershed.
The bill, known as the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Advancement for Training, Education, Restoration, and Science Act — or WATERS Act — was introduced in the Senate by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD). Companion legislation has been filed in the House by Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rob Wittman (R-VA), Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA), and Sarah Elfreth (D-MD).
“The Chesapeake Bay is the heart of so many Virginia communities, supporting fishermen and local businesses, offering unique educational opportunities to students, and serving as a hotspot for recreation,” Senator Warner said in a statement. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation that works to ensure the Bay remains a resource for generations to come.”
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary, with a 64,000-square-mile watershed encompassing one of the most economically significant regions of the United States. More than 18 million people live in the watershed, and the bay produces roughly 500 million pounds of seafood each year, supporting commercial and recreational fishing industries and bolstering the regional economy.
But the bay’s health has long been precarious. In recent decades, the bay’s biologically diverse ecosystem has seen sharp declines in some of its keystone species, including the native oyster. Human effects on the ecosystem — including overfishing, degraded water quality, and habitat destruction — represent significant and ongoing challenges.
The Chesapeake also faces challenges from excess nutrients and sediment that pollute streams, rivers, and the bay itself; invasive species that crowd out native plants and animals; and changing weather and climate patterns that affect the land, air, and water.
NOAA’s Role: Three Decades of Science and Stewardship
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, formally established by Congress in 1992, applies science and engages communities to tackle problems and challenges facing the bay. Its work spans habitat science, oyster restoration, sustainable fisheries, climate resiliency, and environmental literacy.
The agency has been central to one of the most ambitious ecological restoration projects in the world. NOAA and its partners recently achieved the goal of restoring oyster reef habitat in 10 Chesapeake Bay tributaries by 2025 — a milestone set in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Since 2014, Chesapeake Bay Program partners have spent approximately $108 million to construct oyster reefs, and as of the end of 2023, more than 1,572 acres of oyster reef had been restored across the bay — an area equivalent to 1,190 football fields.
What the WATERS Act Would Do
The legislation would do more than simply keep the lights on at NOAA’s Bay office. According to Senator Warner’s office, the bill would direct NOAA to support the coordinated management, protection, and restoration of bay habitats and living resources, as well as the Interpretive Buoy System — which collects water quality, meteorological, and oceanographic data used by scientists, fishermen, and recreational users along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
The bill would also authorize the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, a competitive grant initiative for environmental education projects that connects students throughout the watershed with the bay.
Conservation groups have rallied behind the measure. “Whether through restoring the bay’s oyster population, protecting striped bass and other native species from the onslaught of invasive blue catfish, or helping steward the next generation through outdoor education experiences, NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office is a critical player in our work for clean water and healthy communities,” said Kristin Reilly, Director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition.
A Fight Over Funding
The legislation arrives at a politically charged moment for the agency. Earlier this year, a key Senate committee rejected proposed White House budget cuts that would have significantly reduced funding for NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay restoration programs. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 19–10 to not only maintain but boost funding for the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, including an additional $1.5 million for oyster restoration. (13newsnow)
“NOAA is crucial to restoring the bay and its waterways. NOAA programs support managing its valuable fisheries, enhancing our region’s resiliency, and educating the next generation of Bay stewards,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Policy Director Keisha Sedlacek. (13newsnow)
The WATERS Act, with its bipartisan House support, signals that protecting the bay still commands cross-party agreement — even in a divided Congress. For the millions of residents, watermen, students, and outdoor enthusiasts whose lives revolve around the Chesapeake, the stakes could hardly be higher.
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