WASHINGTON (7News) — The Bay is healthier than it has been in decades, earning its highest grade in 40 years as cleanup efforts across the region continue to pay off.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) released its 2026 Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card on Tuesday, giving the Bay an overall C+, its highest score since tracking began four decades ago.
The report, which uses data collected through December 2025, shows encouraging improvements in water quality, including more underwater grasses and less nitrogen and phosphorus pollution.
Of the 15 regions studied, eight showed improving health trends. The Lower Chesapeake Bay earned a B+, the highest score ever recorded for an individual region.
The report also found that some local waterways are still struggling.
In Virginia, the York and Elizabeth rivers also received D grades, while water quality in the Lower James River watershed is declining. Researchers also found that the Bay’s waters are becoming cloudier and indicators of harmful algal blooms are worsening.
About the Author
Fit in? The come heres own the land. Your daddy’s sold it. If it is the money you are angry…
Dear dumpster fire, hate to rain on your parade, dude, and upset your expectations and dreams of a brilliant future…
Why do they stand out in the crowd? Because they still have teeth? What other attributes or characteristics have them…
And Joseph, dude, again with all due respect, you are getting all wrapped around the axle with your panties in…
If you people assimilated properly, you would not be having this conversation or making up weird scenarios to defend your…