Final Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Meetings Nov 29th

The Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) are the roadmap for how the Bay jurisdictions, in partnership with federal and local governments, will achieve the Chesapeake Bay TMDL allocations. Bay jurisdictions include Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The TMDL is designed to ensure that all pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025. EPA expects practices in place by 2017 to meet 60 percent of the necessary reductions.

There are three phases of WIPs developed by the Bay jurisdictions. Phase I and Phase II WIPs were developed and submitted to EPA in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Both Phase I and Phase II WIPs describe actions and controls to be implemented by 2017 and 2025 to achieve applicable water quality standards. The Phase II WIPs build on the initial Phase I WIPs by providing more specific local actions. Phase III WIPs will be developed by jurisdictions based on a midpoint assessment of progress and scientific analyses that is currently underway through 2017. Phase III WIPs will provide information on actions the Bay jurisdictions intend to implement between 2018 and 2025 to meet the Bay restoration goals.

The public is invited to the last two meetings to provide input on nutrient and sediment reduction measures on the Eastern Shore during the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) meetings on Thursday, Nov. 29.

Both meetings will take place at the Eastern Shore Community College, in Melfa, and will focus on refining the local WIP.

The first meeting is from 9:30-11:30 am and will be stakeholders’ last opportunity to provide input on non-agriculture best management practices (BMPs) and programmatic actions in the Eastern Shore’s WIP before the plan is submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The second meeting is from 1-4 pm and will focus on agricultural BMPs, which local Soil and Water Conservation Districts developed and will be presented by DEQ. This will be a combined session of Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads stakeholders.

Everyone is invited to attend both meetings on Thursday, Nov.29, at the Eastern Shore Community College’s Great Hall, at 29300 Lankford Highway, in Melfa.

Please contact the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission at 757-787-2936 with any questions.