O'Malley also said he expects more help with the bay from the Obama administration. State officials and environmentalists say they expect EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to bring to the meeting a presidential executive order specifying stepped-up federal cleanup efforts.
The governor said he was "buoyed" by the signs of recovery that scientists told him they were seeing in some rivers. While the bay's overall health remains relatively poor - receiving a C-minus in the latest annual assessment by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science - the upper bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the Bush and Gunpowder rivers along the upper Western Shore are doing better in some respects.
In the past two years, underwater grasses have rebounded significantly in the Bush and Gunpowder, as have clams, worms and other bottom-dwelling animals, said William C. Dennison, the UM center's vice president for science applications, who oversees the annual bay report card. The grasses have grown so thick now, he said, that they appear to be aiding in clearing up the water and allowing vegetation to spread.
"We have some positive feedback going on," Dennison said. The Bush River, in particular, has benefited from a $40 million upgrade in the Sod Run sewage treatment plant, he said. He also noted that Harford County had limited most of its new development to its designated growth area, limiting the spread of pavement and polluted runoff.
O'Malley joined scientists in dipping sensors into the Bush River, finding the water murky but with enough oxygen to sustain fish. The bay grasses have yet to grow out, which would clear up the water, scientists noted.
Donald F. Boesch, president of the UM environmental science center, said there are preliminary indications that the relatively modest pollution reductions to date have been enough to push the bay to a "tipping point," where its water quality becomes more responsive to further cleanup efforts. The key to restoring healthy water conditions to the main bay may lie in reducing pollution in the rivers, the scientists said, noting that the upper Patuxent and Potomac are improving.
For all those hopeful signs, the scientists pointed out that there are just as many, if not more, rivers where water quality is declining. Among the rivers in failing health are the Severn and the other tributaries of the lower western Shore, which are dominated by development, and the heavily farmed upper Eastern Shore and Choptank River.
William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, who joined the governor on the cruise, said there are still indications that the state and federal governments have yet to come to grips with what it will take to finally clean up the bay, either in terms of funding or regulations. He noted that Virginia recently approved an increase in nutrient pollution from a pharmaceutical plant on a tributary of the Potomac. The Annapolis-based foundation has sued the federal government for not taking a more aggressive stance to restore the bay.
