Budget Cuts Hit Clean-bay Initiatives

Runoff Pollution, Algae Bloom Initiatives Reduced

The state also eliminated funding for monitoring algae blooms in the bay. The cut, about $220,000, would have gone to Morgan State University's laboratory on the Patuxent River in Calvert County.

Bruce Michael, DNR's chief of resource assessment, said the agency would still be checking on harmful algal blooms, particularly those that may pose health hazards for people swimming or wading in the water.

But the extent of algae growth has been a key indicator of water quality, affecting the size of the oxygen-starved "dead zone" that forms every summer in the bay, stressing fish and crabs. Bay scientists have used the algae monitoring in preparing annual "report cards" tracking the health of the bay and its tributaries.

Those bay health checkups "won't be quite as comprehensive," Michael acknowledged. "It's going to be a missing piece." Environmentalists expressed disappointment with the cuts.

"The bay is just another casualty of this economic downturn," said Tom Zolper, a spokesman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which had pressed hard for creation of a runoff fund. "It's vital this money be restored in full as soon as possible."

Still, Zolper said cuts to environmental programs were not surprising.

"Everybody's hurting," he said. "You can't expect to be spared."