Child on Beach by Bonnie Moore | www.cbf.org
Region's Residents Believe Challenges Facing Chesapeake Bay Becoming More Serious, According to New Poll; Survey reveals concerns and priorities of MD, PA, VA, and DC residents as leaders update federal-state Chesapeake Bay Agreement
Maryland 2025 - As the federal-state partnership to restore the Chesapeake Bay faces unprecedented federal upheaval, more than half (52%) of surveyed Chesapeake Bay-area residents believe challenges to the Bay will become more serious over the next five years, according to a new poll by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). Only 12 percent expect challenges to become less serious.
Most poll respondents (55%) think restoring the Chesapeake Bay has become more of a priority over the last 10 years. CBF commissioned the poll of 2,000 residents of Chesapeake Bay watershed counties in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.
When asked how to address the challenges facing the Bay, respondents indicated a range of actions are necessary. Some of those include:
- Ensuring the Bay is free of toxic contaminants (86%);
- Protecting and enhancing living resources such as fish and oysters (84%);
- Restoring, protecting, and enhancing vital habitats (84%);
- Reducing pollutants and improving water quality (84%);
- Increasing environmental literacy (79%); and,
- Increasing climate resiliency (76%)
Bay restoration success should be measured comprehensively, the polling results suggest, with the top three indicators being pollution reductions (82%), water quality and clarity (77%), and habitat improvements (59%).
This comes as recent actions by the Trump Administration threaten to wreak havoc on the decades-long Bay restoration effort. Those include planned budget cuts, including at least a 65 percent cut proposed for the Environmental Protection Agency, mass layoffs at government agencies supporting Chesapeake Bay restoration, and suspended grant programs.
This upheaval coincides with efforts by the federal-state Bay restoration partnership to update the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement in 2025. This historic long-term collaborative plan to restore the Bay must continue to address the many complex issues facing the Chesapeake and not be stripped down to a narrow focus.
“Nearly 19 million people in our region rely on the Chesapeake Bay for their wellbeing, livelihoods, and quality of life,” said CBF President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk. “Federal rollbacks risk upending decades of progress toward a healthy Bay. States in this region must step up and do more, not less, in the face of setbacks.”
“The Chesapeake Bay Agreement has guided restoration work for decades, remaining a constant through changes in federal and state administrations,” Falk said. “We need a comprehensive Chesapeake Bay Agreement where success is focused not only on reducing pollution, but also ensures thriving people, plants, and animals.”
Chesapeake Bay Agreement to be Revised in 2025
The Bay restoration effort is built on a partnership between the federal government, the six states in the Bay watershed, Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake Bay Commission. The federal government is vital to Chesapeake Bay restoration, providing science, accountability, and technical and financial resources.
The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement is the guiding force in this effort, with a stated vision of “an environmentally and economically sustainable Chesapeake Bay watershed with clean water, abundant life, conserved lands and access to the water, a vibrant cultural heritage, and a diversity of engaged stakeholders.”
To realize this vision, the agreement focuses on 10 comprehensive goals related to reducing pollution, toxics, sustainable fisheries and habitats, climate change, environmental education, and more. State and federal leaders have pledged to update this agreement in 2025.
At a March 28 meeting organized by the Chesapeake Bay Program, federal and state leaders will take the first steps toward making recommendations on the scope of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The revised Agreement is expected to be finalized by the leaders in December at a Chesapeake Executive Council meeting.
“Strong federal support, combined with leadership from the states, has been key to every Bay restoration success so far—from bringing back oyster reefs to reducing pollution from sewage treatment plants,” Falk said. “The Chesapeake Bay Agreement brings everyone together and provides accountability to the federal-state partnership.”
Environmental Education, Toxics, and Bay Life
Reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment will always be a central element to improving water quality and shrinking the Bay’s oxygen-starved dead zone. But focusing solely on reducing pollution will not save the Bay.
“The cleanest water in the world means little if we don’t have the Bay’s beautiful marshes, clean streams, sustainable fisheries, and flourishing communities,” Falk said.
New science shows that Chesapeake Bay restoration can be done more efficiently and effectively, as summarized in the 2023 report by dozens of leading Bay scientists called Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response (CESR). However, that means looking at the Bay watershed holistically, not slashing important work already underway.
Toxic contaminants such as PFAS are dangerous chemicals that can persist in waterways for generations, compounding health risks to people and animals. The 2014 Bay Agreement includes an overarching goal to ensure the people and animals around the Bay are not harmed by toxic contaminants. That includes research into toxic contaminants, as well as supporting policy to prevent toxics.
“PFAS are yet another example of why we should approach watersheds as systems,” said David B. Arscott, Ph.D., executive director, president, and research scientist at Stroud Water Research Center. “These cancer-causing chemicals contaminate not just farm fields and groundwater, but surface waters too. If PFAS are not included in the Bay Agreement, then where will this complex issue receive the attention it needs to improve the health and safety of our waters?”
Environmental education connects students with the world around them and builds the next generation of leaders. Studies show that this type of hands-on learning fosters critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. The 2014 Bay Agreement has an overarching goal to ensure students around the watershed know how to protect and restore their local waters.
“Our children are inheriting a world where environmental challenges are becoming increasingly urgent,” said Tonya Humphrey, a teacher with Prince George County Public Schools in Virginia who has led students on environmental education experiences for 20 years.
“Through environmental education, we empower our students to become problem solvers, advocates, and stewards of our natural world,” Humphrey said. “They will carry these lessons forward in their careers and communities. This kind of learning is only possible through strong partnerships between schools, local and state governments, and environmental organizations.”
The 2014 Bay Agreement includes a goal to protect and restore the Bay’s fisheries, as well as a separate goal to protect and restore vital land and water habitats.
One of the Bay’s recent success stories is the coordinated effort to restore the Chesapeake’s historic oyster reefs in 11 Bay tributaries—the world’s largest and most successful oyster restoration effort so far. Work on healthy habitats helps children have clean streams to splash in, wetlands absorb floodwaters and filter pollutants, and urban trees shade hot city streets on baking summer days.
“Recreational and commercial fisheries support local businesses and people that depend on the Bay. Protecting those fisheries by improving water quality and Bay habitats will make sure our children and grandchildren can feel the joy of reeling in a striped bass, or savoring a Maryland crab cake, for generations to come,” said Dave Sikorski, the Coastal Conservation Association’s Maryland Executive Director
The Chesapeake Bay is facing mounting challenges from climate change, increasing development, and population growth. Now, more than ever, is the time for a comprehensive Chesapeake Bay Agreement to guide work across states toward a common goal. Success is not only about reducing pollution, but also ensuring thriving people, plants, and animals.
Additional Polling Results
- 72% of survey respondents living in or near the watershed agree that efforts to Save the Bay also address climate change.
- Top five issues negatively affecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed: Plastic waste (51%), Toxic pollution (47%), stormwater runoff (36%), climate change (35%), residential and commercial development (34%)
- 50% of these watershed residents spend at least a few days per year at or on the Chesapeake Bay
- What is the best crab seasoning? Old Bay (79%), J.O. (5%)
- What is the Bay animal most in need of protection? Blue crab (70%), bald eagle (68%), oyster (49%), striped bass (36%)
About the Survey
Commissioned by CBF, the poll was conducted in October 2024 by Ipsos utilizing the Ipsos Online Panel system and partner online panel sources among 2000 adults aged 18-99 within watershed counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania (plus Philadelphia), and Virginia. Surveys were also collected in Washington D.C. The sample consists of approximately 600 respondents from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and 200 from Washington D.C. The sample is reflective of these states’ populations’ age and gender. No other demographic weights, beyond age and gender, have been applied. Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of don’t know or not stated responses.
See CBF 2024 Perceptions and Public Research—Public Release Questionnaire
For more information on survey methodology, please contact the Ipsos team:
Moriya Bobev – Moriya.Bobev@ipsos.com
Kimberly Liedel – Kimberly.Liedel@ipsos.com
Kenny Fletcher; Director of Communications and Media Relations, CBF; kfletcher@cbf.org; 804-258-1628
