A bay in trouble

Photo by: Paul Symes

“Water is the driving force of all nature” These words by Leonardo da Vinci hold true today as water is what drives all of us. Looking especially at the Chesapeake bay, the bay serves as a home and water source to millions of people, either along side the coast or just living near the bay. The Chesapeake bay gives life to the people using it waters and the wildlife calling it home.

 

However, in recent years the bay has been under attack from pollution. Taking research done by the Chesapeak Bay Foundation the quality of water has dropped significantly. The quality of water is ranked on a scale of 100 and in 2012 it hit 32 and continues to fall today. With the rise of pollution in the bay, issues have been popping up along with the poor water quality there is now dying fish populations and allege dead zones. The Chesapeake bay is becoming a hostile place for both the sea life living there and even the people using the bay. With the failing fish populations and the contaminated water people are at risk of disease from chemicals like mercury, atrazine, simazine, and much more. Chemicals like these are being going into our drinking water, or being ingested with contaminated fish. Research done by Coastal Education and Research foundation painted a much worse picture for the bay. In help with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science it showed that with the increase of poultry farms, there has been a increase of nitrogen in the bay. This has happened with run off from the farms. Nitrogen increase can lead to more dead zones of algae. Added with the dying populations, and chemical pollution this can only mean the worse for the bay.

This is a serious issue for families and a serious issue for the environment. the contamination   Organization like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are pushing for a better future for the bay however. They are setting the stage for improvement and how to start dealing with the problem areas “The Clean Water Blueprint is in place and working, but there are danger signs ahead. The states must pick up the pace of reducing pollution, especially from farms and urban areas.” said CBF President William C. Baker. Making the best for the bay they need help in the end from the people living there or nearby. People like you is the cure alone, taking action and reducing pollution runoff as well as volunteering to help clean the bay will help prevent any more pollution in the future. Companies and government may be slow to act, but bringing the issue to the forefront of current issues with help speed up restoration. Restoring the bay to it’s original state is going to take work but with help and support, it will come.