Chesapeake Bay

North America’s largest estuary, 1726 square miles of the Bay’s main basin are located in Maryland, while 1,511 square miles are located in Virginia.  The Bay’s watershed extends through parts of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, and D.C., an area with a population of 16.6 million (2006).

The Bay's 200 miles touch three states (Maryland, Virginia and Delaware) and its tributaries span 64,000 square miles along the Eastern Seaboard from New York (where you'll find the ancient headwaters of the Susquehanna River) south to the inland bays of the Carolinas.

In 2004, Maryland enacted the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, which created a fund to upgrade wastewater treatment plants in an effort to reduce the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen that enter the Bay.  The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is working to restore and protect the Bay with a three-prong program that involves reduction of the nutrients responsible for depleting oxygen, restoration of the oyster population to filter the Bay, and restoration of Bay grasses to provide oxygen and habitat to the Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program provides grants to local-level organizations who are working to protect and improve the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  In 2008, 34 programs are being funded.  More information on these grants is available here.