CHESAPEAKE BAY

Despite a more environmentally friendly government, a more informed citizenship, and far more funding sources, the Chesapeake Bay region faces similar debates about appropriate conservation actions. The Bay is literally choking on nutrient pollution from manure produced by factory farms. Three changes to farming practices will achieve at least a 70% reduction in nutrient runoff and yet years after solutions have been suggested none of the Bay states (PA, MD, DE, VA) have enacted a set of policies to end the discharge of nutrients into the Bay (at a proposed cost savings to farmers). Until policy makers and regulatory agencies have the type of conclusive and reliable water quality data that ORCA’s Kilroy™ is designed to provide, appropriate actions cannot be taken to remedy the situation—despite the promise of a dramatic improvement in water quality, a relative ease of implementation and the attention of conservation-minded legislators!