Chesapeake Bay

Maryland recently completed a two-year study on the Chesapeake Bay Bridgethat included three recommendations for new crossings. The state is looking at potential bridges between Pasadena and Rock Hall, between Mayo and Easton, and alongside the current spans between Arnold and Kent Island. These sites, along with a "no build" option will be presented at community meetings throughout Maryland. 

Last week, I testified at hearings in Annapolis to support Senate Joint Resolution 5 and House Joint Resolution 3, which give Maryland’s Attorney General the authority to decide to sue the federal government over actions or inactions that affect Marylanders.

The City of Alexandria is dumping raw sewage into our waterways - and has been for more than 40 years. Alexandria is not only putting public health at risk, it is also breaking state and federal law. This uncontrolled toxic dumping is not only health hazard to city residents and visitors, but also multiple downstream communities, and undermines the rights of Virginians to drinkable, swimmable, and fishable water.

This past Monday, Governor Hogan’s Administration circulated a press release praising local governments for having "met their requirements under state law to develop financing plans to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and protect and restore local waters and the Chesapeake Bay."  But most of these plans don't actually meet the requirements of the law.

Local policy push aims to clean up Monocacy and Potomac rivers.

Stormwater runoff is one of the leading contributors to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. After big storms, the water carries whatever is on the ground and in the streets into our waterways. Impervious surfaces, such as the roads and pavement that cover densely populated areas, don’t allow rain to seep into the ground, causing more polluted stormwater to enter the Bay.

One of my favorite places to ride my bike in Baltimore is the Jones Falls Trail between North Avenue and Druid Hill Park. The trail follows the last section of the Jones Falls before it flows underground in pipes underneath downtown on its way to the Inner Harbor, in a narrow stream valley below the traffic of I-83.

Having a healthy water source is critical to our economy. From agriculture, to wildlife, to craft brewing, and clean tech, clean water is the lifeblood to it all. Headwater and seasonal streams feed the drinking water sources of two out of every three Marylanders.