Funding to continue making progress in the Chesapeake Bay has survived the early stages of Congress’ work on 2026 spending bills. But federal lawmakers returning to work, bay supporters cannot afford to let down their guard.
The Trump administration is pushing for deep budget cuts that would diminish or end many important efforts that have driven the bay’s revival since the 1980s.
So far, committees in both the House and Senate have stood firm against some of the more detrimental parts of the administration’s budget slashing plans. Appropriations committees in both chambers approved a spending framework this summer that continues funding at current levels for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program and Interior Department grants for habitat restoration and historic preservation.
The House and Senate committees also resisted other cuts the White House is pushing, including eliminating funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s research and monitoring in the region.
The Senate and House committee bills protect important restoration and education programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Trump administration wants to
eliminate funding for NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office, which would cripple its mission of restoring and protecting threatened habitat.
The House bill, however, is problematic in other ways that would affect bay restoration. It includes deep cuts to the EPA’s overall budget and staff, and slashes funding that helps municipalities improve sewage treatment.
Although much progress has been made since the 1980s, the bay is still fragile. Efforts that have helped restore it must be continued. As new problems arise, they must be met.
Forty years ago, rampant pollution, unwise development and other problems resulted in dead zones in the bay where nothing lived. Populations of oysters, other shellfish and fish were declining sharply, and so was seagrass that is essential habitat for marine animals and waterfowl.
Improvements began when the EPA established the Chesapeake Bay Program to coordinate and provide funds for restoring the health of the bay. Federal coordination was essential, because the bay is affected by what goes on not only in the bordering states of Virginia and Maryland, but also in four other states and the District of Columbia in its watershed.
Concerted efforts by federal and state agencies, academic institutions and environmental and other nonprofit groups in recent decades have helped the bay thrive again. Yet even with all the money spent, knowledge gathered and work done, there have been setbacks, as harmful agricultural practices, urbanization, development and severe weather related to climate change continue to take their toll.
Saving the bay will require continued work, money and a willingness to try new approaches. Cutting off funding and ending or curtailing programs that make a difference would be disastrous. Progress may be frustratingly slow, but doing nothing further will have rapid, harmful repercussions that will be tough to reverse.
It would be disastrously short-sighted to let the bay restoration falter now in the name of saving money in the short term or in any attempt to make government more “efficient.”
A thriving Chesapeake Bay is essential to Maryland and Virginia, but also to the United States as a whole. It is the nation’s largest estuary, vital to the economy, tourism, recreation, fisheries, agriculture, wildlife and the quality of human life. A thriving bay contributes to healthy wetlands and flood protection. As a vital factor in Hampton Roads’ strong military presence, the bay also plays a crucial role in national defense.
Letting the bay slide back into its near-death state would be incalculably costly in the long run.
Over these four decades, saving the bay has been for the most part a bipartisan cause. Politicians of all stripes have recognized the bay’s importance and, more often than not, done what was needed to make progress.
A thriving Chesapeake Bay should continue to be a cause supported by all Americans. Failure to protect it in the coming budget battle will have immeasurable costs long into the future.
