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A
work boat on a pier, St. Clement's Island, Maryland
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The Potomac watershed comprises about 22 percent of the land area,
and 30 percent of the population, of the Chesapeake watershed. As
a result, pollution loads from the Potomac river have a significant
impact on the health of the bay. Conversely, decisions regarding
the amount of pollution reduction required to restore the bay necessarily
will have a significant impact on citizens and communities in the
Potomac watershed. Because the tidal Potomac is an integral part
of the Chesapeake Bay, “restoring the Bay” includes restoring
the tidal Potomac. Local streams also see water quality benefits.
A special challenge to achieving Bay goals for pollution reduction
in the Potomac watershed is that this watershed is shared by four
states and the District of Columbia. Thus a higher level of interstate
cooperation and coordination is required in the Potomac than for
other tributaries. ICPRB is ideally suited to assisting the states
achieve their Potomac and Bay restoration goals because we work
in all of the jurisdictions. ICPRB staff provide technical expertise
to the Bay Program in biology, monitoring, and modeling issues and
provide institutional assistance with many interstate issues. One
such example of how the ICPRB aids in interstate cooperation is
the recent Potomac Shared Strategies
Conference.
For more information about the partners working to protect and
restore the Chesapeake Bay and their contact people, choose from
the links below:
Chesapeake Bay Program
Martha Corrozi
Phone: (410) 267-5753
email: mcorrozi@chesapeakebay.net
Additional materials:
 The
Chesapeake 2000 Agreement
Profiles
of the Potomac Basin (select either Watershed or Tributary
Profiles, then select the Potomac watershed)
The District of Columbia, DC Department of Health
Sheila Besse
Phone: (202) 535-2241
email: sheila.besse@dc.gov
Additional materials:
Potomac
Basin Restoration Summary (151kb word document)
Maryland, MD Department of Natural Resources
Jamie Baxter
Phone: (410) 260-8987
email: jbaxter@dnr.state.md.us
Additional materials:
Map
of MD's Lower Potomac Basin
Map
of MD's Middle Potomac Basin
Map
of MD's Upper Potomac Basin
Summary
of recent activities of Maryland's Potomac Tributary Teams
Maryland's
Interim Nutrient Cap Strategy
Pennsylvania, PA Department of Environmental
Protection
Jim Spontak
(717) 705-4799
jspontak@state.pa.us
Additional materials:
PA
DEP's Chesapeake Bay Program website
Virginia, VA Department of Conservation &
Recreation
Moira B. Croghan
Phone: (804) 786-3958
email: mcroghan@dcr.virginia.gov
For links to VA's Interim nutrient cap strategies, the earlier
Bay Tributary Strategies, and related info
VA
Department of Conservation & Recreation Soil & Water Conservation
Programs
VA
Department of Environmental Quality Chesapeake Bay Programs
West Virginia, WV Cooperative Extension Service
Tom Basden
Phone: (304) 293-6131
email: tom.basden@mail.wvu.edu
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