Restoring Chesapeake Bay

摘要

The ecologically unique waters of Chesapeake Bay, situated on the east coast of the US around the District of Columbia, have suffered severe water quality problems over the last few decades mainly as a result of excess nutrients entering the bay's heavily-industrialised 64,000 square mile (166 km~2) watershed. However, an ambitious programme of restoration, begun in the early 1980s, aims to return these vital waters to a pristine state. The bay is the largest estuary in the US, and is an incredibly complex ecosystem of important habitats and food webs that is home to a wide variety of species - plants, fish, shellfish and animals. Moves to restore the bay began in the 1970s, when Senator Charles Mathias began a fact-finding tour to try to understand its decline. His efforts were the spark for the Chesapeake Bay Program, which involves a wide spread of federal and state stakeholders in a partnership to restore and protect the bay.