Environmental Report, December 2025
Stewardship Opportunities
‘Invaluable service’: the role of community science in the Chesapeake Bay region
The Bay Journal
Did you know that you can help our waterways by being curious? Community science programs are a vital part of the scientific information collected about the Chesapeake Bay and our local fishing spots. Apps like iNaturalist, through which people can share biodiversity observations, made public participation in science easier and more accessible. Some organizations now have dedicated smartphone apps that volunteers can use to submit data and observations — to report dolphin sightings, for example, on Chesapeake Dolphin Watch. Consider joining fellow citizen scientist by just doing what you do…observing nature!
Good News Stories
Raising a stream to save the Severn River
The Chesapeake Bay Program
Yes, we can restore trout to our degraded waterways! Like many small streams surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, Jabez Branch faced a long decline. It was first smothered as centuries of soil erosion from agriculture filled the forested tributary with a layer of sediment up to 10 feet thick. But now, guess what?
How a DC Area Wetlands Restoration Project Could Help Clean Up the Anacostia River
Washingtonian
When the Anacostia Watershed Society began tracking the wild rice at Kingman Lake in 2022, they charted 10 acres of the thin, green stalks. This year, they mapped 26 acres in the same area, which Bogantes Montero said is “as good as it gets here.”
Potomac River Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan Annual Implementation Highlights (July 2024-June 2025)
ICPRB
The past twelve months represent the seventh year of implementing the 2018 Plan for the Potomac River Basin. During this performance period, progress has been made implementing all areas of the plan including scientific work, outreach and education, and building the tools to evaluate environmental progress over time.
Catfish to cat food: A new plan to reduce the Chesapeake Bay’s blue catfish population
Maryland Matters
Ready to catch….and eat an invasive blue catfish? Yeah, me neither, but the latest creative solution to the growing problem that blue catfish pose to the Chesapeake Bay may help keep our pets happy and heathy, and keep the bay in better shape.
Chesapeake Bay Science News
Chesapeake Bay is stagnating. Here’s what could help.
The Washington Post
In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency set a 2025 deadline for Mid-Atlantic states to get serious about cutting pollution. That deadline has come— and the goals remain unmet. The problem: Existing regulations can’t curb nutrient runoff from farms, the largest and fastest-growing source of pollution in the bay.
AI just gave researchers deeper understanding of Chesapeake Bay watershed
WTOP
To map the Chesapeake Bay watershed, researchers have long relied on aerial imagery, a time- consuming process to document every water source. But artificial intelligence just might help to change that.
Oyster restoration for Chesapeake nears finish line, next steps uncertain
The Bay Journal
The oyster planting in Maryland’s Manokin River went off without a hitch — something that seemed a longshot just a few years ago. Time will tell how fruitful it proves to be.
Legislation and Political Action
New Chesapeake cleanup plan comes with soul searching and the Trump effect
The Baltimore Banner
For Maryland and states across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the start of 2025 came with familiar disappointment. Once again, the group of seven jurisdictions working to clean up the Chesapeake Bay fell short of a much-anticipated deadline to curb pollution and rebuild ecosystems in the nation’s largest estuary. Now, watershed states and federal officials are back to soul searching.
Maryland lawmakers urge clear timelines, community oversight in updated Chesapeake Bay restoration plan
CBS
A group of Congressmembers representing the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region is calling for a new agreement to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers and streams throughout its watershed.
