Senator Whipple's Richmond Report

Recently the Chesapeake Bay has been in the news again - unfortunately it hasn't been good news.

What we have discovered is that the computer modeling used to predict improvements in the quality of the Bay's waters has been overly optimistic.

For years the Chesapeake Bay Program has been talking about the reduction in nutrients. But actual tests of water quality tell us a different story.

There is still too much nutrient pollution entering our streams and rivers from farmers' fields, suburban yards, industrial facilities and municipal waste treatment plants. Each of these sources needs to reduce excess nutrients if we are to make progress in truly cleaning up the Bay and its tributaries.

Each state has a part to play in making the necessary reductions.

This year Pennsylvania passed a $250 million sewage infrastructure bond referendum to fund much-needed upgrades of sewage treatment plants. In addition Governor Rendell has proposed a $1.4 billion "Quality of Life Initiative" that includes an $800 million Growing Greener bond funding initiative that will protect forests and farmland, clean up rivers and streams and revitalize communities.

Maryland had a banner year. In May Governor Ehrlich signed landmark legislation establishing the Bay Restoration Fund that will raise close to $1 billion over ten years to upgrade the state's sewage treatment plants and septic systems as well as to subsidize the planting of cover crops. Financed by a "flush tax" of less than a dime per day, this legislation is a very significant pollution-reduction initiative.

There was some good news from Virginia. The budget that was finally adopted after our extended session this year includes more than $35 million in new funding over two years for the Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) and $5 million for land conservation. Furthermore, 10% of any end-of-year surplus is automatically deposited in the WQIF; this year that will be more than $30 million.

In other respects Virginia is behind our neighboring states, especially in reducing pollution from sewage treatment plants. Next year the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is interested in supporting legislation to enact a tax similar to that adopted in Maryland this year. CBF reports that for less than a dollar a week per household our sewage treatment plants can be modernized to reduce nutrient pollution significantly.

However, its fate will be determined by citizen support for such an initiative. Legislation introduced in the House this year for a sewage and septic fee and in the Senate for a water utility fee failed to make it out of committee. That was due at least in part to the overall protracted budget and revenue debate that dominated the 2004 Session. There was great reluctance to consider any free-standing revenue measures.

The climate should be different next year. With sufficient public support, perhaps Virginia too can have a way to finance sewage plant upgrades that will benefit our rivers and streams - and help the Chesapeake Bay.