Chesapeake Bay problems

I've been thinking that I need to actually keep up with this blog, even if no one reads it. Classes are over, so there is no longer the weekly stress of a class that gets me fired up so that I need to vent. I've had to do a 20 page paper, a take home final and a presentation for my classes, hence the lack of posts. If anyone cares, or even reads this. But anyway. On to the Chesapeake Bay. Currently I live no where near the Bay, actually probably about 300 miles from the watershed, maybe a little closer. But, about 3 years ago my husband and I lived in VA, and loved it. I taught Environmental Science in a small school in the tidewater region. Lovely place. But I just don't get their mentality. They act like nothing is happening to the bay. The kids, I taught high school, acted like the bay was gonig to be there forever and it would be fine, even if nothing was done. They didn't get the fact that they were the ones that would be needed to make a difference in what happened to the bay. These are the same kids that have families that depend on the bay for their livelihood. Their fathers, brothers, and uncles are able to harvest fewer and fewer animals from the bay. In 20 years they probably won't be able to harvest anything at all. The tidewater area is one of increased development, with Newport News and Norfolk growing, as well as Richmond, which increases pavement and sediment runoff. Uh, not good for the bay. One of the things that is going on in the Bay is the restoration of the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). But there are problems with it growing. Hmmm, I wonder why? The increased development in the area, as well as the areas upriver from the bay have increased the amount of sediment in the bay so that the SAV won't grow. The bay is very shallow and does not empty rapidly into the ocean. This creates a problem with sediment and pollutants; they all stay in the bay and are not flushed out to sea. The EPA puts out a list of impaired waters of the US every year, or every few years. We talked about it in class and the Mahoning River is on it, but so it the Chesapeake Bay. I'm not sure where it's at on the list, but it's on there. The states that include the Bay have gotten together to try and regulate different areas, such as runoff, to help improve the Bay, along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. But in order for something to really happen the young people have to take an active interest in what is going on around them, step up and do something.