Overall, the Foundation found a modest improvement. Based on thirteen indicators, it increased the measure of the Bay’s health by one point to an overall score of 32 out of 100, still, a D+ in school terms. At this level CBF judges the Bay to be “dangerously out of balance.” It would need to reach a score of 50 before being considered “stable” and 70 to be considered “saved.”
Under CBF's methodology five indicators were up, seven were at the same levels, and one, the health of underwater grasses, declined. The report expressed a little optimism in noting that despite 2012’s small improvement, the score is up by 4 points over the last five years. Even so, by my quick calculation, at this rate it could take nearly 50 years to reach the level at which CBF considers the Bay to have been saved.
A big part of the problem is the complexity of Bay governance. The federal Environmental Protection Agency can do a certain amount to set regulatory standards and provide funding to states and localities. But the real will to improve Bay conditions lies with the six states in the Bay watershed (see map above) -- New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Each of these by their water pollution control efforts affects the quality of the water entering the Bay.
The report was also featured on the front page of today's Washington Post.
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