Virginia Beach Panel Tackles Bay Restoration’s Future at Pivotal Crossroads in Forty-Year Effort

The future of the Chesapeake Bay’s restoration in Virginia was the focus of the “Beyond 2025: How the Bay Agreement Can Impact Our Community” panel discussion Wednesday in Virginia Beach at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Brock Environmental Center.  

Federal and state elected representatives joined environmental leaders at the CBF event to discuss new approaches to restoration and conservation work as Bay states expect to miss 2025 deadlines to have practices in place to reduce pollution.  

“The fingerprints of the Bay agreement can be seen across Virginia, from the Lafayette River to the James River to farms in the Shenandoah Valley,” Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Policy Manager Jay Ford said. “But we still have a long way to go to make our rivers and streams to be healthy and thriving so that all Virginians have the chance to fish and swim in our waters. Moving forward, we must center people, build long-term climate resilience, and increase focus on shallow habitats and plants and animals.” 

Panelists included U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, Virginia Delegate Alex Askew, Virginia Delegate Anne Farrell Tata, Virginia Deputy Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Stefanie Taillon, City of Norfolk Coastal Resilience Manager Justin Shafer, and CBF’s Virginia Policy Manager Jay Ford.    

Calling Bay restoration a bipartisan issue, panelists first focused discussion on Virginia efforts that have led to significant progress in improving water quality, health, and the economy.  

That included record support for agricultural best management practices that led to substantial reductions in agricultural pollution in Virginia, investment in flood protection projects across the state, and work to ensure rivers and streams like Norfolk’s Lafayette River continue to rebound. The Lafayette River was the first river in Virginia to meet goals for oyster habitat restoration set for 10 Bay tributaries.   

But the Bay and the rivers and streams that feed it are still at risk. The discussion on Wednesday focused on how to change the approach of restoration and conservation work to focus on outcomes that improve the lives of people and wildlife.  

This December, on the eve of 2025, the Chesapeake Executive Council is scheduled to meet. The Council is comprised of governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and New York, the mayor of Washington, D.C., the EPA Administrator, and the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans across all of these jurisdictions, and cooperative partnership is essential to meeting these goals.  

CBF is calling for the following actions at the December meeting:  

• Attendance in person by each of the Executive Council members, including all six Bay watershed governors and the EPA Administrator;  
• A formal recommitment to maintaining the Bay restoration partnership, as well as meeting the pollution-reduction and other restoration goals already agreed to by Executive Council members; and  
• A commitment by the Executive Council to update the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement by the end of 2025 to address challenges identified by the latest science.  

Watch Wednesday’s full discussion here.