Today, NRDC is releasing Seizing a Watershed Opportunity in the Chesapeake Bay, our report tracking the decline in the Chesapeake Bay's water quality. The report makes it clear that this is a pivotal time for the Bay. The Obama Administration, Congress, and even the Bay states are committed to reviving the Chesapeake. But if we don't press for real action, clean Bay beaches and Chesapeake seafood could become a thing of the past.

After years of tracking water quality at America's vacation beaches, I have noticed a disturbing trend in the Chesapeake. The bay is home to many community beaches, but increasingly, residents leave their local beaches behind, brave the traffic on the Bay Bridge, and drive all the way out to Ocean City to go for a swim.

Why? Because Bay residents realize that the water at their hometown beaches is dirtier, has more algae, and carries more illness-causing bacteria than ocean beaches.

In other words, locals are adapting to constant pollution. They know they can't eat blue crabs out of the Bay anymore, so they import it from other states or even other countries. Now, they realize that their beaches are contaminated, so they go to the ocean to swim.

It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to give up on the idea that the Bay can be home to safe, clean waters. We can restore it, and the NRDC report outlines how. 

President Obama's recent Executive Order on the Bay was an excellent start--indeed it was an unprecedented display of federal leadership. But, as our report explains, we need to take the next step.

And that means passing the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Restoration Act, sponsored by Senator Cardin. Right now, the Clean Water Act authorizes the EPA to spend a small amount of money to support an office for studying the Bay. And indeed, the office has done its jobs of monitoring the Bay's decline--year after year.

Senator Cardin's bill would take that data--which we have in abundance--and actually do something with it. It would set a cap on all water pollution in the Bay, and if states don't meet their limits, the EPA can take action against them.

And here is the encouraging part. States want the EPA to step in. Last month, I went to hearings on Chesapeake Bay restoration in the House Water Resources and the Environment Subcommittee, and was surprised to hear state representatives actually asking federal lawmakers to take action.   

This is highly unusual. In my experience, states typically take the position: "We have it under control, and we don't need the EPA involved in our business." But when it comes to the Chesapeake Bay, states want the backing of the federal government.

They also want to know other neighboring states are doing their part as well. Anyone who has ever lived in a group house can understand this. You are less inclined to leave your dirty dishes sitting in the sink if you know your housemates clean their dishes promptly. It's a simple matter of everyone doing their fair share.

NRDC's report describes what that fair share might look like. But we won't stop here. We will continue to press for real action.

For even though this is a hopeful time in the Bay's history--when the White House, the EPA, and the states are all committed to restoration--NRDC wants to make sure this moment is not squandered. We want to make sure that when legislation passes through Congress, it is strong enough to do the restoration right.