Clean Water, Stronger Communities

Clean water matters. It is a fundamental right for every person in every community across Maryland.

Over the last two years we have begun a mammoth task: to bring clean water back to the Chesapeake Bay. This process, called the Chesapeake Bay pollution diet, calculates the amount of pollution the Bay can accept and still stay healthy, and then holds the States that contribute to the problem accountable to reducing their pollution loads to those limits.

This restoration effort is really about cleaning local waters. For while the Chesapeake Bay might be the ultimate goal, reducing pollution starts in our backyards – the rivers and streams we know and love.  And cleaning local waters requires local action; clear commitments from every county to take meaningful action for real results.

How and where we grow has a tremendous impact on the quality of our waters.  Pollution from development, particularly on high-polluting septic systems, is the only growing source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.  1000 Friends is working at the state and local level to reverse that trend and ensure that we have vibrant places to live and cleaner local waters. 

Read more about our legislative package here.