Contact: Melanie Rapp, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902 or Anne Fitzgerald, Chief of Community Relations, DDA. 302-698-4520.

DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara and Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Ed Kee will speak on progress improving water quality in the Chesapeake watershed

(DOVER/SEAFORD, Aug. 2, 2011) –DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara and Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Kee will speak at public forums on Delaware’s progress in improving water quality in the rivers and streams that drain into the Chesapeake Bay.

Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011
6 to 8 p.m.
Delaware Technical & Community College
Terry Campus
100 Campus Drive
Dover, DE  19906
Conference Room 400 A/B
DNREC Sec. Collin O'Mara will speak.

Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011
6 to 8 p.m.
Seaford Volunteer Fire Company
302 E King Street
Seaford, DE  19973
Dept. of Agriculture Sec. Ed Kee to speak.

The Secretaries will outline accomplishments of Delaware’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) – the state’s long-range plan for reducing pollutants from entering local waterways.

Delaware is among six Chesapeake Bay Watershed states – Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York – and the District of Columbia committed to a federal-state initiative to develop a pollution “diet” that will help restore water quality of the Bay and its tidal waters by 2025, with 60 percent of the work to be completed by 2017.

Last December the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Delaware’s WIP (Phase I). The WIP, which was shaped by extensive public and stakeholder input, includes pollution reduction targets by geographic area and source - agriculture, urban stormwater, septic systems and wastewater treatment facilities.

At the forums, DNREC Environmental Scientist Jennifer Volk will make a presentation highlighting WIP Phase I and outlining the implementation goals for Phase II.  Delaware’s draft Phase II WIP, due to the EPA by Dec. 1, will include more detailed pollution reduction strategies at the local level and how resources needed for implementation will be secured. Forum attendees will learn how they can become involved in developing and implementing portions of the Phase II WIP.

In addition, the public can meet one-on-one with scientists and engineers, learn about efforts underway to reduce pollutants from entering our waterways, and find out what actions individuals can take to make a difference in the health of the Watershed.

Approximately one-third of Delaware’s land drains into the Chesapeake Bay, including land in all three counties – about half of Sussex County’s land area and one third of Kent County. Delaware communities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed include: Middletown; Hartly: Farmington; Greenwood; Bridgeville; Seaford; Blades; Bethel; Laurel; and Delmar. The Watershed also includes some of the state’s most prized waterways:  Broad and Marshyhope Creeks; and the Nanticoke, Chester and Choptank Rivers.

Delaware’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed supports thousands of jobs, generates significant economic activity and provides valuable goods and services. Currently, Delaware’s rivers and streams that flow into the Chesapeake Bay receive too much pollution for these waterways and the Bay to be healthy and productive. Restoring water quality will have far-reaching benefits for Delaware’s economic and environmental health.

Two workshops are being planned for later this fall that will include more information and opportunity for public input on the Draft Phase II WIP.

For more information, contact Melanie Rapp, DNREC Public Affairs, Melanie.Rapp@state.de.us.