Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force
Hill Briefings 110th Congress

Water Supply Issues in the Chesapaeake Bay: Current Issues and Future Trends

September 24th, 2007 10:00 am-12:30 pm
2325 Rayburn House Office Building

Although water quantity issues have received significant press in the west for years, there is a growing realization that this issue is just as relevant in the eastern United States.  Pressures from growth and climate variability have begun to stress aquifers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed setting up the potential for serious environmental and economic impacts. This briefing looked at water supply issues in several parts of the watershed. Presentations from the briefing are available below.

• Claudia Copeland, Congressional Research Service Presentation
• M. Gordon Wolman, Chairman of the Maryland Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State’s Water Resources
• Mike Brownell and Tom Beauduy, Susquehanna River Basin Commission Presentation
• Tom Jacobus, General Manager of the Washington Aqueduct, US Army Corps of Engineers and  Joe Hoffman, Executive Director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin Presentation
• Robert Shedlock of the U.S. Geological Survey Presentation and Scott Phillips, USGS Chesapeake Bay Coordinator Presentation

Market-Based Policy Solutions to Water Quality Restoration

June 5, 2007 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
2325 Rayburn House Office Building

This briefing focused on market-based approaches to restore and protect water quality. A well-designed market-based policy can create powerful incentives which can help meet this need, in the Chesapeake Bay and in other fragile estuaries and coastal habitats, and minimize the cost to ratepayers and to overburdened federal and state budgets. 

Panelists included:

▪  Bob Rose (US EPA, Office of Water) 
▪  Tom Simpson (University of Maryland; Chair of Chesapeake Bay Program’s Nutrient Subcommittee) 
▪ Richard Combe (Regional Assistant Chief-East, NRCS/USDA)                                      
▪  John Hines (Exec. Director, Water Planning Office, Pennsylvania Dept of Envir. Protection)
▪  Kyle Winter (Manager, Office of Water Permit Programs, Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality)

Task Force Breakfast

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force Reception Breakfast for Members and staff occured on Friday, February 16, in 2325 Rayburn.  Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Robert Scott (D-VA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), and Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) were at the breakfast to discuss legislative and appropriations strategies for Chesapeake Bay in the 110th Congress, including the 2007 Farm Bill and EPA Chesapeake Bay Program reauthorization.