Home to more than 16 million people, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is unique in both its beauty and size. It encompasses six states – Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia -- and the District of Columbia, and drains over 64,000 square miles. Begun in the 1980s, the effort to restore the water quality and living resources of the Bay continues to gain momentum.  In fact, in May of 2009, President Obama issued an unprecedented Executive Order aimed at increasing federal coordination and attention for Bay restoration.

Much of the management and oversight of the Chesapeake Bay has been initiated and directed by the U.S. Congress. Beginning with a request for a five-year study in the late 1970s, resulting in the creation of the Chesapeake Bay Program, Congress has played a critical role in both raising the national profile of the Bay watershed and funding a large portion of the restoration efforts. With a complex funding climate and changing Congressional priorities, education of policy makers and their staffs has never been more important.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute analyzes and distributes information on interstate watershed management issues within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. With particular focus on the Potomac and Susquehanna River Basins, the Institute’s Chesapeake Bay Program seeks to advance the holistic watershed concept in Congress, working toward restoration of this nationally important resource.

The Institute also organizes briefings on Capitol Hill and tracks basin-related projects and appropriations. To advance these efforts, the Institute works closely with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force. The bipartisan task force was established to provide a forum for the exchange of information between members of Congress, their staff, and federal, state, and local entities with outreach responsibilities to the entire Chesapeake watershed.