This is the fourth installment in "Growing Concern," an occasional series about how issues related to growth threaten Chesapeake restoration efforts.
The Chesapeake may be on a "pollution diet," but one of the most effective ways to make the Bay healthy might be to put watershed residents on a diet as well, according to a number of scientists.
The Bay, they say, is a reflection of what we eat.
The so-called Chesapeake pollution diet, or Total Maximum Daily Load, is aimed at trimming the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that enters the estuary, where they spur the growth of huge algae blooms that foul the Bay's water.
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Greening of Lancaster, PA, goes through the roof: From the rooftop of the Tellus 360 shop in Downtown Lancaster, Charlotte Katzenmoyer can see the Victorian shops and homes that have long made the city a tourist stop on the way to Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Bay blue crab population up 66%, highest level in 19 years: The Chesapeake Bay blue crab's population reached its highest levels in 19 years, with record numbers of the crustaceans counted throughout Maryland and Virginia.
Debate rages over push to lift ban on uranium mining in VA: The largest county in Virginia, Pittsylvania, lies in Southside Virginia, about halfway across the state from east to west, bordering North Carolina, in the heart of the Roanoke River basin.
MD legislature passes sewage fee, septic system bills: Maryland's environmental community didn't get the wind to go their way on legislation to create incentives for offshore wind power development, but other environmental priorities discovered relatively smooth sailing in Maryland's legislative session.
Report says one forage fish in the water is worth two in the net: Small fish such as herring, menhaden and anchovies are twice as valuable when left in the ocean as when caught in commercial fisheries, according to a new report which calls for management agencies to re-examine how they set their forage fish harvest limits.
SRBC withdraws permits in Marcellus region, cites low-flows conditions: The Susquehanna River Basin Commission has suspended 17 water withdrawal permits because of low-flow conditions.
States, district submit strategies to EPA: The EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program Office received final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia by the March 30 deadline.
Storms bring down Bay’s grade on report card: The Chesapeake Bay brought home its worst report card ever this spring, thanks to a pair of storms that washed huge amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment into its mainstem.
VA approves wind turbine; MD more cautious: This spring, Virginia took several major steps forward to harness the wind off its coast for energy.
Wavyleaf basketgrass gaining ground amid efforts to control it: Four years ago, plant biologists in Maryland thought they could get a handle on wavyleaf basketgrass before it went the way of kudzu.
Weed warrior Marc Imlay leads the battle to conquer invading plants: It's just past noon when the first of the college students pulls into the small parking lot off Cherry Hill Road in College Park, MD, near a bustling Home Depot and in the shadow of the Capital Beltway.
