Chesapeake Bay Trust “Beyond Bean Counting” Program Support
Chesapeake Bay, United States
Through a competitive award funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Water Quality Goal Implementation Team, AMT worked closely with the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Urban Stormwater Workgroup to provide research support for a program-wide assessment of BMP tracking and accounting procedures with the objective of adapting more holistic restoration goals. This project included work plan development and in-depth collaboration with a steering committee comprised of state, local, and federal stakeholders, along with support from the Chesapeake Stormwater Network. The audit of Non-point Source Pollutant Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) from Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions helped to inform AMT’s interview process and conduct a gap analysis to improve the BMP reporting, tracking, and implementation for all agencies involved in the Bay Program. Recommendations resulting from interviews and collaboration from the steering committee included strategies such as: streamlining reporting processes, accessibility of training and resources, communication strategies, and tracking recommendations for a more holistic evaluation of the BMPs. Suggestions for responsible parties and the intended audience of the recommendation actions were developed to ensure continued achievement of milestones into the future.
A final report identified how BMP reporting and verification is working within each agency; demonstrated key findings of the interviews and QAPP research; described holistic goals to track such as resilience, habitat improvement and other co-benefits; and outlined the proposed next steps for the multi-jurisdictional partnership.
