Low-cost methods are fine as long as TMDL goals are met The
Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, or “pollution diet,” is
supposed to result in increased accountability in the effort to
restore to the Bay. What increased accountability exactly means
has been up for grabs over the last few years. It was presumed
the states would be made accountable by being given an absolute
limit on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
pollution they could send to the Bay as of 2025. But what the
states were going to do with those new requirements was always
an open question. Since the imposition of the TMDL in 2010,
Maryland and the other Chesapeake Bay partner states have all
developed Watershed Implementation Plans expressly to answer the
question, “How will you achieve the nutrient and sediment
pollution requirements in your state?” As part of their guidance
for writing these WIPs, the states were requested to describe
their sub-allocation of load reductions by geographic area and
source sector. This looks a