Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Episode 496 (10-28-19): The Chesapeake Bay Commission Turns 40 in 2020

Click to listen to episode (4:40)

Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).


Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-25-19.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 28, 2019.

SOUNDS and MUSIC (instrumental) - ~20 seconds

This week, the sounds of waves, shorebirds, and the traditional tune “East Virginia,” performed by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, set up a Virginia water geography question: what large water body is connected to those sounds and to Virginia from east to west?

That’s the Chesapeake Bay, whose watershed in Virginia stretches from the eastern coastline to the western mountains.  Now here’s a more difficult question: what organization that’s deeply involved in Bay restoration turns 40 years old in 2020?  Have a listen for about 25 seconds to more of “East Virginia,” and see if you know that organization.

MUSIC (instrumental) -~27 seconds

If you guessed the Chesapeake Bay Commission, you’re right!  Formed in 1980, the Commission is a key partner in efforts to restore the water quality, aquatic life, and economic vitality of the Chesapeake.  The Commission’s 21 members include five legislators each from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania; those states’ governor’s cabinet members responsible for natural resources; and three citizen representatives.  The Commission is particularly involved in legislative aspects of Bay restoration, both in the states and at the federal level, including through the federal Farm Bill.  It works to coordinate policies among the Bay jurisdictions through shared research and information, and through participation in multi-jurisdictional Bay agreements in 1983, 1987, 2000, and 2014.

Today, after decades of work, and with the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load process ongoing, the Commission’s Web site notes that Bay restoration continues to face, quote, “daunting challenges,” and that “sufficient resources [and] equitable policies” are needed to “keep the restoration effort on track.”

The Commission continues its part of that effort at its next quarterly meeting on November 7th and 8th, 2019, in Baltimore.

Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use part of “East Virginia.”  And to acknowledge the Chesapeake Bay connection across Virginia, we close with a Shenandoah River musical reference. Here’s part of “The Deep Blue Green,” by Andrew VanNorstrand [from his 2019 album, “That We Could Find a Way To Be”].

MUSIC - 33 seconds – Lyrics:“I went searching around the bend
The Shenandoah, river of my dreams.
And if I ever reach the end
I’m gonna fall back into the deep blue green.”


SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The waves sound was recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the Chesapeake Bay on Kent Island, Maryland, June 22, 2010.

The shorebirds sound was taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/; the specific audio file was “Shore birds close,” online at https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/audio/id/66/rec/8.

The version heard here of “East Virginia,” from the 2006 album, “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at https://timothyseaman.com/en/.

“The Deep Blue Green,” from the 2019 album “That We Could Find a Way to Be” is copyright by Andrew VanNorstrand, used with permission.  More information about Andrew VanNorstrand is available online at https://www.andrewvannorstrand.com/.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.

IMAGES

Chesapeake Bay looking north from Cape Charles, Va. (Northampton County), October 6, 2007.


Vessels seen from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, October 7, 2007.


Vessels, cormorants, and gulls viewed from Kent Island, Md., September 22, 2010.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

Chesapeake Bay Program (CPB), online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/:
“Bay Program History,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/who/bay_program_history;
“Chesapeake Executive Council,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/who/group/chesapeake_executive_council;
“Partners,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/who/partners.

Chesapeake Bay Commission, online at http://www.chesbay.us/ (this page was the source of the phrases quoted in this episode's audio).  Members of the Commission are listed online at http://www.chesbay.us/members.htm.  Information on the Commission’s Nov. 7-8, 2019, meeting in Baltimore is available online (as a PDF) at http://lis.virginia.gov/191/oth/Agenda.CBC.1107-0819.pdf.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Chesapeake Bay TMDL,” online at https://www.epa.gov/chesapeake-bay-tmdl.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Community/Organizations” and “Rivers, Streams, and Other Surface Water” subject categories.

Following are links to some other episodes on the Chesapeake Bay.

Episode 115, 6-18-12 – on the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Watershed Implementation Plan Phase II.
Episode 140, 12-10-12 – on Captain John Smith’s exploration of the Bay.
Episode 279, 8-24-15 – on oysters and nitrogen in the Bay (part 1).
Episode 280, 9-7-15 – on oysters and nitrogen in the Bay (part 2).
Episode 305, 2-29-16 – on the Bay Barometer and other assessment tools.
Episode 325, 7-18-16 – on submerged aquatic vegetation.
Episode 326, 7-25-16 – on estuaries generally.
Episode 475, 6-3-19 – on the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Watershed Implementation Plan Phase III.

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

The episode—the audio, extra information, or sources—may help with the following Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

2013 Music SOLs

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2010 Science SOLs

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment (including resource management and conservation, land use decisions, hazard mitigation, cost/benefit assessments).

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia, “with reference to the hydrologic cycle.”
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.

Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

2015 Social Studies SOLs

Virginia Studies Course
VS.1 – impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history.
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

United States History to 1865 Course
USI.2 – major land and water features of North America, including their importance in history.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.6 – government at the national level.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.4 – types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.
WG.18 – cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Virginia and United States History Course
VUS.14 – political and social conditions in the 21st Century.

Government Course
GOVT.7 – national government organization and powers.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.

Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.