space, we lamented a proposal

from President Donald Trump and

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to cut federal spending for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup by 90 percent, from $73 million to $7.3 million.

Thankfully, that is old news.

Around the same time last spring, freshman Rep. Elaine Luria (D–2nd) proposed a substantial increase in federal Bay funding: $90 million for 2020, with an increase of $500,000 in each of the next four years for a five-year total of $455 million. Representatives Rob Wittman (R–1st) and Bobby Scott (D–3rd) signed on to the House measure, as did many others in bipartisan fashion.

Though the dynamics of the situation are unclear—perhaps in search of a more tenable negotiating position—the House approved a measure over the summer setting the 2020 allocation at $83 million.

Meanwhile, even in the Republican-controlled Senate, there appeared little appetite for the draconian cut proposed by Trump and Wheeler. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a plan to spend $76 million on the Bay in fiscal 2020, an increase of $3 million.

Within the past week, Congress announced that the House and Senate agreed to a 2020 Bay expenditure of $85 million, a $12 million increase over current spending. It’s an infinitesimal percentage of the $1.4 trillion budget that passed the House of Representatives and Senate last week to be sent to the president for his signature.

In the middle of all this, a Senate committee approved legislation introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D–Md.) that would set federal Bay funding at $90 million per year through 2025. It’s unclear what the outcome of that plan will be.

By the way, 2025 is the deadline for watershed jurisdictions to have in place all practices and controls designed to achieve the Bay’s dissolved oxygen, water clarity/submerged aquatic vegetation standards as stated in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load agreement. TMDL sets the amount of various pollutants that the Bay can handle and continue to improve.

As is Virginia’s practice in mid-December each year, the governor brings forth his budget proposals for the coming General Assembly session. This year promised to be a bit different with a Democratic governor and Democratic control of the House of Delegates and state Senate.

One difference is in the attention given to the environment. To put Virginia on a course that meets the 2025 Watershed Implementation Plan deadline, Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed a Bay allocation of $400 million for the 2020–22 biennium.

If that sounds like a lot of money for the state, it is. Funding the Bay cleanup is a complicated process, with various aspects funded differently in the first and second years of the biennial budget. In rough and round figures, Virginia’s allocation for fiscal 2019 is about $100 million. The governor is proposing to double that to $200 million for each of the next two years.

The Bay funding increase will compete against myriad other budget proposals. Virginia’s balanced-budget requirement means revenues will still need to equal expenditures, putting a practical limit on spending increases.

But the additional Bay money would help localities reduce stormwater pollution and upgrade wastewater treatment plants. It would increase oyster reef restoration and provide more aid to farmers to curb nutrient runoff. Northam should be applauded for seeking such a commitment.

Though the Bay’s ecosystem remains fragile and can be affected by the weather, such as excessive rainfall or the lack thereof, the Bay has shown improvement and resilience in recent years, giving advocates hope that a healthy Bay can be achieved. The improvement is a direct result of the EPA’s supervision of the watershed states’ efforts and continued state and federal funding.

Now is the time for all watershed jurisdictions—even Pennsylvania—to step up their efforts if they are to meet the 2025 deadline. That goal is more likely to be accomplished with a burst in annual spending over the next five years than it is without it.

An environmentally healthy Bay with a bounty to match will prove the wisdom of the investment.