They were right. Also highly ranked, the means of dealing with chemical contaminants in the water seem to be mostly in place. In contrast with nutrients, where much of the structure is backed up by the regulatory process, the toxics effort is predominantly voluntary, with major reliance on pollution prevention programs. The area of weakness, predictably, is with runoff and other nonpoint sources, where the means to deal with the problems are legally and technically weaker. Right up there at the top with nutrients and sediments, the structure for setting and meeting air pollution reduction requirements is provided by the Clean Air Act.
Air is the source of about a quarter of the nitrogen entering the Bay.
The new goal to preserve 20 percent of the watershed as open space already has a lot going for it. Private land conservancies and trusts have been making steady progress protecting forests and farms with conservation easements and outright acquisition. State programs such as Maryland's Project Open Space and Pennsylvania's Growing Greener initiative, as well as new laws expanding efforts in Virginia, are all positive trends. And the federal government has upped its support through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and pending legislation to expand funding to states and at the local level. The challenge is to get all of these efforts working together, while respecting their independence and individual conservation agendas.