Overview

The Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) are the roadmap for how the Bay jurisdictions, in partnership with federal and local governments, will achieve the

Chesapeake Bay TMDL allocations. Bay jurisdictions include Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The TMDL is designed to ensure that all pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025. EPA expects practices in place by 2017 to meet 60 percent of the necessary reductions.

There are three phases of WIPs developed by the Bay jurisdictions. Phase I and Phase II WIPs were developed and submitted to EPA in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Both Phase I and Phase II WIPs describe actions and controls to be implemented by 2017 and 2025 to achieve applicable water quality standards. The Phase II WIPs build on the initial Phase I WIPs by providing more specific local actions. Phase III WIPs will be developed by jurisdictions based on a midpoint assessment of progress and scientific analyses that is currently underway through 2017. Phase III WIPs will provide information on actions the Bay jurisdictions intend to implement between 2018 and 2025 to meet the Bay restoration goals.

The table below shows the eight elements that must be addressed in the jurisdictions' WIPs.

Phase I WIPs

Final Phase I Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) were submitted to EPA by the jurisdictions beginning November 29, 2010. Click on the links below to view the final Phase I WIP for each jurisdiction:

• View Delaware's Final Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan on the State of Delaware's Division of Watershed Stewardship websiteIExit
• View the District of Columbia's Watershed Implementation Plan, Phase I on the Department of Energy and Environment websiteExit
• View Maryland's Final Phase I Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan on the Maryland Department of the Environment websiteExit
• View New York's Phase I WIP on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Chesapeake Bay websiteExit
• View Pennsylvania's January 11, 2011 WIP on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection websiteExit
• View Virginia's Phase I WIP document on the Virginia Deparment of Environmental Quality websiteExit
• View West Virginia's Final Chesapeake Bay Phase I WIP on the West Virginia Chesapeake Bay Program websiteExit

Read EPA's evaluations of the Phase I WIPs on the EPA Oversight of WIPs and Milestones page.

Phase II WIPs

EPA received final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) from the jurisdictions on March 30, 2012. Click on the links below to view the final Phase II WIPs for each jurisdiction:

• View Delaware's Final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan on the State of Delaware's Division of Watershed Stewardship websiteExit
• View District of Columbia's Watershed Implementation Plan - Phase 2 - Chesapeake Bay on the Department of Energy and Environment websiteExit
• View Maryland's Final Phase II Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan on the Maryland Department of the Environment websiteExit
• View New York's Phase II WIP on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Chesapeake Bay websiteExit
• View Pennsylvania's Final Phase II Chesapeake WIP on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection websiteExit
• View Virginia's Phase II WIP on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality websiteExit
• View West Virginia's Final Chesapeake Bay Phase II WIP on the West Virginia Chesapeake Bay Program websiteExit

Read EPA's evaluations of the Phase II WIPs on the EPA Oversight of WIPs and Milestones page.

Read the letters EPA sent to the jurisdictions regarding the planning targets for Phase II WIPs.

Phase III WIPs

The Chesapeake Bay TMDL calls for an assessment in 2017 to review progress toward meeting the nutrient and sediment pollutant load reductions necessary for Bay restoration. In 2018, EPA expects the jurisdictions to develop Phase III Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) following this midpoint assessment of progress in 2017.

This midpoint assessment will measure the Bay jurisdictions' progress towards meeting the 2017 goal of having practices in place to achieve 60 percent of the necessary reductions compared to 2009 levels. The ultimate goal is to have all practices and controls in place by 2025 to achieve the Bay's dissolved oxygen, water clarity/submerged aquatic vegetation and chlorophyll-a standards.

As part of this midpoint assessment, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is reviewing the latest science, data, and modeling and decision support tools to measure progress. The intent of this part of the midpoint assessment is to strengthen the CBP partnership's decision support capabilities to optimize the jurisdictions' Phase III WIPs.

The Phase III WIPs will provide information on actions the jurisdictions intend to implement between 2018 and 2025 to meet the Bay TMDL restoration goals.

Jurisdiction Contacts

Please contact one of the jurisdiction staff members below if you have any questions regarding the development of the Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs).