WEBVTT 00:03.880 --> 00:06.389 Over the past couple of decades , in 00:06.400 --> 00:08.520 the Chesapeake Bay , we have seen big 00:08.529 --> 00:10.751 improvements in our water quality , but 00:10.751 --> 00:12.862 there's still a long way for us to go 00:12.862 --> 00:14.807 in order to have a totally healthy 00:14.807 --> 00:17.229 ecosystem . One of the major actions 00:17.239 --> 00:19.239 towards getting us to these healthy 00:19.239 --> 00:22.610 goals is the epa's total maximum daily 00:22.620 --> 00:25.280 loads or t and you can kind of think 00:25.290 --> 00:27.610 about this as the Bay's pollution diet . 00:27.899 --> 00:29.909 It's the total number of pollutants 00:29.920 --> 00:32.580 that we feel the bay can take and still 00:32.590 --> 00:34.599 be able to meet those water quality 00:34.610 --> 00:36.799 standards . I've been living in my 00:36.810 --> 00:39.630 house now for maybe 23 years since July . 00:39.950 --> 00:42.006 The water when we first moved in was 00:42.006 --> 00:44.172 super cloudy all the time year round . 00:44.172 --> 00:46.394 I didn't really worry about it . I love 00:46.394 --> 00:48.506 water skiing . That's one of the main 00:48.506 --> 00:50.617 things I love to do in the Bay area , 00:50.617 --> 00:50.119 water skiing , tubing , knee boarding , 00:50.130 --> 00:52.241 all that fun stuff . But water skiing 00:52.241 --> 00:54.074 is significant to me . I'm not a 00:54.074 --> 00:55.908 fisherman , but over the years I 00:55.908 --> 00:58.074 started noticing oysters growing along 00:58.074 --> 01:00.130 the bulkhead here and I just assumed 01:00.130 --> 01:02.186 that was normal . I had not seen any 01:02.186 --> 01:04.519 oysters anywhere nearby for a long time . 01:04.519 --> 01:06.741 Then in September about two years after 01:06.741 --> 01:08.908 we moved in , the water is as clear as 01:08.908 --> 01:11.074 any lake I've ever seen as part of our 01:11.074 --> 01:12.797 Lynhaven River Basin ecosystem 01:12.797 --> 01:15.019 restoration project . One of the things 01:15.019 --> 01:17.019 we're going to be looking at in our 01:17.019 --> 01:19.241 three different habitat types . So , on 01:19.241 --> 01:21.408 the Oyster Reef , the wetlands and the 01:21.408 --> 01:23.519 summer aquatic vegetation habitats is 01:23.519 --> 01:25.686 not only looking about how the grasses 01:25.686 --> 01:27.741 and the plants and the oysters we're 01:27.741 --> 01:29.963 providing habitat for are doing but saw 01:29.963 --> 01:31.797 all the critters that make those 01:31.797 --> 01:33.963 habitats home and looking at those and 01:33.963 --> 01:36.150 seeing how many we have quantifying 01:36.160 --> 01:38.049 that , see that impact , but also 01:38.049 --> 01:39.993 looking at that over a longer time 01:39.993 --> 01:42.160 frame , we can monitor these reefs for 01:42.160 --> 01:44.382 up to 10 years . So we hope to see kind 01:44.382 --> 01:46.493 of the number of critters that we see 01:46.493 --> 01:48.660 at year one , we hope to see more . At 01:48.660 --> 01:51.989 year 10 , I've seen a lot more dolphins 01:52.000 --> 01:54.430 back here in the recent years . There's 01:54.440 --> 01:56.496 something they obviously want to eat 01:56.496 --> 01:58.718 back here . So that's pretty cool . The 01:58.718 --> 02:00.773 dolphins were not here . Initially , 02:00.773 --> 02:02.996 I've seen more skates , just a lot more 02:02.996 --> 02:05.273 marine life . So improve water quality . 02:05.273 --> 02:07.440 We all benefit from it , clear water . 02:07.440 --> 02:09.551 We can see it's just more , it's more 02:09.551 --> 02:11.551 inviting . The Tis Bay watershed is 02:11.551 --> 02:13.669 64,000 square miles all the way from 02:13.679 --> 02:15.735 New York down through Pennsylvania , 02:15.735 --> 02:18.410 Maryland , West Virginia DC , down to 02:18.419 --> 02:20.419 us in Virginia . So everything that 02:20.419 --> 02:22.586 happens hours away from us affects our 02:22.586 --> 02:24.863 water here . In the Hampton roads area . 02:24.863 --> 02:26.880 So all those pollutants from storm 02:26.889 --> 02:29.470 water runoff , agricultural , run off 02:29.479 --> 02:32.419 air pollution and other factors affect 02:32.429 --> 02:34.429 our water quality here in the Bay , 02:34.429 --> 02:36.429 including excess nutrients , excess 02:36.429 --> 02:38.596 sediments and other things that impair 02:38.596 --> 02:41.639 our water quality . I would hope and 02:41.649 --> 02:43.427 dream that we would have enough 02:43.427 --> 02:45.789 artificial reefs , enough oysters here . 02:45.800 --> 02:47.744 So that year round , regardless of 02:47.744 --> 02:49.744 man's influence because it is man's 02:49.744 --> 02:51.800 influence . The clouds of water have 02:51.800 --> 02:54.570 enough oysters around here , thriving 02:54.580 --> 02:56.520 and surviving and procreating and 02:56.529 --> 02:58.679 spreading that the water remain clear 02:58.690 --> 03:00.710 regardless of how much we and our 03:00.720 --> 03:03.460 boating activities stir it up . This 03:03.470 --> 03:05.692 project is important to me personally , 03:05.692 --> 03:07.859 not just because I'm a biologist , but 03:07.859 --> 03:09.581 I also live in the Haven River 03:09.581 --> 03:11.581 watershed . So I'm out there on the 03:11.581 --> 03:13.748 water with my friends . I'm out at the 03:13.748 --> 03:15.970 restaurants there in the water . I love 03:15.970 --> 03:18.192 to eat local oysters , local fish . And 03:18.192 --> 03:20.248 so protecting this river is not just 03:20.248 --> 03:22.414 important for the ecosystem , but it's 03:22.414 --> 03:24.581 important to me and everyone who works 03:24.581 --> 03:26.748 here at the US Army Corps of Engineers 03:26.748 --> 03:26.949 Norfolk District .