Public comment period open on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Draft Chesapeake Bay TMDL Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan Download the draft plan Feedback is due June 7 at www.vawipcomments.com The Commonwealth of Virginia released the Draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) for meeting the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for public review and comment on April 5, 2019. The draft plan is a compilation and synthesis of recommendations from Planni

In summer of 2018, Phase III of the Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) was initiated as a continued effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The WIPs were created as a roadmap for Planning District Commissions (PDCs) to identify best management practices—or BMPs—and programmatic strategies to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads in the Bay. Virginia Phosphorus Loads The reduction in pounds of phosphorus in Virginia from 2009 to 2017 (from the grey bar to