For their February 2020 meeting, the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) held their first meeting in West Virginia in Berkeley Springs. CAC members heard from West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection, the Eastern Panhandle Regional Planning and Development Council and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

CAC was excited and inspired to learn about successful partnerships in West Virginia that support and protect the headwater rivers that eventually flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

In addition to headwater updates, members discussed opportunities for federal funding for Abandoned Mine Lands reclamation legislation, the recent settlement between Exelon and the Maryland Department of the Environment regarding the Conowingo Dam, and recent federal regulation changes including the Section 401 Clean Water Act Water Quality Certifications, the National Environmental Policy Act and Waters of the United States rule.