Poll: Chesapeake Bay residents want local and state jurisdiction over water resources

The American Farm Bureau Federation recently released the results of a poll suggesting that residents of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed want their state and local governments to have more authority over water resources than the federal government.

“The results show that people within the watershed, which is a six state area, want state and local governments to be more in control of how our waters are restored, how our environment is protected, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do — to give the state and local authorities a little bit of their power back that Congress meant for them to have,” American Farm Bureau General Counsel Ellen Steen said.

According the poll, 62 percent of respondents were unsupportive of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on the Chesapeake Bay due to the potential impacts on local farmers.

“What we’re trying to do has been so mischaracterized over the years in the media, "Steen said,  "that we’re trying to stop the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay, so these results are very comforting to us because we know what we’re trying to achieve, we know the values that we have and they include clean water and environmental stewardship, but they also include protecting local farmers and caring about people and this shows us that our values are in line with the values of the Chesapeake Bay area."