Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nate de Kieffer Michelle Miller

Geographic Location

• Eastern United States • Watershed includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC • 15 million people live in watershed area • Lies within the Atlantic Coastal plain

Uses

• Commercial Fishing • Shipping • Shipbuilding and other Industries • Recreation • Largest Estuary in North America

Market Failures

• Public Good – no excludability who can use the Bay – so many use the bay it hard to find individual polluters • Imperfect Information – People do not know how far the watershed extends – Unawareness of how actions effect the bay

Nathan de Kieffer:

Market Failures continued

• Externalities – Over-harvesting – Over-use – Pollution from Urban development

Solutions

• Government Intervention • Volunteer Work • Public Awareness