Groundwater hinders bay recovery effort

Slow-moving, nutrient-rich groundwater may frustrate efforts to meet a 2010 deadline for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a recent study.

Maryland and other Chesapeake Bay Program partners have already implemented measures to fulfill bay nutrient-and sediment-reduction commitments by the deadline, program Assistant Director Mike Burke said.

But groundwater takes about 10 years to flow into streams and into the bay, delaying visible signs of water quality improvement, said the survey.

The study is a "two-edged sword," Mr. Burke said. "We know we have some benefits we have not yet seen...