Over the past year, Main Street Economics and the Environmental Finance Center have worked in partnership to study the anticipated costs of achieving local Watershed Implementation Plans in communities across the region as well as options for reducing costs in the long-term. To that end, the attached EFC Policy Brief, written by Robert Wieland of Main Street Economics, summarizes our cost analysis in two Maryland communities.
With a new Chesapeake Bay Agreement and its stated focus on implementation costs, we feel that this report is very timely. While financing obligations will require difficult political decisions at the local level, our analysis indicates that with a focus on efficiency and flexibility, water quality goals can be achieved.