Review of the Proposal 'How Oxygen and Windmills Can Save the Bay'

STAC reviewed the proposal by J. Adam Hewison entitled ‘How Oxygen and Windmills can save the Bay.’ The Committee commended Mr. Hewison for thinking creatively and proposing an innovative approach to addressing the problem of anoxia/hypoxia in the Bay, but concluded that the concept of mechanical aeration, powered by windmills, may have some limited practical applications in subsystems of the Bay and its tributaries. The idea does not, however, represent a potential solution to the low dissolved oxygen conditions found in deep waters of the Bay mainstem. The proposal to aerate the Bay with windmills addresses a symptom, not the cause of the Bay?s problem. Reducing nutrient inputs is the only long-term solution to extensive hypoxia in the deep waters of the Chesapeake Bay. A full summary of the Committee?s response is available in the accompanying report.