The Environmental Law Institute works throughout the Chesapeake Bay region to promote new tools that support smart growth and reinvestment across the Bay states. Although the Institute has focused extensively on Pennsylvania and Maryland, we have also engaged in Chesapeake Bay-wide research on smart growth.
Featured Areas of Expertise and Resources:
Chesapeake Bay-Wide Smart Growth Research:
The Chesapeake Bay region has experienced significant growth during the past 30 years and continues to grow at a rapid rate. The population of the region increased 26 percent between 1970 and 1994 and is now expected to increase by an additional 3 million people by the year 2020. The resulting demand for new development, often low-density and single-use, has led to a significant loss of open land and the emergence of new pollution concerns.
The Environmental Law Institute's focus on Water Resources Management recognizes that institutional frameworks matter profoundly. Watersheds rarely coincide with jurisdictional boundaries. And water management laws and institutions frequently are limited to specific and narrow objectives — such as allocation of water supplies, construction of infrastructure, concern for endangered species, or administration of specific regulatory mandates — without enough attention to the links among these objectives.
