Chesapeake Bay earns its best report card in 40 years: C+

Driving the news: Eight of the Bay's 15 regions are showing long-term improvements in environmental health, up from six in last year's report card from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

• The Lower Bay, near Virginia Beach, earned a record B+, while Maryland's western shoreline south of Annapolis lagged with a D-.

• Closer to home, the Potomac River earned a C-, the same grade as last year, though its numerical score rose three points.

What's working: Decades of upgrades to wastewater treatment plants and efforts to curb fertilizer and stormwater runoff have reduced pollution, along with investments in restoring oyster reefs — nature's water filters.

• Scientists are also seeing improvements in underwater grasses and oxygen levels that sustain aquatic life.

The big picture: The report comes at a time of uncertainty for federal restoration efforts.

• The Trump administration last month revoked a 2009 Obama-era order that expanded federal coordination around Chesapeake Bay restoration.
• Trump's replacement order emphasizes "on-the-ground" pollution reduction projects, such as planting trees to curb fertilizer runoff, but leaves questions about how federal funding, staffing and oversight will support long-term restoration efforts.

What they're saying: Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Secretary David Bulova called the gains especially remarkable amid population growth, climate change and invasive species like blue catfish.

• "I'm amazed that we make progress at all," he said at Tuesday's announcement. "It really does speak to the incredible job that we are doing to push the ball forward."