The longest government shutdown in history has ended, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been funded through fiscal year 2026, so government agencies and people central to doing the work of saving the Chesapeake Bay are back on the job. Damage to Bay restoration could, however, have lasting impact.
The record-breaking six-week shutdown forced those working to save the Bay to set aside important efforts, such as monitoring pollution levels, conducting research on challenges to Bay restoration, and funding conservation projects that promote clean water, healthy soil, and restoration of fish and wildlife habitat.
USDA is one of only a few agencies that will get final spending plans for FY 26, which began on Oct. 1, 2025. They will, however, have a smaller budget than last year. So, experts with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can now get back in the field helping farmers implement projects that reduce pollution to rivers and streams that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. Their budget, however, is $65 million smaller, having been cut from $915 million to $850 million.
One bright spot is that the budget provides $2 million in grant funds to processors of invasive wild-caught blue catfish. The blue catfish are voracious predators wreaking havoc on native species, like blue crabs and striped bass. These grants to process them for commercial sale can help reduce their numbers and the damage they cause the Bay’s ecosystem.
The bill that ended the shutdown will also continue to fund the rest of the government agencies, including EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Fish and Wildlife Service, at FY 2025 levels through Jan. 30, 2026.
This means Congress has less than 12 weeks to finish the remaining nine appropriations bills to avoid another shutdown, which would force another stoppage to the work essential to study and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay’s health.
Keisha Sedlacek, senior policy director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, released a statement on the shutdown’s impact on Bay recovery efforts.
“Now that this record-breaking shutdown is over, agencies and employees vital to saving the Bay can get back to this important work,” Sedlacek said. “The shutdown took a serious toll on Bay recovery efforts that includes six weeks of stalled conservation projects, farmers waiting to be reimbursed, crucial water quality data not being collected, and pollution inspectors sidelined.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Sedlacek continued. “This deal only offers a 12-week reprieve for key Bay restoration agencies like EPA, NOAA, and USGS. There’s no time to waste. Congress must finish its job and negotiate fiscal 2026 budgets for all agencies. More importantly, congressional leaders and the president must break this destructive cycle of government shutdowns before the damage they do to the Bay and its waterways becomes irreversible.”
