If it only took enthusiasm and optimism to set the Chesapeake Bay on a healthy course, Gov. Wes Moore and others who convened Tuesday in Annapolis should be congratulated for a job well done. Alas, the future of the nation’s largest estuary requires a bit more than pluck so for all the good will demonstrated by Maryland’s governor along with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and others on the Chesapeake Bay Program’s executive council (including a video appearance by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the middle of a busy week given his Monday night appearance in Altoona), one has to wonder if this was more of an exercise in wishful thinking.

Let’s be blunt. The cleanup mandated by an interstate compact overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is behind schedule. Governors can certainly resolve to do better. Shapiro’s commitment is especially helpful given Pennsylvania contributes significantly toward the overload of nutrients (often from farm fields) without nearly as much of the waterfront benefit offered Maryland and Virginia. But this isn’t easy. The needed remedies from better sewage treatment to reduced runoff and land-use restrictions are neither cheap nor easy. Even under President Joe Biden, a timid EPA has been reluctant to impose sanctions when deadlines are missed.

And then there’s President-elect Donald Trump, who sought to defund the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay program the last time in office. And the man he’s nominated as EPA administrator, former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence given his focus on exploiting fossil fuels and indifference to environmental threats including climate change.

The reality is that Marylanders, Virginians, Washingtonians and many others of the 18 million people living in the watershed will need to be willing to do more to fight air and waterborne pollution if real progress is going to be made. The most recent Bay report card gave it an overall C+. That’s better than in years past but, again, behind schedule. With an even less active EPA to hold feet to the fire, it may mean advocacy groups will have to be more aggressive, lobbying in state capitals and perhaps even bringing litigation when necessary. And it may mean looking for more help from state taxpayers even as lawmakers grapple with projected budget deficits. Legislation pending in Congress to create a Chesapeake National Recreation Area is welcome but hardly a game-changer.

The good news is that we’ve been down this road before. The bad is that the clock is ticking.