However the legal battle plays out, the stakes are high. Chesapeake Bay watermen fear pollution will continue to destroy their livelihood. But farmers around the bay fear the fight against pollution could destroy theirs.

“Since the dawn of time, people have needed fertilizer to grow their crops,” said Trey Hill, a fourth-generation grain farmer in Rock Hall. “Thousands of years ago they were using animal waste or human waste to grow crops, which is essentially nitrogen and phosphorous.”

Hill’s crops cover thousands of acres on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As recently as 10 years ago, he would have farmed close to the water’s edge, putting fertilizer and pesticides down. He now plants buffer strips at the water’s edge to contain “nutrient runoff.” He’s also scaled back on the volume of chemicals used on his farm, investing in newer technology to help boost yield.

Hill says these changes were in effect before any EPA agreement, and he doesn’t need a federal agency to tell him how to manage his farm.

“The true impact of what we’re doing with the bumper strips might not be felt for 10 years,” he said.

The EPA’s Jeff Corbin says we’ve waited long enough for the bay to rebound without federal intervention.

“If we would have gotten there anyways, we would have gotten there already,” he said. “We’ve been doing this about 30 years.”

The legal battle may well end up in the Supreme Court.

Should the EPA ultimately lose, Baker says that will mean fewer jobs and a host of other setbacks.

“We’re talking about pollution that affects people’s health,” he said. “Swimming is already risky. We’re talking about drinking water problems. We’re talking about contaminated seafood.”

For the watermen like Kirwin, there’s little faith the warring parties will come to an agreement to save the bay and the businesses in his hometown that rely on it.

“It’s all politics and pollution,” he said. “I don’t think the bay’s ever going to come back to where it was in the ‘60s or ‘70s. I don’t know whether that’s possible any more today.”