Hoping to do something about arguably the most degraded water body in the Chesapeake Bay, a coalition of waterfront businesses, environmental activists and others is holding a conference Feb. 5 on the state of Baltimore's harbor and what's needed to make it swimmable and fishable.

Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, will be the keynote speaker for the day-long session. Other luminaries expected include Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-MD.

But the published agenda indicates the session will go beyond glitz to plumb the reasons for the dismal condition of the lower Patapsco River and hear about efforts to restore other urban waters, in places like Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. There'll also be discussions of what it'll take to reduce trash and pollution here, and how to pay for it.

The conference is hosted by the Waterfront Partnership, which along with the National Aquarium put tiny floating wetlands in the Inner Harbor last summer to see if they can help restore fish habitat and water quality. The man-made marsh was the first tangible, if token, step in a campaign the partnership announced in the spring to make Baltimore's harbor fishable and swimmable by 2020.

It's no understatement to say it will be a huge challenge. The Patapsco and Back rivers earned a failing grade in the latest report card on the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.  The harbor itself is trash strewn and often unsanitary, with long-standing warnings against eating bottom-feeding fish caught there because of toxic contaminants in the muck on the harbor floor.  But undaunted advocates hope to change all that.

The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Legg Mason building in Harbor East. It's open to the public, though advance registration is required. Go here to do that or for more info.

(Ducks swim amid floating trash near Canton, 2005 Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)