Publications

Annual report published by the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee on the status of the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay and management advice for Bay jurisdictions.

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Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) are developed by the seven Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions to help guide their actions as they work to meet the pollution reduction goals outlined in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL) by 2025. These plans consider such things as ecological restoration and sustainability while allowing for greater transparency and accountability for improved performance. Each Bay jurisdiction is currently developing its third WIP (Phase III) since the Bay TMDL was established in 2010. Phase III WIPs are expected to include the specific steps that each of the seven jurisdictions intends to implement between 2019 and 2025 to meet Bay restoration goals.

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This fact sheet describes the co-benefits that are possible when nutrient and sediment best management practices are selected in a thoughtful manner with site-specific conditions in mind. This fact sheet includes contact information for each state for more information. Additional information on best management practices and co-benefits for the Phase III WIPs is available here.

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The 2010 Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL) outlines the reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that are needed to ensure the Bay can meet water quality standards. To collectively achieve these Bay-wide nutrient and sediment reductions, each watershed jurisdiction is assigned specific targets. The Chesapeake Bay Program has developed updated planning targets for the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs).

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The implementation, tracking and reporting of best management practices (BMPs) has been at the center of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s restoration efforts for three decades. BMPs are conservation and technological practices that can reduce the amounts of nonpoint source pollutants—such as nutrients and sediment—that enter local waters and the tidal Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Program rigorously tracks the progress of its partners toward meeting goals for healthier Bay waters, including their BMP implementation efforts. As part of this effort, the partnership requires a three-step BMP verification process that ensures they are being implemented correctly and are effectively reducing nutrient and sediment pollution as expected.

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The population of the Chesapeake Bay region continues to grow, driving land use changes such as increases in developed land areas and decreases in agricultural and natural land cover. How will these changes affect future pollutant loads in the watershed? Using modeling tools, the Chesapeake Bay Program has generated growth projections through the year 2025, which will help jurisdictions (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia) and local partners plan for what is to come. In this context, accounting for growth really means accounting for changes in pollution loads from any source category (e.g. wastewater) due to population growth and associated land use change.

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In 2019, the Invasive Catfish Workgroup worked to re-define priorities, as outlined in the updated Roles and Objectives document.

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Link to the final manuscript, or contact rmurphy@chesapeakebay.net for the final version.

Citation: Rebecca R. Murphy, Elgin Perry, Jon Harcum, Jennifer Keisman, 2019. "A Generalized Additive Model approach to evaluating water quality: Chesapeake Bay case study",
Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 118, 2019, Pages 1-13, ISSN 1364-8152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.03.027.

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The Chesapeake Bay Program Bay Barometer rack card is a student-friendly summary of the Bay Barometer: Health and Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed report.

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The data in Bay Barometer reflect the Chesapeake Bay’s health over the course of many years and, in some cases, decades. The publication offers a snapshot of the best available information from 2017 and 2018 on ecological health and our efforts to protect and restore the nation’s largest estuary, as well as our progress toward achieving the goals and outcomes of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

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