Publications

This presentation was given to the Management Board on November 15, 2018 about the progess made so far in meeting the Land Use Metrics and Methods Outcome, challenges facing the workgroup tasked with this outcome and requests of the Management Board.

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Workplan for the Stream Health Workgroup: 2018-2019; Draft pending Management Board approval.

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An document containing appendices that showcase conservation priority scoring of Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Subwatersheds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

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The purpose of this report is to offer recommendations to address the expansion of invasive catfish populations and their impacts on living resources in the Chesapeake Bay. The report provides decision-makers an overview of the invasion and recommendations necessary to develop coordinated management strategies for the blue and flathead catfish invasion within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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An Invasive Catfish Symposium was held on November 6-7, 2017, at the VCU Rice Rivers Center. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together fishery managers, scientists, and interested stakeholders to discuss the latest science on invasive catfish and progress made on previous recommendations from the Invasive Catfishes Task Force.

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The purpose of this document is to provide field and laboratory methods and associated quality control requirements for use in Chesapeake Bay water quality monitoring programs, which will result in the generation of known and comparable data quality. State agency staff or subcontractors will conduct field measurements and collect and analyze water and sediment samples for specific physical, chemical and biological parameters according to the procedures in this document.

Conformance with these procedures provides a solid foundation for a wide variety of scientific and management investigations, e.g., attainment of water quality standards, characterization of the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, evaluation of long-term trends, effectiveness of management actions, ecosystem processes and water quality model development and calibration.

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The Chesapeake Bay On-site Wastewater Nitrogen Removal BMP Expert Review Panel was reconvened to specifically evaluate two proposed BMPs:

1. Drip irrigation (at a higher TN reduction credit than currently given under the “Shallow-Placed, Pressure-Dosed Dispersal” BMP) and
2. Peat biofiltration systems discharging to a pad or trench

Upon review of available data, the Panel recommends creating a new, creditable BMP for Drip Irrigation, which has been shown to result in a 50 percent net TN reduction through Zone 1 in the drainfield. Qualifying characteristics for the new BMP, which are described in detail in the report, require the use of pressure compensating emitters, maximum not to exceed loading rates for three different soil types and exclusion of the credit for drip systems installed in Type I (sand textured) soils.

The Panel recommends that peat systems discharging to a pad or trench not be included by the CBP as a new BMP. In particular, existing data were from studies not designed to explicitly address nitrogen removal and the TN results were highly variable and thus inconclusive. The data do appear to support crediting peat filters a 20 percent net TN reduction as an ex situ BMP, consistent with similar technologies which fall under creditable BMPs: Intermittent Media Filters and NSF Standard 40 Systems.

The Panel further recommends that the CBP track efforts underway in EPA Regions 1 and 2 to develop nitrogen sensors specific to monitoring on-site wastewater systems and to consider using such sensors (or other appropriate methods) to verify the performance of BMPs that have been approved and are being implemented in the watershed. Recommendations for outstanding research questions are also provided (the reader is further referred to the 2014 predecessor report on OWTS Nitrogen Removal BMPs and the 2016 OWTS Nitrogen Attenuation report for additional recommendations for the CBP).

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The well-being of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will soon rest in the hands of its youngest citizens: 2.7 million students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Establishing strong environmental education programs now provides a vital foundation for these future stewards. Along with Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., Delaware has committed to helping its students graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watersheds.

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The well-being of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will soon rest in the hands of its youngest citizens: 2.7 million students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Establishing strong environmental education programs now provides a vital foundation for these future stewards. Along with Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Washington, D.C. has committed to helping its
students graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watersheds.

Download publication‍

The well-being of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will soon rest in the hands of its youngest citizens: 2.7 million students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Establishing strong environmental education programs now provides a vital foundation for these future stewards. Along with Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., Virginia has committed to helping its
students graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watersheds.

Download publication‍