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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In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL). This historic clean-up plan provides a guide for reducing pollution and restoring clean water to the Chesapeake Bay and its local rivers, streams and creeks. To guide these efforts, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia (collectively referred to as the “Bay jurisdictions”) created a series of roadmaps—known as watershed implementation plans (WIPs)—describing how each would achieve the pollution reductions called for in the Bay TMDL.

There are three phases of WIPs. Phase I and II WIPs were developed in 2010 and 2012, respectively, and describe actions to be implemented by 2017 and 2025 to achieve the goals of the Bay TMDL. Phase III WIPs, under development in the 2018 to 2019 timeframe, will describe actions Bay jurisdictions intend to implement to meet Bay restoration goals by 2025. Despite some jurisdictions having to do more in order to achieve their nutrient and sediment targets, each of the seven Bay jurisdictions reaffirmed their commitment to having all the practices and controls in place by 2025 to meet applicable water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay.

On June 20, 2018, the EPA released its expectations for the Phase III WIPs, detailing what these documents should entail. Read the full expectations document.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided expectations for the Phase I and Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) in 2009 and 2011, respectively, for the seven Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions to demonstrate reasonable assurance that those allocations assigned to the jurisdictions would be achieved and maintained, and that the 2017 targets would be achieved. Through signing the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, the jurisdictions reaffirmed their commitment to achieving these goals by 2025. In recent discussions, the jurisdictions remain committed to the 2025 goal.

EPA is now providing expectations for the jurisdictions’ Phase III WIPs to maintain accountability in the work under the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL), encourage continued adaptive management to the new information generated during and after the Bay TMDL 2017 midpoint assessment, and lay the groundwork for implementation of the next generation of innovative practices. In addition, the Principals’ Staff Committee (PSC) established expectations for how to account for changed conditions due to Conowingo Dam infill, climate, and growth. These expectations are directed toward ensuring that the seven jurisdictions, and their local, regional, and federal partners have all practices in place by 2025 that will achieve the Bay’s dissolved oxygen, water clarity/submerged aquatic vegetation, and chlorophyll-a standards.

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In March of 2018, the USWG discussed potential ways to credit conservation landscaping for nutrient reduction in the context of the Chesapeake Bay watershed model. A conservation landscaping credit would fill a key gap by enabling homeowners, institutions and municipalities to manage their open space as meadows rather than intensively managed turf grass. Based on subsequent communications with VA DEQ and DOEE staff, we have drafted a proposal to provide credit for conservation landscaping as a homeowner BMP retrofit. This proposal discusses: A definition of conservation landscaping; proposed credit options; technical rationale; qualifying conditions; eligibility; practice reporting; verification; and references. The report was approved on August 10, 2018.

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The main purpose of this BMP guide is to provide summarized profiles for each CBP-approved BMP in the Watershed Model. Each reference sheet includes basic general information about a BMP, how it functions within the Watershed Model, what’s needed for the BMP to be reported for annual progress submissions, as well as links to additional information for readers who want more detailed information about the practice. Implementation aspects of a practice, such as cost, potential ecosystem co-benefits or impacts, maintenance or funding sources are not discussed in the reference sheets because such information varies based on the characteristics and priorities of a region, state or local area.

Second Edition published 11/2022. BMP additions included 04/2024.

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Underwater grasses grow in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its streams, creeks and rivers. These aquatic plants add oxygen to the water, store carbon, absorb nutrient pollution, trap sediment, reduce shoreline erosion and provide food and habitat to fish, blue crabs and waterfowl.

Learn more about the benefits of underwater grasses and what you can do to help them thrive.

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Conowingo Dam is one of three dams on the lower Susquehanna River. For 90 years, the deep, still water of the Conowingo Reservoir behind the dam has captured sediment and nutrient pollution carried downstream by the river. Recent studies, however, indicate that the reservoir is becoming less effective as a “pollution gate” because the reservoir has filled with sediment and is reaching capacity. During large storms and severe floods, the Susquehanna River’s fast-moving flow scoops up some of the sediment (and attached nutrients) stored within the reservoir and carries it over the dam and into the Chesapeake Bay.

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The purpose of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) is to help local and state schools systems collect important information that will help advance the implementation of environmental education efforts in schools in the mid-Atlantic region. This tool, the data collected, and related efforts supporting environmental education in the region are in direct support of the Environmental Literacy Goal and Outcomes of the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (signed 6/19/14).

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The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) was developed to monitor the capacity and progress of public school districts toward meting the environmental literacy goal stated in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement: Enable every student in the region to graduate with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed.

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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 th Bay can meet water quality standards. To collectively achieve these Bay-wide reductions, each watershed jurisdiction is assigned specific nitrogen and phosphorus reduction targets to meet. New draft planning targets for the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) have been developed and are currently under review by each of the jurisdictions, with final planning targets expected to be released in late May 2018.

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