Publications

This report constitutes CBP's response to Congress's request for a report on the implementation of GAO's recommended actions. The report also describes the CBP partner's development and continued refinement of an action plan for the Chesapeake Bay. The CBP partners agree with Congress and GAO on the need to continually improve the effectiveness of the program and to accelerate the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. As a whole, the Chesapeake Action Plan represents an important enhancement to the way CBP operates.

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The Executive Order acknowledges that although the federal government should assume a strong leadership role in the restoration of the Bay, success depends on a collaborative effort involving state and local goveernments, businesses, non-governmental organizations and the region's residents. To develop the strategy, federal agencies consulted with the six Bay watershed staates, the district of Columbia and the Chesapeake Bay commission, engaged key stakeholders and held public meetings.

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This report describes the relation of different land uses associated with nonpoint sources of nitrogen to be concentration of nitrogen in gournd water within the Patuxent River Basin in Maryland. Historical groundwater data from the USGS National Water Information System (MWIS) data base are presented. Concentrations of different nitrogen species in ground water are compared. Statistical relations between different land uses and concentrations of nitrate (a species of nitrogen) in ground water are examined. Gaps in existing data are identified, and implications of nitrogen transport in ground water that is discharged to streams and coastal areas are discussed.

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This report does not offer a critique of the state programs. Instead, it generates data from which sound policy can evolve. It offer a foundation analysis that provides insights into how markets can minimize the cost of pollution reductions, with cost being one of several factors for policymakers to consider. The memberss of the Economics of Trading Advisory Council were instrumental in assuring the accuracy and applicability of this work to our region. The Council's advice, coupled with the extraordinary expertise of the contractors, made the project possible.

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Presented here are the results of the first two years of the monitoring program. During this period (summer 1984 through summer 1986) a major campaign has been initiated to reveal the present condition of the Bay in quantitative terms, to assess how the Bay is changing in response to management decisions, and to determine the causes of the current decline. At this early stage in the program, an unprecedented understanding of the Bay's current condition has already been achieved. It is this developing understanding of crrent conditions that will be the focus of this report. Future reports will examine in more detail the Bay's response to management actions and some of the underlying causes of the Bay's problems.

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This Monitoring program is designed to provide, initially, a sound "base-line" or characterization of the health of the Bay, which we can then use to document the response (hopefully improvement) of the system to the many abatement actions planned by state and Federal governments. This documentation process will be the principal emphasis of the program. Both the initial establishment of base-lines and the ongoing monitoring program are predicated upon a long term commitment that will ensure consistent data covering many years. Emphasis has been placed on obtaining high quality data that can serve reliably to document changes in the system over time, taking into account natural year-to-year variations.This kind of information is essential to provide a clear record of the impact that Federal and state governments' remedial programs, both current and future, have on the Bay.

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Pfiesteria pisicida has emerged as the most recent threat to environmental and human health posed by harmful algae such as dinoflagellates and diatoms. Unlike most of those algae, which reveal themselves in red or brown or mahogany tides, Pfiesteria-like species show their presence only by the appearance of dead fish or fish with severe lesions. Preliminary evidence suggests that human health effects may occur even before large fish kills are present. To protect both coastal fisheries and the public health, we need to detect potential Pfiesteria outbreaks before they occur.

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Twenty-five years ago, the declining health and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay prompted the General Assemblies of Maryland and Virginia to create Chesapeake Bay Commission (CBC) in order to coordinate their joint efforts to restore the ailing estuary. IN 1985, acknowledging the vast role the Susquehanna River plays in the well-being of the Bay, Pennsylvania joined the Commission to form the tri-state legislative body as it stands today.The Commission is made up of 21 meembers. Under their leadership, the Commission is not only an active partner in the Chesapeake Bay Program, but also a coordinator of regional policy for the Bay. Fifteen of the members are legislators, which with five each from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. representing an aptly diverse cross-section of localities within the watershed. The governors of each of the three states are also represented by cabinet members who are directly responsible for managing their states' natural resources. Three citizen representatives complete the membership, one from each state. Each contributes their own unique perspective and expertise.

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This is a progress report primarily summarizing 4.5 years of data from July 1992 - december 1996. Although we present selected data covering the entire project period of August 1990 to December 1995, a previous report (Fisher etal. 1992b) summarized the details of the data from August 1990 to June 1992. In July 1992 wwe changed our protocols for nutrient addition bioassays, and we added two new indicators of P and N deficiency; alkaline phosphatase activity and the ammonium enhancement ratio. In July 1994 we also added intracellular ratios of amino acids as an indicator of N deficiency. this report gives cumulative statistics on bioassays from August 1990 to December 1996, and in the body of the report we emphasize the last 4.5 years of data on indicators of N and P deficiency and their potential use iin future monitoring efforts.

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This document summarizes and synthesizes the Nutrient Reduction Strategies for Maryland's ten Tributary Strategy watersheds. Each of the ten Strategies provides specific recommendations to achieve the 40% nutrient reduction goal. The Strategies represent a collective effort over the past year among all levels of government with extensive input by various interest groups and citizens. Local governments, in particular, have spent considerabler time and effort and provided significant input to the draft Strategies. Each Strategy provides an example of how the goal may be achieved through specific programs and practices, called "nutrient reduction options."

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