Publications

Watershed management planning provides opportunities to address water quality and habitat issues within the physical boundaries of a watershed rather than political boundaries. It is an inclusive approach to support environmental protection, quality of the issues, and economic development-using the watershed as a holistic planning framework.

Download publication‍

Development in the Chesapeake Bay region has adversely affected the water quality of the Bay. The general degradation in the Bay has resulted in the decline of commercial fishing industries and has reduced the area of aquatic vegetation that provides food and habitat for fish and shellfish. In order to assess the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing the effects of excess nutrients and suspended solids on Chesapeake Bay. It is necessary to quantify the loads of the constituents into the Bay, and to evaluate the trends in water quality. This report presents the results of a study funded by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality-Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Programs and the U.S. Geological Survey, to monitor and estiamte the loads of selected nutrients and suspended solids discharged to Chesapeake Bay from five major tributaries in Virginia. The water quality data and load estimates provided in this report also will be used to calibrate computer models of Chesapeake Bay.

Download publication‍

This document represents a systhesis of the overall findings of water quality and living resources data generated over the first 12 years (1985 through 1996) of the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program. In this report, patterns of water quality and living resources for Virginia's tributaries and the Virginia Chesapeake Bay are examined. Patterns of nutrient loadings are examined for the entire watershed of each river; however status and trends in water quality and living resources are presented on for the tidal portion of each river. Te tidal portion of each river (also referred to as an estuary) represents that portion which is influenced by tides and by the mixing of saltwater from the ocean and freshwater from land runoff and groundwater. A series of more technical documents is also available which contain detailed statistical results that are the basis of this report.

Download publication‍

In the summer of 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency, the commonwealth of Virginia and State of Maryland instituted the mainstem water quality monitoring programs to study the Chesapeake Bay. During this period the Commonwealth of Virginia also developed and instituted the Tributary Water Quality Monitoring Program. This program will complement the efforts within the mainstem of the Bay and provide vital information about the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers as well as some of their major tributaries. During the 1984-1986 biennium, Virginia also initiated plankton and benthic monitoring programs in the mainstem and tributaries. The benthic program samples eleven tributary and five mainstem stations four time per year. The plankton probram samples six tributary and seven mainstem stations up to twenty times per year. All of the station sampled under the biological programs are also monitored for water quality, thus allowing for the integration of water quality information with the biological data.

Download publication‍

In March 1990, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acting on behalf of the Executive Council of the Chesapeake Bay Program, convened this Panel to assess the effectiveness of current efforts to reduce nonpoint source loadings of nutrients entering the Bay system. Our task was to provide an independent assessment of the likelihood that the current array of programs is sufficient to achieve the Baywide 40 percent nutrient reduction goal established by the 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement. This panel's members represent a wide range of interests concerned with and affected by Bay programs in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. This report distributes those findings.

Download publication‍

The Agriculture Nutrient Reduction Workgroup of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Nutrient Subcommittee held a one-day conference on "Coordinating Phosphorus-Based Nutrient Management Policies in the Chesapeake Bay Region" on March 29, 2001. Agronomic scientists and program implementation staff came together and presented information on phosphorus management in agricultural systems. The objective of the conference was to begin building consensus concerning questions and issues pertaining to phosphorus-based (P-based) nutrient management policies withiin the region. This report lists those recommendations.

Download publication‍

We are please to introduce the Bay and River Public Access Guide and to welcome you to Chesapeake country-a regiona rich in natural, cultural, and recreational diversity. When we signed the 1987 Bay Agreement, we recognized that public use and enjoyment of the Bay and its tributaries were important factors in building support for conservation efforts. We hope the Bay and River Guide will deepen your appreciation for these valuable natural treasures, and that you will feel a growing commitment to protecting and saving them for future generations.

Download publication‍

We are pleased to introduce the Bay & River Public Access Guide and to welcome you to Chesapeake country-a region rich in natural, cultural, and recreational diversity. When we signed the 1987 Bay Agreement, we recognized that public use and enjoyment of the Bay and its tributaries were important factors in its tributaries were important factors in building support for conservation efforts. We hope the Bay and River Guide will deepen your appreciation for these valuable natural treasures, and that you will feel a growing commitment to protecting and saving them for future generations.

Download publication‍

Download publication‍

fisheries management in Chesapeake Bay, and globally, is based upon single-species plans (FMPs) that oftern have neglected biological interactions such as predator-prey relationships of the so-called technical interactions (e.g. bycatch, discards) that affect yields, productivity, profitability, and which may have implicationss for the broad ecosystem management goals of the Chesapeake Bay Program. There is no substitute for good monitoring programs of fished species and of key interacting species. Modeling evolves from and depends upon monitoring results, and management depends upon an understanding of status nad trends of stocks. Fishery-independent surveys tomonitor resources and to obtain biological data, if instituted and coordinated throughout the Bay, would help to improve management.

Download publication‍