Chesapeake Bay Program
A Watershed Partnership
The State
of th>
Chesapeake Bay
an
d Its
Watershed
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The Chesapeake Bay Program, formed
in 1983 by the first Chesapeake Bay
agreement, is a unique regional part-
nership guiding the restoration of the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
The Bay Program partners include
the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania
and Virginia; the District of Columbia;
the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a
tri-state legislative body; the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), which represents the federal
government; and participating adviso-
ry groups. Delaware, New York and
West Virginia, representing the Bay's
headwaters, also participate in Bay
Program water quality restoration
activities.
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The majestic Chesapeake Bay is the
heart of the mid-Atlantic region. From
early Native Americans to todays
visitors and residents, people have
stood in awe of the astonishing beauty
and plentiful resources provided by the
Chesapeake and its surrounding lands.
Today, however, the Bay and its water-
shed are in peril and require immediate
attention. This report on the health of
the Bay watershed presents current
efforts to restore what the U.S. Congress
has called our "national treasure.'
A Report to the Citizens of the Bay Region
2004
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To learn more about your
part of the Bay watershed,
visit Watershed Profiles at
www.chesapeakebay.net/wspv31
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The Chesapeake Bay watershed
covers an enormous 64,000-
that includes parts of six states —
Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West
Virginia — and all of the District of Columbia. Billions of gallons
of water flow each day through our backyard streams and rivers and,
eventually, into the Chesapeake Bay.
The Bay is an estuary — a place of transition between the land and
the sea, where incoming fresh water mixes with salty ocean water.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America /-"
and is an extremely productive ecosystem, home to more /
than 3,600 species of plants and animals.
[ Chesapeake Bay Watershed
^J State boundaries
I Chesapeake Bay and Rivers
A Watershed Defined: A watershed is
the land area through which water
flows and drains to the lowest point
into a stream, river, lake or estuary.
A watershed may be large or small,
may occupy sloping, mountainous or
nearly flat terrain and cover many
landscapes, including forests, farm-
land, small towns and cities. Human
activities in a watershed eventually
affect the water quality downstream.
_
A Report to the Citizens of the Bay Region
2004
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L
A Stressed Ecosystem
For centuries, people have settled throughout the Bay's watershed and
harvested its bounty. The Bay and its rivers provide drinking water for
millions, pathways for commerce, robust fish and shellfish industries,
and recreation. As people have taken advantage of these resources,
they have forever changed the Bay.
Today, the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed are in danger. Although
it has provided for us for hundreds of years, the Bay now needs help
from every citizen in the watershed.
Each small part of the Bay region is interconnected. Streams flowing
through the Chesapeake's headwaters are linked to the blue crab
hiding among underwater grasses in its shallows. Natural corridors
throughout the watershed connecting wetlands, forests and streams
provide important habitat. These forests and wetlands hold nutrients
and sediment in place and reduce the amount of runoff flowing into
small creeks and streams. As they are destroyed to make room for
roads and buildings, their ability to hold back pollutants and the
important habitat they offer are lost as well.
A complex network of rivers and streams, beginning at the
Chesapeake's headwaters hundreds of miles away, carries fresh
water into the Bay. These waterways also carry pollution, and by
the time they reach the Chesapeake, the accumulated pollution
load can be enormous.
4
The State of the Chesapeake Bay and Its Watershed
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Bay Program
Partnership
Working to Restore the Chesapeake
Bay restoration partners know that we have forever changed the
watershed's landscape. Now, in the face of a growing population, we
must work to manage the natural systems of the Bay and its watershed
to bring them back into balance.
The Chesapeake Bay region states have joined forces with the federal
government to restore and protect the Bay and its watershed. This
partnership, called the Chesapeake Bay Program, was created in 1983
to help coordinate restoration efforts across state boundaries. Over the
6
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past 20 years, scientists, resource managers, community organizations,
local governments, farmers, watermen and other citizens have come
together to work toward securing a brighter future for the Chesapeake.
Restoration effort is ongoing, and we need your help. We must be
diligent in protecting and restoring the Bay, so that our children and
theirs—and many generations to come—will be able to enjoy the
splendor of this national treasure.
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The State of the Chesapeake Bay and Its Watershed
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The State of the
Chesapeake Bay
and its Watershed
The State of the Chesapeake Bay and
its Watershed provides a snapshot of
the Bay's health. This section of the
report gives a brief overview of some
of the key indicators Bay experts rely
on to assess the health of the Bay and
its watershed. Where possible, this
report shows how these indicators are
interrelated and interconnected within
the watershed.
Want to Learn More?
For more information on each
indicator, we include a direct
link to the Chesapeake Bay
Program website. By following
the links, visitors to the
website can explore issues
in depth and access the data
used to compile the report.
Many of the indicators
included in the following
pages are updated and posted
on the Bay Program website
as new data are available
throughout the year.
For a full list of the indicators used in this
report, visit the State of the Chesapeake
Bayand its Watershed section of the
Chesapeake Bay Program's website, at
www.chesapeakebav.ne1/SOTB04
Nutrient and Sediment
Pollution Edging Down
Monitoring data collected throughout the watershed
show that, in some of the Bay's major tributaries, the
concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment
flowing into the Bay are decreasing.
These charts use flow-adjusted data, which are
'normalized' to account for seasonal and year-to-year
variability in weather patterns. Flow-adjusted data help
resource managers better assess the effectiveness of
land-based pollution reduction actions.
www.chesapeakebay.net/sedimenthtm
www.chesapeakebay.net/nutr1.htm r
1980s-2003
Nitrogen Phosphorus Sediment
N P S Decreasing trend
N P S No significant trend
^ ^ ^ Increasing trend
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irclKsapeakebay. net blue_crab. him
sapea kebay.netfctii ped_ba
w.cheapeahebay. nettaygias. ht
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Water Clarity
Improvements
Needed In Key
Habitat Areas
Water clarity is critical to
the health of underwater
grasses that provide
important habitat for
many Bay animals.
www.chesapeakebay.net/
status.cfm?sid=80
Northeast
Gunpowder
Bush
Canal
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r Upper Central Mainstem Bay
- Upper Chester
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Upper Choptank
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yPocomoke
Tangier Sound
Trend
(1985-2003)
Degrading
Improving
Segments with
unchanged trends
Bay Grass Habitat
Bequirement
Attainment Status
(2QG1-2003)
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Elizabeth
Northeast
Mixed Trends
in Algae Levels
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Trend
(1985-20031
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Bappahannock
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Nutrient Pollution -
Too Much of a Good Thing
When too many nutrients reach the
Bay, they fuel large algae blooms that,
in turn, block sunlight and deplete the
oxygen in the water as the algae die
and decompose. Without sunlight,
underwater bay grasses cannot grow.
Without oxygen, blue crabs and fish
cannot live. As underwater bay
grasses die off, important habitatfor
fish and shellfish is lost. As blue crab
populations decline, larger fish, such
as rockfish, have fewer food sources.
Each small part of the Bay ecosystem
is connected. If one part is out of
balance, the entire system suffers.
12
Sunlight
Excess Nutrients
Feed Algae Blooms
Reduced Light
Transmission
Algau Die-off and Decomposition
No Oxygen
Reduced
Bay Grasses
Dead Fish
Dead Oysters
The State of the Chesapeake Bay and Its Watershed
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Nutrients and Sediment
Harming the Bay
Nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorous, are the key pollu-
tants harming the Chesapeake Bay. In small quantities, nutrients aren't
harmful. In fact, a healthy ecosystem needs nutrients for plants to grow
and animals to flourish. But too many nutrients have disastrous effects.
Nutrients enter waterways through numerous paths. Rainwater carries
fertilizer from lawns and farm fields. It washes small particles of dirt
and oil from roadways and sidewalks, and erodes unprotected stream
banks. Nutrients come from many sources, such as lawn fertilizer,
sewage treatment plants and septic systems, farm fields and even the
air. The largest contributors of nutrients to the Bay are agriculture,
atmospheric deposition (nutrients entering the Bay from the air),
wastewater treatment plants and runoff from developed, urban lands.
Sediment, what many of us refer to as dirt, also is harmful to the Bay.
It is carried into waterways by stream bank and shoreline erosion and
rainwater runoff. Sediment clouds the Bay's water and limits the light
needed for underwater bay grasses to grow.
The amount of nutrients and sediment flowing into the Bay must be
reduced to restore healthy water quality for the Bay's living resources.
Bay Program partners are working together to develop comprehensive
solutions, referred to as tributary strategies, for reducing nutrient
pollution.
For more i.
of nutrients on tne Bay ecosystem, visn
www.chesapeakebay.net/nutr1 .htm
A Report to the Citizens of the Bay Region
2004
1-3
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The Chesapeake Bay is a dynamic system, and conditions within
the Bay fluctuate from year to year, month to month and even day
to day. With time, this complex system will respond to our restoration
efforts, from pollution reductions and fisheries management to
habitat restoration.
Examining data over time helps scientists understand natural varia-
tions as well as the long-term effects of restoration efforts. All of the
data provided in this report reflect the Bay's health over the course
of many years, and in some cases, decades.
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Assessing a Vast Watershed
Bay scientists have found that actions on land, even hundreds of miles
upstream in the headwaters, affect the Bay's living resources downstream.
Understanding the effects of management actions, as well as their
relationship to the rest of the Bay ecosystem, requires a complex set
of tools. As a result, Bay scientists rely heavily on a collection of water
quality monitoring data and computer modeling.
Bay Program partners regularly collect water samples throughout the
Bay's mainstem as well as from its rivers and streams. Scientists analyze
these samples to understand the current and long-term health of the
Bay and its rivers.
These data are then combined with other information, such as historic
hydrologic conditions and management actions, and used to create
computer models of the Chesapeake and its watershed. These computer
models help scientists better understand the likely effects of management
actions on the Bay's health. They also help scientists gain a better under-
standing of how the Bay works.
Computer models are used to evaluate management strategies and
projected long-term progress toward restoring a healthy Bay, while
monitoring data help us determine whether we're successful. Bay
Program partners track more than 100 indicators of restoration
progress and Bay watershed health; 89 of these use monitoring
and tracking data, and the rest rely on computer modeling.
The State of the Chesapeake Bay and Its Watershed
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Restoring the Bay
A Work in Progress
When viewed together, what do all of these data and analyses tell
Bay scientists about the health of the Chesapeake and its watershed?
The Chesapeake Bay is a complex, sensitive and dynamic ecosystem.
As a result, it is impossible to define the current state of the
Chesapeake Bay in short, simple terms. No single chart tells the
whole story.
Some areas of the Chesapeake and its watershed are improving.
For instance, the number of streams with restored forested buffers -
a vital management practice that slows the flow of harmful nutrients
and sediment into streams and the Bay - is increasing. Rockfish are
common in many areas of the Bay during summer months. On the
other hand, critical species such as oysters and blue crabs are at or
near historically low levels because of disease, harvest pressures,
degraded habitat and poor water quality conditions.
Long-term monitoring data trends indicate that some progress has
been made in stemming the flow of harmful nutrients into the Bay.
Nearly 100 wastewater treatment plants have been upgraded to
limit nutrient pollution. Similarly, more than three million acres
of cropland have pollution-fighting nutrient management plans in
place. But while we are making some progress, we still have a very
long way to go. In 2003, near-record rains washed massive amounts
of pollution into local waters and the Bay, resulting in record losses
of Bay grasses and a huge increase in the volume of low-oxygen
waters during the middle of the summer. Only after we have slashed
nutrient and sediment levels far below current levels will we have
a Bay ecosystem healthy and resilient enough to withstand these
natural variations in weather.
A Report to the Citizens of the Bay Region
2004
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Progress toward Meeting
Nutrient and Sediment
Goals Limited
The Chesapeake Bay Program
Watershed Model provides program
managers with a way to estimate the
nutrient and sediment reductions that
will likely occur as pollution abatement
practices are implemented throughout
the watershed. These reduction esti-
mates also provide an indication of the
pollutant load that would flow into the
Bay in an "average year." Using the
model, managers can projectthe
future response of various manage-
ment actions put in place today.
Model estimates and water quality
monitoring observations both indicate
some limited progress has been made
toward meeting watershed-wide
nutrient and sediment reduction goals.
However, much more needs to be
done. To meet the dramatically tougher
pollution reduction goals set in 2003,
we must slash nearly twice as much
nitrogen from the waters flowing into
the Bay as has been eliminated since
1985, according to model estimates.
Steep reductions in the amount of
phosphorus and sediment flowing
into the Bay also are needed.
While model estimates
allow us to assess restora-
tion actions, the ultimate
success of Bay restoration
will be measured by the
health of the Bay's living
resources. (For more
information on the Bay
Watershed Model, see
"Assessing a Vast
Watershed", page 16.)
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Confronting the Bay's Challenges
While important advances have been made over the past few decades
in understanding the Chesapeake and implementing restoration
programs, much more work remains to be done. The Bay watershed's
population grows by 100,000 each year, and development pressure
is intensifying. We must make many difficult decisions, right now.
Communities must decide how to stem the tide of nutrients and
other pollutants flowing into the Bay as their populations grow
and the demand for housing, roads and other development increases.
Finding innovative ways to install best management practices on city
streets, in wastewater treatment plants and on farms continues to be
a challenge. In addition to improving the way we manage our lands,
we must improve the way we manage our living resources and take
into account the way they interact with the entire Bay ecosystem.
Chesapeake Bay
Watershed Population
Increasing
e 1950, the Bay watershed's
population has doubled to about 16
million people. As the population of
the watershed grows, so does our
footprint on the landscape. In the past
decade, population increased by
about 8 percent, while the amount of
impervious surface increased by 41
percent, representing an area five
times the size of the nation's capital.
Managing future growth will be
critical to preserving gains made
during the first two decades of Bay
restoration efforts.
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A Report to the Citizens of the Bay Region
2004
19
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Each citizen in the Bay watershed
plays a part in this effort. Even the smallest
contributions can add up to big changes for the health of your local
waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The Bay restoration partners
have a clear plan for restoring and protecting the Chesapeake and
its watershed - Chesapeake 2000. Citizens must take part in
implementing this plan. Students can work with their teachers to
implement schoolyard and neighborhood restoration projects.
Community groups can team up with local conservation organiza-
tions to restore their local streams. Businesses can find ways to
reduce their impact on their communities.
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nesapeake Bay
Gateways Are Your
Looking to the Future
We must remember that humans have been influencing the Bay
and its watershed for hundreds of years. The Bay cannot be restored
overnight. Bay scientists are helping us understand the problems
facing the Chesapeake, and Bay Program partners are working on
an ambitious effort to restore the watershed. But it is only through
the dedicated work of everyone living in the Bay watershed,
sustained over time, that we can restore the majestic beauty
and bounty of the Chesapeake Bay.
Chesapeake Bay Gateways are points
of entry into the Chesapeake Bay's
rich life and culture, where you can
experience the history that shaped
our nation, from the earliest European
settlements and the War of
Independence, through the Industrial
Revolution, the Civil War and into
the 21st century. Chesapeake Bay
Gateways reveal the Bay's hidden
treasures and tell its stories. Through
its parks, wildlife refuges, maritime
museums, historic or archaeological
sites and water trails, each gateway
provides a place to enjoy, relax,
explore and learn more about the
Chesapeake Bay.
Visit www.baygateways.net to
learn more about Chesapeake Bay
Gateways and to plan your own
Chesapeake Bay journey.
For more information on how you can
get involved in your community to help
restore the Bay and its rivers, visit
www.chesapeakebay.net/involved.htm
/Production Notes:
Design: 818 Studio, Inc.
Illustrations: Wood Ronsaville Harlin, Inc.
Photography: Many of the images included
in this report were provided by the National
Park Service's Chesapeake Bay Gateways
Network, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA),the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Sen/ice (USFWS) and the Paynter
Labs. Additional photographs courtesy of
Middleton Evans, Starke Jett, Mike Land,
Russ Mader, Dr. Kent Mountford and
Chris Spielmann.
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Chesapeake Bay Program
A Watershed Partnership
unesapeaKe bay program
410 Severn Avenue, Suite 109
Annapolis, Maryland 21403
(800) YOUR BAY
www.chesapeakebay.net
'* I
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