Fish, Streams, and Water Quality
Fish, Streams, and Water Quality
Enhanced Understanding of Factors Affecting Stream Condition Can Improve Restoration Outcomes
The Chesapeake Bay watershed supports important recreational and commercial fisheries, but many are declining due to poor water quality, loss of quality habitat and increased invasive species. The USGS science activities are improving the understanding of how restoration and conservation efforts, along with land-use and climate change, are affecting conditions for fish, wildlife, and people.
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USGS works with USDA and State Jurisdictions to Enhance Reporting of Agricultural Conservation Practices that Reduce Loss of Nutrients and Sediment in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is working to enhance reporting of agricultural conservation practices being implemented to reduce the loss of nutrients and sediment from the watershed to Chesapeake Bay. Each year, the six State jurisdictions within the Chesapeake Bay watershed are required to report progress in conservation implementation to the CBP partnership at its Annual Progress Review so...
Human development leads to a decline in stream health
Changes in stream flow and pollution have altered plant, insect and fish communities across the nation.
USGS Works with Partners to Study and Summarize Health of Yellow Perch
The USGS works with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Maryland Department of Natural Resources to summarize the effects of suburban lands and contaminants on the health of yellow perch in the Chesapeake Bay.
Water-Quality Improvements Resulting from Suburban Stormwater Management Practices in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Overview of Stormwater Practices to Improve Water Quality in Chesapeake Bay As the largest and most productive estuary in North America, Chesapeake Bay is a vital ecological and economic resource. In recent decades, however, the bay and its tributaries have been degraded by excessive inputs of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment from contributing watersheds, and in 1998, the bay was...
EPA, USGS, with USFWS Release New Report on the Extent and Severity of Toxic Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed
Report summarizing existing information on the extent and severity of the occurrence of toxic contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
Determining Nutrient and Sediment Loads and Trends in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by Using An Enhanced Statistical Technique
As the largest and most productive estuary in North America, Chesapeake Bay is a vital ecological and economic resource. In recent decades, however, the bay and its tributaries have been degraded by excessive inputs of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment from contributing watersheds, and in 1998, the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries were listed as “impaired” under the Clean...
Skin Lesions and Mortality of Fishes in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
As the largest and most productive estuary in North America, Chesapeake Bay is a vital ecological and economic resource. The bay and its watershed have been degraded, however, by poor water quality, loss of habitat, and overharvesting. The Chesapeake Bay Program, a cooperative program among several Federal and State agencies, is working to restore fish and wildlife in the bay watershed and the...
Flux of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Suspended Sediment from the Susquehanna River Basin to the Chesapeake Bay During Tropical Storm Lee, September 2011, as in Indicator of the Effects of Reservoir Sedimentation on Water Quality
Concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment are measured at the U.S. Geological Survey streamgage at Conowingo Dam at the downstream end of the Susquehanna River Basin in Maryland, where the river flows into the Chesapeake Bay. During the period September 7–15, 2011, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Lee, concentrations of these three constituents were among the highest ever...
Science Summary—Indicators of Reproductive Endocrine Disruption in Fish in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
As the largest and most productive estuary in North America, Chesapeake Bay is a vital ecological and economic resource. The bay and its tributaries have been degraded in recent decades, however, as a result of excessive inputs of nutrients and sediment and by the impacts of toxic contaminants on the health of fish and wildlife. Although a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) has been established to...
USGS summarizes information about the Chesapeake Bay and implications for ecosystem management (USGS Circular 1316)
The USGS released the Circular 1316: “Synthesis of U.S. Geological Survey Science for the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem and Implications for Environmental Management”