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Connecting Conservation Practices to Local Stream Health in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Open Fact Sheet 2024–3030

Impact of Current and Historic Land Use on Stream Incision in Maryland Piedmont Headwaters

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Phosphorus in the Susquehanna River

May be Tied to Legacy Sediment and Changing pH

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New Insights for Reducing Nutrient and Sediment Loads

In Agricultural Watersheds Prioritized for Management Activities

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Wastewater reuse may be detrimental to smallmouth bass abundance in the Shenandoah River Watershed

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Chesapeake Publication Receives National Award for Outstanding Technology Paper

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Newsletter: October 2023-March 2024

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Publications

Discover Chesapeake related science in reports and journal articles authored by USGS scientists

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Chesapeake Bay Activities

The Chesapeake Bay is our Nation’s largest estuary and provides over $100 billion in annual economic value. The USGS works with Federal, State, local, and academic partners to provide research and monitoring and to communicate results to inform management for the Chesapeake and other important landscapes across the Nation.

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Connecting Conservation Practices to Local Stream Health in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Technician, wearing life jacket, on riverbank reaching up to use cableway to collect water sample

The Chesapeake Bay Partnership is implementing conservation practices (CPs) throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reduce nutrient and sediment delivery to the Bay. This study intends to provide an integrated and detailed understanding of how local streams respond to these CP-driven management efforts.

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Agricultural and Urban Management Practices have Hidden Costs and Benefits to Stream Health

A woman stands in a stream holding scientific equipment

The findings of the study highlight that management practices can have both hidden costs and benefits to fish and macroinvertebrates depending on regional and local factors like how many and what type of management practices are implemented.

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Quick Links

Learn more about USGS science activities in the Bay from our Science Strategy. Additional summaries of the USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities are available in the science topics section.

News

New Framework for Seamless Fish Habitat Assessments

New Framework for Seamless Fish Habitat Assessments

EROS History: Archive Unveils Earth’s Secrets

EROS History: Archive Unveils Earth’s Secrets

More osprey reproduction problems found around the Chesapeake Bay

More osprey reproduction problems found around the Chesapeake Bay

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Publications

Invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay: A risk to realizing Bay restoration investments

Introduction The partners of the Chesapeake Bay are investing billions of dollars in the restoration of critical habitats to improve conditions for people and living resources throughout the Bay and its watershed. However, the recent proliferation of invasive Ictalurus furcatus (blue catfish) in the Chesapeake Bay’s major rivers has the potential to disrupt these restoration efforts and limit the
Authors
Ellen Robertson, Jenn Malpass, Christopher Ottinger, John Griffin, Christine Densmore, Kenneth Hyer
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Connecting conservation practices to local stream health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

The Chesapeake Bay Partnership is implementing conservation practices (CPs) throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reduce nutrient and sediment delivery to the Bay. This study intends to provide an integrated and detailed understanding of how local streams respond to these CP-driven management efforts.Key issue: To what extent do CPs positively affect the health of local streams in the nontida
Authors
Gregory Noe, Paul L. Angermeier, Larry B. Barber, Joe Buckwalter, Matthew Joseph Cashman, Olivia Devereux, Thomas Rossiter Doody, Sally Entrekin, Rosemary Margaret Fanelli, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Molly Elizabeth Huber, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Kelly O. Maloney, Tristan Gregory Mohs, Sergio Sabat-Bonilla, Kelly Smalling, Tyler Wagner, John C. Wolf, Kenneth Hyer
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Rising seas could cross thresholds for initiating coastal wetland drowning within decades across much of the United States

Accelerated sea-level rise is an existential threat to coastal wetlands, but the timing and extent of wetland drowning are debated. Recent data syntheses have clarified future relative sea-level rise exposure and sensitivity thresholds for drowning. Here, we integrate these advances to estimate when and where rising sea levels could cross thresholds for initiating wetland drowning across the conte
Authors
Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu, James Grace, Nicholas Enwright, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Kevin Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Joel A. Carr, William V. Sweet, Brady Couvillion
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Science

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Two aquatic macroinvertebrates in a pan.

Using Multiple Indicators to Assess Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay

USGS is working with federal, state and local partners to develop multiple assessments of stream and river conditions in non-tidal areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These assessments will help managers preserve stream health and improve biological conditions in impaired streams as the human population and climate continue to change in this region.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center
link

Using Multiple Indicators to Assess Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay

USGS is working with federal, state and local partners to develop multiple assessments of stream and river conditions in non-tidal areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These assessments will help managers preserve stream health and improve biological conditions in impaired streams as the human population and climate continue to change in this region.
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link
Blue Catfish Electrofishing on the Potomac River

Population Monitoring and Removal Strategies for Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) in Chesapeake Bay

USGS is helping with the design of a population survey and developing mathematical models to assess potential activities to manage the population of invasive blue catfish ( Ictalurus furcatus ) in the Chesapeake Bay. This research will help managers determine the cost and feasibility of approaches to control this invasive species.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center
link

Population Monitoring and Removal Strategies for Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) in Chesapeake Bay

USGS is helping with the design of a population survey and developing mathematical models to assess potential activities to manage the population of invasive blue catfish ( Ictalurus furcatus ) in the Chesapeake Bay. This research will help managers determine the cost and feasibility of approaches to control this invasive species.
Learn More
link
Man on boat holding pole with mirror on the end to look inside osprey nest built on aid to navigation without disturbing nest

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Population and the Availability of Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) as Their Food Source in Chesapeake Bay: Historical and Present-day Comparison

USGS is collaborating with many biologists in analysis of data on osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ) and their prey (menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus , and other species of fish) in the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The data compiled and collected will help determine if a lack of menhaden or other environmental factors are affecting osprey reproductive success in portions of the...
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center
link

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Population and the Availability of Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) as Their Food Source in Chesapeake Bay: Historical and Present-day Comparison

USGS is collaborating with many biologists in analysis of data on osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ) and their prey (menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus , and other species of fish) in the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The data compiled and collected will help determine if a lack of menhaden or other environmental factors are affecting osprey reproductive success in portions of the...
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