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A Science-Based Approach for Targeting Resources to Achieve Multiple Chesapeake Outcome

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Nutrient and Sediment Trends Show Mixed Results Throughout the Chesapeake Watershed

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Study Shows Importance of Streambank Erosion and Floodplain Deposition

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Innovative Technology Continues to Advance Chesapeake Bay Restoration

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Study of Stream Fishes Provides New Framework to Monitor Climate Change in the Chesapeake Bay Headwaters

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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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New High-Resolution, Land-Use and Change Data Improves Decision-Making

Three side-by-side panels to show land-use-land-change in Charles County, MD

With support from the CBP, the USGS, Chesapeake Conservancy and the University of Vermont developed an improved 1-meter resolution land use/land cover (LULC) data set for the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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Water Quality Throughout the Watershed Shows Mixed Results

Marshy Point, Chesapeake Bay

Explore the latest press release from Chesapeake Bay Program

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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

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Among the ‘last cold places,’ a fish defies climate change

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Water quality throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed shows mixed results

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Potomac Environmental Flows Workshop Summary Report

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Publications

Explainable machine learning improves interpretability in the predictive modeling of biological stream conditions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA

Anthropogenic alterations have resulted in widespread degradation of stream conditions. To aid in stream restoration and management, baseline estimates of conditions and improved explanation of factors driving their degradation are needed. We used random forests to model biological conditions using a benthic macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity for small, non-tidal streams (upstream area ≤2
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Ecosystems, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Tracking geomorphic changes after suburban development with a high density of green stormwater infrastructure practices in Montgomery County, Maryland

Stream morphology is affected by changes on the surrounding landscape. Understanding the effects of urbanization on stream morphology is a critical factor for land managers to maintain and improve vulnerable stream corridors in urbanizing landscapes. Stormwater practices are used in urban landscapes to manage runoff volumes and peak flows, potentially mitigating alterations to the flow regime that
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Water Resources, Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Utah Water Science Center

Bedrock depth influences spatial patterns of summer baseflow, temperature and flow disconnection for mountainous headwater streams

In mountain headwater streams, the quality and resilience of summer cold-water habitat is generally regulated by stream discharge, longitudinal stream channel connectivity and groundwater exchange. These critical hydrologic processes are thought to be influenced by the stream corridor bedrock contact depth (sediment thickness), a parameter often inferred from sparse hillslope borehole information,
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Ecosystems, Water Resources, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center
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Science

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Side-by-side panels to show forest harvested for timber for the development of solar fields in southwest Cumberland County, V

New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Issue Informing restoration across the nearly 64,000 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay watershed is an enormous challenge that requires detailed and accessible landscape data. Among the most pressing challenges being addressed by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership are: → Water pollution from agriculture and animal waste, → Conversion of critical habitat like forest and marshes for new...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Issue Informing restoration across the nearly 64,000 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay watershed is an enormous challenge that requires detailed and accessible landscape data. Among the most pressing challenges being addressed by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership are: → Water pollution from agriculture and animal waste, → Conversion of critical habitat like forest and marshes for new...
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Image Collage of Landsat, pollinator, and volcanologist

USGS nutrient and sediment trends show mixed results throughout the Chesapeake Watershed

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) nontidal network (NTN) consists of 123 stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Monitoring of nutrients, sediment, and river flow is conducted to provide estimates of loads and trends in the watershed. The CBP partnership uses the results to help assess the water-quality response to nutrient and sediment restoration efforts.
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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USGS nutrient and sediment trends show mixed results throughout the Chesapeake Watershed

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) nontidal network (NTN) consists of 123 stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Monitoring of nutrients, sediment, and river flow is conducted to provide estimates of loads and trends in the watershed. The CBP partnership uses the results to help assess the water-quality response to nutrient and sediment restoration efforts.
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Map of 68 field sites and their upstream drainage areas of the Chesapeake and Delaware watersheds

New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed

Issue: As Chesapeake Bay Program partners work to reduce pollution, knowing sources of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen transported to the Bay is critical for effective and efficient management. Streams and their associated floodplains have an important influence on the transport of nutrients and sediment through the Chesapeake watershed and into tidal waters. The USGS is conducting...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed

Issue: As Chesapeake Bay Program partners work to reduce pollution, knowing sources of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen transported to the Bay is critical for effective and efficient management. Streams and their associated floodplains have an important influence on the transport of nutrients and sediment through the Chesapeake watershed and into tidal waters. The USGS is conducting...
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