Informing Decisions

Stakeholders can use scientific insights to address their priority water-quality concerns. The USGS works with Chesapeake Bay stakeholders to identify and address priority questions that can help inform management decisions. These scientific insights can help guide nutrient and sediment management activities undertaken by Chesapeake Bay stakeholders. This webpage summarizes recent scientific...

Resource managers are working to improve water-quality in the Chesapeake to benefit the people who live in the region and the birds, fish, and other animals who rely on clean water in the watershed and the Bay. The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) supports resource managers and other Chesapeake stakeholders by providing science that informs restoration and conservation in the Chesapeake region. The...

Issue: In March 2021, the Principals’ Staff Committee (PSC) requested a study and recommendations on how to enhance the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) monitoring networks to improve decision-making for the goals of the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement. The monitoring networks include (1) CBP core networks supported primarily by EPA CBP funding (i.e., Tidal Water Quality, Nontidal Water Quality...

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) needs to accelerate progress on multiple outcomes to meet deadlines in the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement. The CBP partnership spends about $1.2B annually on activities toward achieving the Watershed Agreement, with a focus on water-quality improvement. Recent funding increases, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provide additional opportunities to...

The Award USGS received a 2022 Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Award, in the category of Technical/Statistical Reports, from the National Association of Government Communications (NAGC) for the U.S. Geological Survey Circular titled Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed—A Century of Change, 1950–2050. Each year the NAGC recognizes products that provide excellence in government communications and the...

Identifying and tracking the status of, and trends in, stream health within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to understanding the past, present, and future trajectory of the watershed’s resources and ecological condition. A team of USGS ecosystem scientists is meeting this need with an initiative to track the status of, and trends in, key indicators of the health of non-tidal freshwater...

Issue: For decades the USGS has provided critical science used to understand and improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. As the ecosystem is faced with new and evolving pressures from climate change, human development and changes in land use, the USGS has updated its science priorities to help address these growing threats. Tourism, fishing, boating, agricultural production, shipping...

The Chesapeake Community Research Symposium is held every two years with a goal to “By bringing together managers, scientists, and stakeholders for a series of plenary talks, panel discussions, and special sessions, the 2020 Chesapeake Community Research Symposium will highlight recent progress, challenges and prospects for research, monitoring and modeling efforts that are used to guide...

By Vivian Nolan

Chesapeake Bay Program video on Restoring the Chesapeake Watershed

USGS Chesapeake Bay studies are carried out by integrated teams of scientists located across the watershed. The leaders of these teams are listed below. Click on a scientist's name to be taken to their staff profile.

This data page contains USGS information for key national data sets and more specific information for the Chesapeake Bay watershed.