USGS Chesapeake Accomplishments and Highlights for 2023

The USGS Chesapeake Science Strategy for 2021-25 has four themes:

• Theme 1: Develop an integrated understanding of the factors affecting stream health, fish habitat, and aquatic conditions.

• Theme 2: Assess the risks to coastal habitat and migratory waterbirds.

• Theme 3: Characterize land use to assess the vulnerability and resiliency of habitats and healthy watersheds.  

• Theme 4: Integrate science and inform decision making.  

USGS Chesapeake studies are supported by multiple USGS Mission Areas (Ecosystems, Water, Core Science Systems, and Hazards) and Programs, collectively providing about $17.5M for monitoring and studies in Fiscal Year 2023. The integrated, multi-disciplinary projects and monitoring are carried out by scientists in numerous USGS Science Centers. USGS Chesapeake scientists also collaborate with and inform work in other critical ecosystems across the country.

Accomplishments and Highlights for 2023

The accomplishments for 2023 reflect selected projects and peer-reviewed results that are published in journals and USGS reports.  While these publications provide the methods and results, the USGS invests in translating and communicating the findings of Chesapeake studies to be more effectively used by stakeholders to inform critical management decisions. Most of the highlights and accomplishments below link directly to science summaries and press releases used to translate and communicate the USGS Chesapeake publications to partners and stakeholders. 

Fish Populations, Health, and Habitats

• Observed monitoring data and predictive modelling help understand ongoing and future vulnerability of Chesapeake Bay watershed stream fish communities to climate and land-use change

• Study reveals importance of groundwater for stability of freshwater fish populations and resilience to climate change

• Improving Understanding and Coordination of Science Activities for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

• A case study of temporal trends in risk factors associated with endocrine disruption in smallmouth bass

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

• Integrated Assessments of Potential Risks to Aquatic Organisms and Public Water Supply from Wastewater-Derived Chemical Mixtures in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Streams and Environmental Change

• Enhanced understanding of factors affecting stream condition can improve restoration outcomes

• Tap water study detects PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ across the US

• Agricultural best management practices can improve water quality and conditions for fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Nutrients, Sediment, and Flow

• USGS calculates loads and trends through 2021 for the nine major rivers entering Chesapeake Bay

• Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices, Turtle Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania

• Floodplains provide millions of dollars in benefits every year to people in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds

Factors Affecting Water Quality

• Science to Inform Management Priorities from Loads to Endpoints (SIMPLE)

• New study evaluates effects of agricultural conservation practices on nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay

• Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

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

• USGS Publications Summarize Water-Quality Trends and Drivers in Urban Streams After 10 Years of Monitoring in Fairfax County, Virginia

Coastal Habitats

• Using Geospatial Analysis to Guide Marsh Restoration in Chesapeake Bay and Beyond

• Progress Through Partnerships - Chesapeake Bay Vertical Land Motion Project

• Review of harmful algal blooms effects on birds with implications for avian wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay region

• Avian Influenza Dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay Region

Characterize Land Use and Change

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

• Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover data is now published in additional formats

• USGS Collaborates on Maryland Healthy Watersheds Assessment

Integrate Science and Engage Partners

• USGS and CBP produce report to enhance Chesapeake Bay and watershed monitoring networks

• Bay Barometer provides progress on Chesapeake restoration effort

• USGS contributes to new Bay Program report offering a roadmap for combating rising water temperatures

• USGS scientists contribute to independent study evaluating why progress in achieving Bay water quality goals is lagging

• From the fish kills to Conowingo Dam, USGS investigates the Bay watershed’s most complex issues

For more information

• USGS Updates Chesapeake Science Strategy

• Video of USGS Science Strategy

• Sign up for the USGS Chesapeake Newsletter to keep up with our progress and new publications

• See the latest publications

• See our website for more information