Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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By Pennsylvania Water Science Center
May 12, 2025
USGS Releases new fact sheet on conservation practices
Your land, your water—Using research to guide conservation practices on local farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Your land, your water—Using research to guide conservation practices on local farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
USGS Evaluates Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices
A new study on best management practices and nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
A new study on best management practices and nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed — A Century of Change
Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed — A Century of Change
Groundwater is a major source of nitrate to Chesapeake Bay
Land use, organic carbon in soils, and geology can explain where groundwater contributions are the most important
Land use, organic carbon in soils, and geology can explain where groundwater contributions are the most important
Removal of Legacy Sediments Effects Nutrient Loads in Streamflow
Effects of Legacy Sediment Removal on Nutrients and Sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
Effects of Legacy Sediment Removal on Nutrients and Sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
USGS provides monitoring, analysis, modeling and research on streams and water quality to better understand the fate and transport of nutrients and sediment to the Susquehanna and other rivers, and their tributaries, and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay. Additional research focuses on emerging contaminants and other stressors that effect human and aquatic life in the watershed and estuary.
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices
Assessing stream restoration effectiveness by quantifying sediment erosion and deposition along restored and eroded agricultural stream reaches
Water Quality to Inform Conservation Management
Water Quality to Inform Conservation Management
The occurrence and distribution of nutrients, and an understanding of biogeochemical processes aims to help aid conservation efforts.
The Susquehanna River drains the largest watershed (48 percent) and supplies 55 percent of the freshwater flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2010, the largest and most complex total maximum daily load (TMDL) in the Nation was initiated in the Chesapeake Bay for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. These pollution allocations were further divided by major river basins and states. Pennsylvania contributes approximately 44 percent of the nitrogen load and 24 percent of the phosphorus load to the Bay (Chesapeake Bay TMDL Document).
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Also see regional science at Chesapeake Bay Activities
Filter Total Items: 23
Improving Understanding and Coordination of Science Activities for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s. PFAS are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment and have the potential to have adverse human and ecological health effects. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnerships has concerns about how PFAS will affect the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The CBP...
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices, Turtle Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania
USGS is providing data and analyses to assess stream restoration effectiveness in Turtle Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania, by measuring differences in sediment erosion and deposition in restored and eroded stream reaches.
USGS Chesapeake Publication Receives National Award for Superior Communication Product
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...
Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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 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 streams...
Greatest Opportunities for Future Nitrogen Reductions to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are in Developed and Agricultural Areas
Issue: As human population has increased, land-use changes have led to increases in nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment into the Bay. The excess nutrients cause algal blooms which contribute to water-quality impairments such as low oxygen or hypoxia (dead zones), and poor water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay. Management efforts to improve water quality focus on dissolved oxygen needed...
Summarizing Scientific Findings for Common Stakeholder Questions to Inform Nutrient and Sediment Management Activities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is striving to improve water-quality conditions in the Bay by using a variety of management strategies to reduce nutrient and sediment loads. The partnership uses monitoring results and modeling tools to implement management strategies, relying on the scientific community to synthesize existing information and direct new research to address...
Updated 2020 Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Trends for the Nine Major Rivers Entering the Chesapeake Bay
Issue: The amount of nutrients and suspended sediment entering the Chesapeake Bay affect water-quality conditions in tidal waters. Excess nutrients contribute to algal blooms that lower the oxygen levels in tidal waters that are important for fish and shellfish. The algal blooms, along with suspended sediment, also decrease visibility in shallow waters for submerged aquatic grasses. The grasses...
Data-sharing agreement renewed to evaluate conservations practices and water quality in the Chesapeake Watershed
Issue: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have a mutual interest in meeting the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, and in determining the benefits and challenges of agricultural conservation practices on water-quality patterns. Understanding the sources of nutrients and sediment and how these nutrients move into streams and...
USGS develops tool to further examine nutrient and sediment trends in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the nontidal network mapper to share the short-term (2009-2018) water-year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) non-tidal network (NTN). The network is a cooperative effort by USGS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and agencies in the states of the Chesapeake watershed and the...
New Synthesis Describes Current Understanding of Factors Driving Nutrient Trends in Streams of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in Chesapeake Bay since the 1950s have contributed to low dissolved oxygen leading to fish kills, and poor water clarity and associated loss of submerged aquatic vegetation. The Chesapeake Bay Program partnership has been working to improve aquatic conditions in the Bay and its tidal tributaries, and streams in the watershed, by reducing inputs of nutrients...
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...
Susquehanna River Story — What does the science say about water quality?
Narrated presentation that provides a unique synthesis of the story of nutrient water quality in the Susquehanna watershed.
USGS provides monitoring, analysis, modeling and research on streams and water quality to better understand the fate and transport of nutrients and sediment to the Susquehanna and other rivers, and their tributaries, and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay. Additional research focuses on emerging contaminants and other stressors that effect human and aquatic life in the watershed and estuary.
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices
Assessing stream restoration effectiveness by quantifying sediment erosion and deposition along restored and eroded agricultural stream reaches
Water Quality to Inform Conservation Management
Water Quality to Inform Conservation Management
The occurrence and distribution of nutrients, and an understanding of biogeochemical processes aims to help aid conservation efforts.
The Susquehanna River drains the largest watershed (48 percent) and supplies 55 percent of the freshwater flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2010, the largest and most complex total maximum daily load (TMDL) in the Nation was initiated in the Chesapeake Bay for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. These pollution allocations were further divided by major river basins and states. Pennsylvania contributes approximately 44 percent of the nitrogen load and 24 percent of the phosphorus load to the Bay (Chesapeake Bay TMDL Document).
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Also see regional science at Chesapeake Bay Activities
Filter Total Items: 23
Improving Understanding and Coordination of Science Activities for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s. PFAS are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment and have the potential to have adverse human and ecological health effects. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnerships has concerns about how PFAS will affect the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The CBP...
Sediment Response of Stream Restoration Practices, Turtle Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania
USGS is providing data and analyses to assess stream restoration effectiveness in Turtle Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania, by measuring differences in sediment erosion and deposition in restored and eroded stream reaches.
USGS Chesapeake Publication Receives National Award for Superior Communication Product
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...
Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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 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 streams...
Greatest Opportunities for Future Nitrogen Reductions to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are in Developed and Agricultural Areas
Issue: As human population has increased, land-use changes have led to increases in nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment into the Bay. The excess nutrients cause algal blooms which contribute to water-quality impairments such as low oxygen or hypoxia (dead zones), and poor water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay. Management efforts to improve water quality focus on dissolved oxygen needed...
Summarizing Scientific Findings for Common Stakeholder Questions to Inform Nutrient and Sediment Management Activities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is striving to improve water-quality conditions in the Bay by using a variety of management strategies to reduce nutrient and sediment loads. The partnership uses monitoring results and modeling tools to implement management strategies, relying on the scientific community to synthesize existing information and direct new research to address...
Updated 2020 Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Trends for the Nine Major Rivers Entering the Chesapeake Bay
Issue: The amount of nutrients and suspended sediment entering the Chesapeake Bay affect water-quality conditions in tidal waters. Excess nutrients contribute to algal blooms that lower the oxygen levels in tidal waters that are important for fish and shellfish. The algal blooms, along with suspended sediment, also decrease visibility in shallow waters for submerged aquatic grasses. The grasses...
Data-sharing agreement renewed to evaluate conservations practices and water quality in the Chesapeake Watershed
Issue: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have a mutual interest in meeting the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, and in determining the benefits and challenges of agricultural conservation practices on water-quality patterns. Understanding the sources of nutrients and sediment and how these nutrients move into streams and...
USGS develops tool to further examine nutrient and sediment trends in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the nontidal network mapper to share the short-term (2009-2018) water-year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) non-tidal network (NTN). The network is a cooperative effort by USGS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and agencies in the states of the Chesapeake watershed and the...
New Synthesis Describes Current Understanding of Factors Driving Nutrient Trends in Streams of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in Chesapeake Bay since the 1950s have contributed to low dissolved oxygen leading to fish kills, and poor water clarity and associated loss of submerged aquatic vegetation. The Chesapeake Bay Program partnership has been working to improve aquatic conditions in the Bay and its tidal tributaries, and streams in the watershed, by reducing inputs of nutrients...
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...
Susquehanna River Story — What does the science say about water quality?
Narrated presentation that provides a unique synthesis of the story of nutrient water quality in the Susquehanna watershed.