Chesapeake Bay Activities Newsletter April-June 2023
USGS contributes to new Bay Program report offering a roadmap for combating rising water temperatures
Chesapeake Bay Program — by Jake Solyst — April 5, 2023
Compilation of multi-agency specific conductance observations for streams within the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Freshwater salinization is an emerging issue for freshwater environments in the Chesapeake Bay, USA region. Salinization is often described by measurements of specific conductance (SC). This data release contains specific conductance observations collected by multiple regional agencies for streams within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This inventory compiles and harmonizes data from the Water Quali
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
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW) is experiencing effects of climate (warming temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns) and land-use/land-cover (LULC; transition from forest or agriculture to developed lands) change, and these trends are likely to continue under future scenarios of warming and population growth. Stream biodiversity may be vulnerable to ongoing and future climate and LULC change in the CBW, potentially jeopardizing the economic and recreational benefits that CBW residents receive from stream ecosystems.
To help protect and restore CBW stream biodiversity, the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement aims to maintain the status of healthy watersheds, monitor and assess trends in climatic conditions (particularly stream temperature) and their effects on CBW ecosystems, and better understand the impacts of LULC on CBW biodiversity.
USGS Scientists Contribute to Independent
Study Evaluating Why Progress in Achieving Bay Water Quality Goals is Lagging
Study reveals importance of groundwater for stability of freshwater fish populations and resilience to climate change
Issue: Climate change is warming streams and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and this is a critical concern for fisheries management and conservation. To address this issue, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) recently identified four actions:
• address the threats of climate change in all aspects of the partnership’s work;
• prioritize communities, working lands, and most vulnerable habitats;
• apply the best scientific, modeling, monitoring, and planning capabilities; and
• connect restoration outcomes with emerging opportunities.
The USGS Chesapeake Science Strategy supports CBP through research to improve understanding of climate change across the watershed, including the resiliency of headwater streams and the fisheries they support.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2022
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) Network stations for the period 1985 through 2022. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WR
New study evaluates effects of agricultural conservation practices on nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay
Issue: Adaptive management in support of Chesapeake Bay restoration is complicated by uncertainty about the effects of agricultural management practices on water quality. Despite increasing investment, effects of agricultural conservation practices on regional water quality remain difficult to quantify due to factors such as groundwater travel times, varying modes-of-action, and the general lack of high-quality spatial datasets representing practice implementation. Given the major role that agriculture plays in the nitrogen budget of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, achieving planned load reductions depends on effective implementation of agricultural conservation practices. Although the net effects of such conservation actions suggest substantial expected declines in nitrogen fluxes in the watershed, observed nitrogen trends in bay tributaries have been mixed.