This report presents a convenient and rapid means of estimating, on either a monthly or a yearly basis, the inflow from surface streams to Chesapeake Bay. The method was developed as a working base for the release entitled "Estimated stream discharge entering Chesapeake Bay" prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This release, issued monthly beginning December 1967, is directed to the various groups who have need for such data in their studies of the environment and resources of the Bay. A copy of that release is included as an appendix to this report.
In addition to the methodology used in making estimates of inflow, the report presents considerable data on drainage basins and on streamflow patterns. The report thus serves as a reference for those receiving the monthly release on current conditions. No account is taken of ground-water inflow or of rainfall on and evaporation from the water surface of the Bay. The years referred to herein are calendar years unless water years are specified.
