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Christopher Allen Mason

Chris Mason is a physical scientist at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center.

Science and Products

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Updated short-term nitrogen and phosphorous trends in the Chesapeake Bay

USGS revises 2020 nontidal load and trend results

Issue: The USGS has revised loads and trends through 2020 from monitoring stations in the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Nontidal Network (NTN). The original release of the results was in July 2022. During a process to implement a new software package for the next update of NTN data, the USGS discovered some questionable data values. Most of the questionable values were related to a coding...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center
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USGS revises 2020 nontidal load and trend results

Issue: The USGS has revised loads and trends through 2020 from monitoring stations in the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Nontidal Network (NTN). The original release of the results was in July 2022. During a process to implement a new software package for the next update of NTN data, the USGS discovered some questionable data values. Most of the questionable values were related to a coding...
Learn More
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Table of Trends in nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads for RIM (2021)

USGS calculates loads and trends through 2021 for the nine major rivers entering 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...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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USGS calculates loads and trends through 2021 for the nine major rivers entering 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...
Learn More
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White Heron in Marsh

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 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...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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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 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...
Learn More
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Photograph of Pequea Creek, Pennsylvania

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...
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Core Science Systems, Chesapeake Bay Activities
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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...
Learn More
link
Water quality loads and trends in Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay Water-Quality Loads and Trends

Explore resources here describing water-quality load and trend results for nontidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The health of the Chesapeake Bay is largely driven by changes in streamflow and the amount of pollution it contains. Runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed carries pollutants, such as nutrients and sediments, to rivers and streams that drain to the Bay. Scientists use...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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Chesapeake Bay Water-Quality Loads and Trends

Explore resources here describing water-quality load and trend results for nontidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The health of the Chesapeake Bay is largely driven by changes in streamflow and the amount of pollution it contains. Runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed carries pollutants, such as nutrients and sediments, to rivers and streams that drain to the Bay. Scientists use...
Learn More

Environmental Sampling of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Middle Chickahominy River Watershed, Virginia, 2021-2022

These data were collected to understand the occurrence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the middle Chickahominy River watershed. Specifically, this effort was initiated to: 1. Determine concentrations of PFAS in surface water at select locations in the middle Chickahominy River watershed; 2. Determine concentrations of PFAS in edible portions of fish at select locations in the mid
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Radar-based field measurements of surface velocity and discharge from 10 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages for various locations in the United States, 2002-19

Near-field remote sensing methods were used to collect Doppler velocity and pulsed stage radar data at 10 conventional U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in river reaches with varying hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics. Basin sizes ranged from 381 to 66,200 square kilometers and included agricultural, desert, forest, mixed, and high-gradient mountain environments. During the siting and opera
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Colorado Water Science Center

Multidecadal Streamflow Trends and Ecological Flow Statistics at USGS Monitoring Stations within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (1940-2018)

The hydrologic regime of rivers and streams is a major determinant of habitat quality for fish and aquatic invertebrates. Long-term streamflow data were compiled and multidecadal streamflow trends and ecological flow (EFlow) statistics were calculated in support of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Chesapeake Bay Science Initiative toward understanding fish habitat and health in the Chesa
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center
Updated short-term nitrogen and phosphorous trends in the Chesapeake Bay
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Table of Trends in nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads for RIM (2021)
link

Tracking status and trends in seven key indicators of stream health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

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Ecosystems, Water Resources, Environmental Health Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Prioritizing river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the US Geological Survey

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is currently (2020) integrating its water science programs to better address the nation’s greatest water resource challenges now and into the future. This integration will rely, in part, on data from 10 or more intensively monitored river basins from across the USA. A team of USGS scientists was convened to develop a systematic, quantitative approach to prioritize c
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Water Resources

Near-field remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge using radars and the probability concept at 10 USGS streamgages

Near-field remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge (discharge) were measured using coherent, continuous wave Doppler and pulsed radars. Traditional streamgaging requires sensors be deployed in the water column; however, near-field remote sensing has the potential to transform streamgaging operations through non-contact methods in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other agencies
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Water Resources, Colorado Water Science Center, National Innovation Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Science and Products