Document Type

Report

Publication Date

3-2005

Pages

79 pp.

Abstract

A marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay has occurred over the past several decades. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality. The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the establishment of Federal and state directives to better manage the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By way of the Chesapeake Bay Agreements of 1983, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealths of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, agreed to share the responsibility for improving environmental conditions in the Chesapeake Bay. As part of this agreement, a long-term monitoring program in the Chesapeake Bay was established in order to: 1) track long-term trends in water quality and living resource conditions over time, 2) assess current water quality and living resource conditions, and 3) establish linkages between water quality and living resources communities. By tracking long-term trends in water quality and living resources, managers may be able to determine if changes in water quality and living resource conditions have occurred over time and if those changes are a reflection of management actions. Assessments of current status may allow managers to identify regions of concern that could benefit from the implementation of pollution abatement or management strategies. By identifying linkages between water quality and living resources it may be possible for managers to determine the impact of water quality management practices on living resource communities.

Water quality and living resource monitoring in the Virginia main stem and tributaries began in 1985 and has continued for 20 years. Detailed assessments of the status and long-term trends in water quality and living resources in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries have been previously conducted (Alden et al., 1991,1992; Carpenter and Lane, 1998; Dauer, 1997; Dauer et al., 1998a,1998b, 2002b; Lane et al.,1998; Marshall, 1994,1996; Marshall and Burchardt, 1998, 2003, 2004a, 2004b; Marshall et al., 1998). An attempt was made to determine if there was concordance in current conditions of, and long-term changes, in water quality and living resources. The purpose of this project was to reassess the results of these studies by re-conducting the analyses after adding data collected during 2004. This report describes the status of water quality and living resource conditions for the Virginia main stem and tributaries, summarizes major long-term trends in water quality and measures of living resource community health and updates past basin summary reports (Dauer et al., 2003a, 2003b, 2003c).

Rights

Included with kind permission from the author(s).

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