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Title: Restoring and Protecting Chesapeake Bay and River Water Quality


1
Restoring and ProtectingChesapeake Bay and
RiverWater Quality
  • June 2005

2
The Chesapeake Bay is North Americas largest and
most biologically diverse estuary, home to more
than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals.
3
For more than 300 years, the Bay and its
tributaries have sustained the regions economy
anddefined its traditions and culture.
4
It is a resource of extraordinary productivity,
worthy of the highest levels ofprotection and
restoration.
5
Whats the Problem with Bay and RiverWater
Quality?
Because things on land are easily washed into
streams and rivers, our actions on land
ultimately affect the Bay.
Section 1 Whats the Problem
6
Most scientists believe that nutrients and
sediment are the root of most water quality
problems in the Bay.
The amount of nutrients that would naturally
enter the Bay would be okay, but the amount going
into the Bay now has been amplified by
people. When we use fertilizers, dispose of
sewage, drive cars, and generate electricity, we
harm the Bay.
Section 1 Whats the Problem
7
Water Quality Problems
Algae blooms and depleted oxygen levels are
caused by nutrient pollution.
When the algae die and decompose, they use up
oxygen needed by other plants and animals living
in the Bay's waters.
Poor water clarity is caused by algae blooms and
sediment pollution.
Algae blooms and sediment cloud the water and
block sunlight, causing underwater bay grasses to
die.
Section 1 Whats the Problem
8
Sources of Nutrient Pollution to the Bay
Stormwater and groundwater carry nutrients into
rivers and the Bay from a variety of nonpoint
sources, such as farms, lawns, gardens, golf
courses and septic tanks. Scientists believe that
agricultural sources contribute the largest
portion of the nutrient pollution entering the
Bay.
Point sources, such as wastewater treatment
plants, are the second largest contributors of
nutrient pollution to the rivers and the Bay.
Section 1 Whats the Problem
9
A significant amount of nitrogen pollution is
created when we generate electricity and drive
cars.
Generating electric power by burning fossil
fuels, such as coal and oil, releases nitrogen,
in the form of nitrogen oxide gas, into the
air. Nitrogen oxide gases from automobile exhaust
are another source of nitrogen pollution.
When it rains, this nitrogen is washed out of the
air and off of the land, eventually making its
way into rivers and the Bay.
Section 1 Whats the Problem
10
What Do We Want to Achieve?
Achieve and maintain the water quality necessary
to support the aquatic living resources of the
Bay and its tributaries and to protect human
health.
Section 2 What Do We Want to Achieve
11
Chesapeake 2000 The New Agreement
In June 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Program partners
signed a new agreement to guide the restoration
and protection of the Bay through the next decade
and beyond. In Chesapeake 2000, the partners
agreed that
Improving water quality is the most critical
element in the overall protection and restoration
of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.
Section 2 What Do We Want to Achieve
12
Bay and River Water Quality Commitment
In order to achieve and maintain the water
quality necessary to support aquatic living
resources, one of the commitments the partners
made is to
By 2010, correct the nutrient- and
sediment-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay
and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to remove
the Bay and the tidal portions of its tributaries
from the list of impaired waters under the Clean
Water Act.
Section 2 What Do We Want to Achieve
13
Watershed-wide Pollution Reductions Needed
The pollutants causing water quality impairments
drain into to the Bayand its rivers fromthe
entire watershed.
New York
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Delaware
West Virginia
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Boundary
District of Columbia
Virginia
Section 2 What Do We Want to Achieve
14
How Might the Bay and its Tidal Rivers Look with
Restored Water Quality?
The Honorable Bernie Fowler wades into the
Patuxent River every year to test water clarity.
One year he hopes to wade out up to his shoulders
and still see his white sneakers.
Section 3 How Might the Bay Look?
15
Restored Water Quality Means
  • Fewer algae blooms and better fish food.
  • Clearer water and more underwater Bay grasses.
  • More oxygen and improved habitat for more fish,
    crabs and oysters.

Section 3 How Might the Bay Look?
16
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Water Quality
Sunlight
Sunlight
Minimal Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sediment Inputs
Excessive Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sediment Inputs
Algal Bloom
Balanced Algae Growth
Healthy Bay Grasses
Reduced Bay Grasses
Healthy Habitat
Unhealthy Habitat
Algae Die-off
Algae Decomposition
Healthy Oyster Reef
Adequate Oxygen
No Oxygen
Barren Oyster Reef
Lack of Benthic Community
Benthic Community
Section 3 How Might the Bay Look?
17
How Far Have We Come?
The Bay and its rivers are doing better but we
have a long way to go.
Section 4 How Far Have We Come?
18
Bay Grasses Show Annual Variation
Restoration Goal (185,000 acres by 2010)
Underwater bay grasses are slowly improving, but
further reductions in the pollutants flowing into
the Bay are needed to help them flourish. Annual
variations in bay grasses show the sensitivity of
the Bay ecosystem.
Note Hatched area of bar includes estimated
additional acreage. No Baywide surveys 1979-83
and 1988 Source Chesapeake Bay Program.
Section 4 How Far Have We Come?
19
Many Water Habitats Still Lack Sufficient Oxygen
Excessive nutrients can stimulate algae blooms
resulting in reduced oxygen levels in the
water. Stressful dissolved oxygen conditions
occur during summer months throughout much of the
deeper waters of the mainstem Bay and up into the
Patapsco, Chester, Patuxent, Potomac,
Rappahannock, and York Rivers, and Eastern Bay.
Section 4 How Far Have We Come?
20
How Do We DefineRestored Water Quality?
  • Map out the designated uses (habitat zones) for
    the Bays different living resource communities.
  • Determine the water quality conditions or
    criteria necessary to protect those uses.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
21
Designated Uses of Bay and Tidal River Waters
The needs of the Bays living resources dictate
what the uses (habitat zones) should be
  • Migratory Fish Spawning and Nursery Use
  • Shallow-Water Bay Grass Use
  • Open-Water Fish and Shellfish Use
  • Deep-Water Seasonal Fish and Shellfish Use
  • Deep-Channel Seasonal Refuge Use

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
22
Refined Designated Uses forChesapeake Bay and
Tidal Tributary Waters
A. Cross Section of Chesapeake Bay or Tidal
Tributary
Shallow-Water Bay Grass Use
Open-Water Fish and Shellfish Use
Deep-Water Seasonal Fish and Shellfish Use
Deep-Channel Seasonal Refuge Use
B. Oblique View of the Chesapeake Bay and its
Tidal Tributaries
Migratory Fish Spawning and Nursery Use
Open-Water Habitat
Shallow-Water Bay Grass Use
Deep-Water Seasonal Fish and Shellfish Use
Deep-Channel Seasonal Refuge Use
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
23
Migratory Fish Spawning and Nursery Use
  • General Description of Designated Use
  • Aims to protect migratory and resident tidal
    freshwater fish during the spawning and nursery
    season in tidal freshwater to low-salinity
    habitats.
  • Critical time period is late winter to late
    spring (February through May).

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
24
Migratory Fish Spawning and Nursery Use
The upper reaches of tidal waters and the upper
mainstem used as spawning and nursery grounds by
striped bass, shad, perch and other fish.
Spawning and Nursery Habitat
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
25
Shallow-Water Bay Grass Use
  • General Description of Designated Use
  • Designed to protect underwater bay grasses and
    the many fish and crab species that depend on the
    vegetated habitat provided by grass beds.
  • Critical timeframe is the bay grass growing
    season.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
26
Shallow-Water Bay Grass Use
Shallow Water Habitat
Tidal waters up to two meters in depth where
underwater bay grasses have been historically
observed.
Two Meter Bathymetry Contour
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
27
Open-Water Fish and Shellfish Use
  • General Description of Designated Use
  • Designed to improve water quality in the surface
    water habitats within tidal creeks, rivers,
    embayments and the mainstem Bay.
  • Aims to protect diverse populations of sportfish
    including striped bass, bluefish, mackerel and
    sea trout as well as important bait fish such as
    menhaden and silversides.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
28
Open-Water Fish and Shellfish Use
All surface tidal waters extending to the bottom,
or to the top of the pycnocline in areas where
it exists and presents a barrier to
re-oxygenation of deeper waters.
Open Water Habitat
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
29
Deep-Water Seasonal Fish and Shellfish Use
  • General Description of Designated Use
  • Aims to protect living resources inhabiting the
    deeper transitional water column and bottom
    habitats between the well-mixed surface waters
    and the very deep channels.
  • Protects many bottom-feeding fish, crabs and
    oysters, as well as other important species,
    including the bay anchovy.
  • Critical timeframe is June through September.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
30
Deep-Water Seasonal Fish and Shellfish Use
Tidal waters within the pycnocline where it
presents a barrier to re-oxygenation of deeper
waters.
Deep Water
Pycnocline marks a density change in the water
column due to a transition from the warm, fresher
water layer on the surface to the relatively
cold, saltier water at the Bays bottom.
Deep Water
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
31
Deep-Channel Seasonal Refuge Use
  • General Description of Designated Use
  • Designed to protect bottom sediment dwelling
    worms and small clams that act as food for
    bottom-feeding fish and crabs in the deep channel
    habitats.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
32
Deep-Channel Seasonal Refuge Use
Very deep water and adjacent bottom sediment
located in the channels below the pycnocline at
the lower reaches of major tidal rivers and along
the spine of the upper and middle mainstem Bay.
Deep Channel
Deep Channel
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
33
Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Criteria
  • Water Clarity light for underwater Bay grasses
  • Chlorophyll a base of the Bay food chain
  • Dissolved Oxygen for fish, crabs and oysters

Together, these three criteria define the
conditions necessary to protect the wide variety
of the Bays living resources and their habitats.
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
34
Water Clarity
  • All plants--even those underwater--need light!
  • Water clarity is a measure of the amount of
    sunlight that penetrates the Bays waters and
    reaches the surface of underwater Bay grass
    leaves.
  • The amount needed is determined by the specific
    underwater grasses which grow in different areas
    of the Bay.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
35
Whats Blocking the Light?
Good Water Clarity
Poor Water Clarity
  • Percent of sunlight at the water surface that
    penetrates the water
  • 13 in low salinity waters
  • 22 in high salinity waters

Sediment and other particles in the water

Algae in the water

Algae on the leaves
equals
Very low percentage of sunlight reaching leaves
Bay grasses grow poorly or die.
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
36
Chlorophyll a
  • Chlorophyll a is a measure of the amount of algae
    in the water.
  • Some algae are good sources of fish food and
    others are poor sources.
  • Excessive nutrients can stimulate nuisance algae
    blooms resulting in reduced water clarity,
    reduced amounts of good fish food, and depleted
    oxygen levels in deeper waters.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
37
Dissolved Oxygen
  • Living things--even those underwater--need
    oxygen!
  • The amount of oxygen needed in the water depends
    on the specific needs of the Bays living
    resources.
  • The amounts depend on where and when certain
    areas are used by different living resources.

Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
38
Oxygen Requirements (mg/L) of Bay Species
Migratory Fish Spawning Nursery Areas
6
Striped Bass 5-6
American Shad 5
Shallow and Open Water Areas
5
White Perch 5
Yellow Perch 5
4
Hard Clams 5
Deep Water
Alewife 3.6
3
Bay Anchovy 3
Crabs 3
2
1
Deep Channel
Spot 2
Worms 1
0
Section 5 How Do We Define Restored Water
Quality?
39
What needs to be done?
Now that restored water quality has been defined,
what actions will need to be taken to remove the
Bay and its rivers from the impaired waters list
by 2010?
Section 6 What Needs to Be Done?
40
Reduce Nutrient Pollution Loads
In order to achieve the water quality conditions
necessary to protect aquatic living resources,
certain amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus
reductions need to occur.
we improve water quality conditions.
As we reducenutrient loads...
Section 6 What Needs to Be Done?
41
Reduce Sediment Pollution Loads
In order to achieve the water quality conditions
necessary to protect aquatic living resources,
certain amounts of sediment reductions need to
occur.
we increase underwater bay grasses.
As we reduce sediment loads...
Section 6 What Needs to Be Done?
42
Nutrient and Sediment Load Reduction Goals
The 2010 pollutant reduction goals are Nitrogen
- Reduce annual loads to no more than 175 million
pounds. Phosphorus - Reduce annual loads to no
more than 12.8 million pounds. Land-based
Sediment - Reduce annual loads to no more than
4.15 million tons.
Source CBP Phase 4.3 Watershed Model. Estimates
of nutrient and land-based sediment reductions
that may occur when the reported management
practices and reduction technologies are
implemented within watershed portions of NY, PA,
MD, DC, DE, WV, VA. The model's nonpoint source
load reductions are estimates of what would occur
under long-term avergaed rainfall conditions
based on the years 1985-1994. The point source
load reductions are actual measurements and are
influenced by the reporting years rainfall.
Section 6 What Needs to Be Done?
43
Who is involved? What is the timeline?
We are all a part of the problem All of us
need to become part of the solution.
Section 7 Who? When?
44
Timeline for Removing Impairments toBay and
River Water Quality
  • 2010 The Chesapeake 2000 agreement calls for
    Bay Program partners to have corrected the
    nutrient and sediment-related problems in the
    Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries
    sufficiently to remove the Bay and the tidal
    portions of its tributaries from the list of
    impaired waters under the Clean Water Act.
  • 2011 Bay Program partners will begin
    development of TMDLs for any areas of the Bay
    that may still be listed for impairments due to
    nutrient and sediment related problems.

Section 7 Who? When?
45
Whos involved?
  • Bay Program partners in this effort include the
    signatories to the Chesapeake Bay agreement --
    EPA (representing the Federal government), the
    jurisdictions of MD, PA, VA and DC, and the
    Chesapeake Bay Commission (representing MD, PA
    and VA state legislatures).
  • The partnership for this effort was expanded
    through a Memorandum of Understanding to include
    the jurisdictions of DE, NY and WV.

District of Columbia
EPA
CBC
Maryland
Virginia
Pennsylvania
Delaware
New York
West Virginia
Section 7 Who? When?
46
Who Needs to be Involved?
  • Local governments and citizens and
  • YOU need to become informed and get involved
  • Participate in restoration and protection
    efforts.
  • Hold Bay Program partners accountable!

We are all a part of the problem All of us
need to become part of the solution. WE ARE ALL
IN THIS TOGETHER
Section 7 Who? When?
47
Key Opportunities for Citizen Involvement
  • 2003 - 2005 participate in the the state water
    quality standards development process
  • 2003 - 2004 get involved with teams developing
    tributary strategies
  • From now until 2010 stay informed and involved
    andhold Bay Program partners accountable!

Section 7 Who? When?
48
Water Quality Improvements Alone Will Not
Restore the Bay
If we do not manage fisheries, no matter how
clean the water becomes, we still may not have
sustainable populations.
Section 8 Restoring the Complete Ecosystem
49
Water Quality Improvements and Fisheries
Management Are Still Not Enough
We need to protect and restore all habitats, not
just water habitats.
Section 8 Restoring the Complete Ecosystem
50
Water Quality Improvements,Fisheries Management
and Habitat Protection and Restoration Are Still
Not Enough
We need to manage the way we use the land in
watersheds.
Section 8 Restoring the Complete Ecosystem
51
Water Quality Improvements, Fisheries
Management, Habitat Protection and Restoration,
and Sound Land Useare Still Not Enough
We need to engage everyone to become better
stewards of the watershed.
Section 8 Restoring the Complete Ecosystem
52
Only By Integrating ALL Components of Chesapeake
2000 Can We Expect toRestore the Bay
The agreement reflects the Bays complexity in
that each action taken, like the elements of the
Bay itself, is connected to all the others.
Section 8 Restoring the Complete Ecosystem
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