Case Study: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Chesapeake Bay is a 200-mile-long estuary extending from Norfolk, VA to Havre de grace Maryland. On average this bay contains about 68 trillion liters of water. This bay is the largest estuary in North America. It inhabits more than 3,000 species of plants, animals, and fish. “Since the early twentieth century, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced serious environmental degradation. Problems include large reductions in sea grass, reduced amounts of finfish and shellfish (especially oysters and crab), seasonal depletions in dissolved oxygen, and increases in sedimentation.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003) These changes are brought on by pollution (Eutrophication and Toxic Contamination), development, deforestation, and agriculture. And according

It is their home, their thriving place. According to the National WIldlife Federation, ¨The Bay supports 3,600 species of plant and animal life, including more than 300 fish species and 2,700 plant types.”. Not only does the wildlife depend on the bay, but humans do as well. The Chesapeake Bay contains a 64,000-square-mile watershed, this watershed provides large amounts of drinking water for us in Maryland, along with several other states. Everyday, the condition of the water declines, meaning the home for wildlife and our drinking water does too. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation pointed out that, ¨Toxic chemicals are constantly entering the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams via wastewater, agriculture, stormwater, and air pollution. These harmful chemicals, such as mercury, PCBs, and PAHs, do not break down easily and persist in the environment for many years, impacting not just fish and birds, but humans as well.¨. How important does the restoration of the bay sound

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

The Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest and most useful renewable resources not only in the United States, but in the world. The Chesapeake can be replenished naturally and has been used for hundreds of years. There are many use and non-use values of the Chesapeake. Use value implies that attributes of nature are being utilized in some sense. In the case of the Chesapeake this can refer to the crabbing, fishing, ecotourism and scenic values of the bay. Ecotourism is when people visit a natural or environmental resource to engage in outdoor recreation of some sort. Non-use values are values expressed by humans simply for the existence of natural resources. Two more specific non-use values to the Chesapeake would be option value and

Types of human activity that affect the Bay's health. Humans either do not see or do not care about the pollution they send into the water. As humans build more factories close to the water or send more waste out of their homes it goes into the Bay causing many problems for the ecosystem. "waste from people's homes, stores, and offices is also treated and discharged into the Bay and its rivers. " (Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem) People do not understand the effects of pollution the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem says that people believe the water where the pollution is going will dilute the pollution and won’t be as bad. Humans do no understand the problems pollution will cause. The population of the Blue Crabs in the Bay was below average for over 10 years. From 1998 until 2009 the crab ecosystem was so unhealthy they were unable to live and reproduce.

It is understood that there is not just one problem causing the dead zone in the bay. Two main contributors are the focus. Details are presented on the problems brought to the bay by agriculture, and development. The language is easy to understand and the scientific and environmental message is conveyed in a way that can be followed.

Scene in Fig. 1.1., the Chesapeake Bay is substantial in size; at roughly 64,000 miles, it contains roughly fifty rivers and thousands of streams and creeks. It encompasses parts of 6 states, including all of Washington, DC. The Chesapeake Bay is what is known as a watershed, an area that contributes to the drainage to a water body, stream, river, lake or ocean. Rainwater that falls within the 64,000 square miles that is the Chesapeake Bay will subsequently travel through many streams and rivers, eventually making its way into the largest estuary system in the United States.

This article presents the impact of low oxygen waters on Chesapeake Bay Zoo-plankton. Anoxia (oxygen deficiency) reduces the cope-pod abundances in Chesapeake's bottom waters, and disrupts the cope-pods inhabits towards the bottom and their migration to the surface. Also, cope-pods will have limited survival ability in low oxygen conditions in bottom waters. Results show the number of cope-pods surviving for 24 hours were significantly lower in water containing smaller milligrams of oxygen liter. Some will have a greater chance of survival because of their low metabolism that requires smaller oxygen. Low oxygen reduces the filtration rate of zoo-plankton and the filtration rate of the fresh water. Decreased filtration reduces metabolic rate in low-oxygen conditions, generally occur in the mesohaline part in summer. Low oxygen-levels may cut phyto-plankton and Cope pod's production. Lower oxygen concentration prevents hatching and the growth of eggs, which eggs could survive a few days if temperatures are cold and as the eggs sink to the bottom.

The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and

Throughout the years, humans have definitely increased their capacity to innovate and improve. With the industrial revolution, humans could produce things at a much faster and efficient way. By increasing the amount of production, the environment has undergone a huge impact to support the various activities of humankind. One small example of this is the impacts on the Chesapeake Bay. There are various effects on the Bay all causes of human activity. To formulate a plan to restore the health of Chesapeake Bay, we must first understand which causes are impacting the health of the ecosystem and which measures can be taken to restore the Bay back to health.

Our watershed, the chesapeake bay stretches more than 64,000 square miles and is home to about 18 million people.The bay provides us with a lot of things like fishes,salt and water for farming etc. But, the bay is starting to get polluted and many organisms in the bay are dying because of sediments, algae blooms etc.

The native oyster of the Chesapeake Bay is the Eastern oyster; also known as the Crassostrea Virginica. One of the many diseases found in the Eastern oysters are: Dermo disease and multinucleated sphere X disease (Graczyk, et al, 2006). Fayer, et al (2010) found that even if frozen oysters were contaminated with feces they could still survive. As stated by Graczyk, et al (2006), the oysters contain human enteric pathogens. Oysters contain a bacterium that can clean the bay naturally by itself. Since the oyster’s population decreased dramatically it takes longer for the bay to be cleaned. Strickland (2009) stated “the oysters used to be able to clean the water in the bay with in three days but now it takes up to an entire year to get the job done”. Graczyk, et al (2006) stated that “due to over harvesting in the Chesapeake Bay Eastern oysters are becoming at a point of

Overall the best solution from the three is to plant more trees around Chesapeake Bay so it will clean the air. A positive environmental consequence is that the more trees that they plant will make the air cleaner. When the air is cleaner it will decrease the chance of acid rain, and acid rain will make the water worse for the animals. If the animals stay alive then more of the wildlife will come back and that will revive the ecosystem around the bay. A negative environmental would be that the trees will take a long time to grow. It takes 3-4 years for a normal tree to grow, that is way to long to wait for the pollution problem to be

Did you ever wonder how things you do everyday effect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Its tributaries? Well, It turns out to be not so good. One of the main causes for the Bay’s bad health are nutrients which are caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water. Plants and animals need nutrients to survive but when too many nutrients are in the water they fuel the growth of algae blooms and create conditions that are harmful for aquatic creatures.

Waterways are a crucial part of transportation, food and income for many people. The Chesapeake Bay provides hundreds of people with jobs, habitats for a wide variety of animals and transportation for goods. Since John Smith sailed to America and upon entering the Bay said “Within is a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant places known, for large and pleasant navigable rivers, heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation” (John Smith) the Bay has been an integral part of life in the United States. Recently overfishing, invasive species and runoff have led to the declining health of the Bay. Sustainable solutions should and are being implemented to ensure the long lasting health of the Chesapeake