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 the largest estuary in the United States. About half of the Bay’s water volume comes from salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. The other half drains into the Bay from its enormous 64,000-square-mile watershed. Estuaries are among the most productive environments on earth, creating more organic matter each year than similarly-sized forests and agricultural areas. Estuaries also provide diverse habitats for wildlife and aquatic life, protect our communities against flooding, reduce pollution of waterways, and support local economies through commercial and recreational activities. Thousands of species

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.

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.

The word Chesapeake, although there is some scholarly dispute, likely means “Great Bay of Shells” or “Great Shellfish Bay” in the language of the Algonquian Native Americans (“Oyster History”). This translation is appropriate and accurate to anyone familiar with the Chesapeake Bay and its rich history of oysters. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with over 150 rivers and streams flow into its basin. It measures roughly 200 miles in length, 3.4 to 35 miles in width and stretches across six states. The bay is home to over 2,700 plant and animal species, making it one of the most complex and productive estuary systems in the world (“Facts and Figures”). However, one species

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

The author mentioned that the level of toxic water run off to the lakes is affecting the habitat in the water. Puget Sound water is becoming more acidic and dangerous to the marine life. One solution I have is to create toxic clean programs that are available and accessible in all areas of this region. This would cost the state money but it would be benefiting to everyone including the marine life. People living here can also prevent storm water pollution by disposing of their household hazardous wastes correctly such as pesticides, garden chemicals. Also by using nontoxic dish soap at and other eco-friendly products at home littering, picking up animal waste and not

However, the plan called for a $66 million dollar cut in capital funding for environmental program and land preservation compared to last year’s budget. In doing so, water quality improvement projects will get hit the hardest from the budget cut. This truly was a shock to the supporters for the Chesapeake Bay and agriculture industry because this negates the possibility of continuing the talks on the issue of the phosphorous pollution regulation. This imposed heated issues with reports of millions of dollars at stake for Shore farmers and billions for industries located by the bay. This decision angered many environmental supporters. Allison Prost, the Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said, “This is a sad day in the long fight to make Maryland waters clean enough for swimming and fishing” (www.delmarvannow.com).

“Shellfish is the only activity that benefits the bay,”(Sam Houghton, 2015) said Mr.Cook one of the Popponesset Bay three leading oyster farmers. In 2004 the town of Mashpee began restoring oyster aquaculture as a way to remove nitrogen from Popponesset Bay (Sam Houghton, 2015). The towns oyster aquaculture program has grown to 2,000,000 oysters annually (Sam Houghton, 2015). The town of Mashpee installed their first oyster beds in 2004 and were soon followed by the Wampanoags and Richard Cook. The Wampanoags installed their first oyster beds in 2009 (K Clark, 2014). Richard Cook has been shellfishing since 1984 in Popponesset Bay. In 2015 new oyster beds created by the town of Mashpee were put in in Shoestring bay, a part of Popponesset Bay. The purpose of this experiment is to test the water quality, focusing on nitrogen levels around oyster beds of varying ages in Popponesset Bay. The map below shows the three beds where water quality will be tested. The one in Figure 1 represents the town of Mashpee’s one year old bed. The 2 in Figure 1 represents the Wampanoag oyster beds which are 6 years old. The 3 in Figure 1 is the oldest bed in Popponesset Bay, the town’s 11 years old beds.

Scope: This question will be answered after nitrogen data collected by the University of South Florida is analyzed, along with data received from last year 's weather reports. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is testing nitrates in a similar manner, in that they are monitoring the use of fertilizers and its effect on run off and water pollution. With contact with various estuary protection agencies and marine preservation organizations, the collaboration of other data will be incorporated in this investigation and present additional information that will be involved. This holds significant value, as it is proving or attempting to prove how rainwater can increase the levels of storm water drainage leading to increased nitrogen levels. Especially in wetlands and estuaries where there is a delicate ecosystem

Many studies around the world show the detrimental affects of harmful algal blooms, or HAB for short, and directly link the runoff of nutrients into the water as the key contributor to its frequency. An example of a study done in estuaries around New York showed that an increase in macro green algae, which is also found in Biscayne Bay, increases the growth of several other forms of harmful algae (Tang, 2011). In a more recent study conducted in 2013, Biscayne Bay was shown to have an increase in green macro algal blooms that are also linked to nutrient runoff in the bay and smother the sea grass habitats (Vides et al, 2013). Biscayne Bay is said to hold nutrient-rich sediment (Carnehan et al., 2009).

Eutrophication is a natural process that lakes and certain bodies of water undergo. Eutrophication happens by having a significant level of biodegradable waste in a body of water. The nutrients in the water promote growth of primary producers which has a positive impact on consumers. These nutrients usually cause bodies of water to be cloudy, turbid, have a high number of primary producers, and promote the excessive growth of algae (Koechli, 2015). This then causes the body of water to reduce its dissolved oxygen level, and dead biomass to accumulate. Although it is a natural process, humans can affect these bodies of water by inserting a surplus of nutrients. This process is called cultural eutrophication, which is considered a form of water pollution (Koechli, 2015). This pollution is often caused by fertilizer run-off and much more. It causes the overgrowth of aquatic plants. These plants quickly become crowded and have to compete for space and sunlight. Because of this, aquatic life is threatened due to the low dissolved oxygen, and blocked sunlight. Cultural eutrophication is

Nutrient pollution is the “process where too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, are added to bodies of water and can act like fertilizer, causing excessive growth of algae.” (Oceanservice.noaa.gov) Also referred to as eutrophication, this increase in algae growth can be a major problem because it eventually leads to dead zones in the Bay. Dead zones, also known as hypoxia, are extremely harmful to the Chesapeake’s overall health. Hypoxia is a reduction in oxygen present in the water. (Wikipedia) If oxygen levels get low enough it can cause marine life to either die or leave the area. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water causes algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle. “Significant increases in algae harm water quality, food resources,