Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring Network 1985-2022: Average annual yields

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) Network stations for the period 1985 through 2022. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (Weighted Regression on Time, Discharge, and Season). Yields (representing the mass of constituent transported from a unit area of a given watershed) are used to compare the export loads from one basin to another. Yield results are obtained by dividing the annual load (pounds) of a given constituent by the respective watershed area (acres) from which the constituent was transported. Yield results presented represent the average annual per-acre loads of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment exported from each of the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations for two possible time periods: 2013-2022 (10 year average yield) and 2018-2022 (5 year average yield).