USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities

The Chesapeake Bay, the Nation's largest estuary, has been degraded due to
water quality problems, loss of habitat, and over harvesting of living
resources. Additionally, the Bay was listed under the Clean Water Act as an
impaired water body due to excess nutrients and sediments and must improve
water-quality conditions by 2010.

In response to the problems facing the Bay, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP),
which is a multi-agency partnership, completed Chesapeake 2000, a new agreement
that revises and establishes new restoration goals for the next 10 years in the
Bay and its watershed.

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), one of the original CBP Federal partners,
has the critical role to provide unbiased scientific information that is
utilized to formulate, implement, and assess the effectiveness of restoration
goals. The USGS Chesapeake Bay Science Program is meeting these needs through a
combination of research, monitoring, modeling, and interaction with the
partners in the CBP and the Department of Interior (DOI). To meet the expanded
needs of Chesapeake 2000 and DOI partners, the USGS redefined our science
goals:

-Improve watershed and land-use data to understand changes in water quality and
living resources.

-Understand the impact of sediment on water clarity and biota.

-Enhance the prediction and monitoring of nutrient delivery to the Bay.

-Assess the occurrence of toxic constituents and emerging contaminants.

-Assess the factors affecting the health of fish and water birds.
-Disseminate information and enhance decision-support tools.

The USGS Chesapeake Science Program depends on the coordination of multiple
USGS Programs and partners that have a scientific interest in the Bay
restoration. Over forty USGS scientists located in offices throughout the Bay
watershed and at the CBP, are involved in scientific investigations and
information dissemination. See our fact sheet on the U.S. Geological Survey
Chesapeake Bay Science Program FS-125-01 and the U.S. Geological Survey
Circular 1220 - The U.S. Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay -- The Role
of Science in Environmental Restoration for additional information.

Highlights of selected U.S. Geological Survey results in support of the
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Effort are available.

The Programs and Projects page has links to the USGS programs focused on the
Bay and its watershed. The Data page gives information and links on various
USGS data and spatial information sites focused on the Bay area. Links to
reports, press releases, and the bilbiography are available on the Publications
page.

[Summary provided by USGS.]