Monitoring the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries:
Nineteen physical, chemical and biological characteristics are monitored 20 times a year in the Bay's mainstem and many tributaries.
Freshwater flowing into the Bay from the non-tidal portions of northern and western tributaries is monitored through an extensive network of monitoring stations. It is important to monitor freshwater inputs into the Bay because they:
Nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended sediment are monitored through a tidal and non-tidal network of monitoring stations. Nutrients are a major focus of the Bay restoration effort, as they contribute to excessive algae growth and decomposition, which can deplete dissolved oxygen needed for all aquatic life. Sediment suspended in the water column blocks light needed for underwater bay grasses to grow.
Toxicants (both organic compounds and heavy metals) enter the Bay from a variety of sources, including wastewater, industries, atmospheric deposition and runoff from agricultural and urban/suburban lands. Chemical contaminants have been found in Bay sediments at high levels, and are also present in the tissues of Bay animals like birds and fish.
The Bay Program, in cooperation with the U.S. EPA, has monitored phytoplankton and primary production in the Bay and its tributaries since August 1984. This series of monitoring programs give comprehensive spatial and temporal information on the plankton community. Sampling parameters include:
Maryland and Virginia, in cooperation with the Bay Program, has monitored benthic species abundance in the Bay mainstem and tributaries since the mid-1980s. Benthos monitoring is designed to give comprehensive spatial and temporal information on benthic conditions in the Bay. The data collected as part of this program include:
In 1996, a Benthic Sediment Profile Images and Image Analysis component was added to Virginia's monitoring program. SPI data are composed of photographic images and image analysis of the vertical bottom sediment profiles.
Finfish and shellfish, including anadromous fish, marine-spawning fish, blue crabs and other shellfish, are monitored through:
Bay grasses are a restoration priority because of their significance as food for waterfowl and habitat for blue crabs and juvenile finfish. The steep decline in bay grasses since the 1960s is believed to be the result of human activity. Chesapeake Bay SAV data consist of aerial photography from 1971; 1974; 1978; 1979 (Maryland only); 1980 and 1981 (Virginia only); 1984 through 1987; and 1989 through 1999. The most current data are available through the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The Bay Program provides funding to Maryland and Virginia to routinely monitor 19 directly measured water quality parameters at 49 stations in the Bay's mainstem. The Water Quality Monitoring Program began in June 1984, with stations sampled twice each month in June, July and August and once each month the rest of the year. “Special” sampling events—called cruises—may be added to record unique weather events.
The collecting organizations coordinate the sampling times of their respective stations so that data for each cruise represents a synoptic picture of the Bay at that point in time. At each station, a hydrographic profile (including water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen) is made at approximately 1- to 2-meter intervals. Water samples for chemical analysis (such as nutrients and chlorophyll) are collected at the surface and bottom, and at two additional depths depending on the existence and location of a pycnocline. Correlative data on sea state and climate are also collected.
