About Our Assessments
An annual assessment of Chesapeake Bay health and restoration is assembled in the first quarter of each year to provide a synthesis of the previous year's Bay health, factors impacting Bay and watershed health, restoration efforts, and the health of freshwater streams and rivers.
Factors Impacting Bay and Watershed Health
In Factors Impacting Bay and Watershed Health, the most current monitoring data available are used to provide an assessment of various factors impacting the health of the Bay and its watershed.
The factors impacting Bay and watershed health are tracked with 12 reporting-level indicators grouped in four priority areas that represent major stressors to the Bay ecosystem:
The indicators are not related to goals at this time.
Bay Health
In Bay Health, the most current monitoring data gathered by Bay Program partners are used to provide a scientifically based assessment of the health of the Bay.
Bay health is measured with 13 reporting-level indicators grouped in three areas that represent major components of the Bay ecosystem:
Quantitative restoration goals have been set for most of these indicators. When all of the goals for these areas are reached, it should mean a restored Bay. For each indicator, a chart shows, as a percent of the goal, current status and a history of progress toward achieving the goal.
Watershed Health
In Watershed Health, the most current monitoring data gathered by Bay Program partners are used to provide a scientifically based assessment of the health of freshwater stream and rivers throughout the Bay watershed.
An effective way to measure the health of freshwater streams and rivers is to study the many tiny creatures that live in these waters. The abundance and diversity of snails, mussels, insects and other bottom-dwelling organisms – known as benthic macroinvertebrates – are good indicators of the health of streams.
A map presents a summary of the status of the health of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, on a scale of very poor to excellent, within the boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The indicator cannot be related to a goal at this time.
Restoration and Protection Efforts
In Restoration and Protection Efforts, the most current monitoring and tracking data gathered by Bay Program partners and computer simulations are used to provide an assessment of the partners’ efforts to restore the health of the Bay and its watershed.
Efforts are tracked with 19 reporting-level indicators grouped into the five priority areas described in the landmark Chesapeake 2000 agreement that represent major elements of the Bay restoration effort:
Quantitative goals have been set for all of these indicators. When all of the goals for these areas are reached, it should mean that all measures needed for a restored Bay have been implemented. For each indicator, a chart shows the current status and a history of percent of progress toward achieving the goal.
In the section “Reducing Pollution,” efforts are compared to goals defined by the Bay jurisdictions' river-specific cleanup plans. The most up-to-date monitoring and tracking data gathered by Bay Program partners and computer simulations are used in this section. In the remaining parts, restoration efforts are compared to goals adopted by the Bay Program partners. Monitoring and tracking data are used in these sections.
Additional Information:
Contact: For more information contact: Nita Sylvester at 800-968-7229 ext. 711