Ambient WQ Criteria for DO, Water Clarity & Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay & Its Tidal Tribs

Description

Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity, and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and It's Tidal Tributaries & Technical Support for Criteria Assessment Protocols Addenda

Since the signing of the multijurisdictional Chesapeake 2000 agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with its six watershed State partners and the District of Columbia, has developed a series of water quality criteria guidance documents in accordance with Section 117b of the Clean Water Act. Chesapeake Bay regional water quality criteria were developed and adopted into state water quality standards regulations protective of living resources and their habitats.

These documents include the 2003 Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria document and it's following addenda; as such readers should regard the sections in these addenda as new or replacement chapters and appendices to the original published report. The criteria assessment procedures published in these addenda also replace and otherwise supersede similar criteria assessment procedures originally published in the 2003 Regional Criteria Guidance. Publication of future addenda by EPA on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Program watershed jurisdictional partners is likely as continued scientific research and management applications reveal new insights and knowledge that should be incorporated into revisions of state water quality standards regulations in upcoming triennial reviews.