Progress Report of the Baywide Nutrient Reduction Reevaluation 1992

Authors

• Chesapeake Bay Program

Description

During the period between the 1983 and 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreements, the Bay Program developed a relatively simple mathematical model that was used to devise a strategy for reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Bay. This model evaluated the water quality reponse of the Bay too a variety of nutrient reduction scenarios. The model's results predicted that if nutrient loads were reduced 40% nutrient enrichment would be reduced sufficiently to stop the depletion of dissolved oxygen (particularly in the deep, central region of the Bay), thereby encouraging the recovery of the Bay's living resources to earlier, higher population levels.