STAC Criteria Addendum Review: Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries: 2017 Technical Addendum

Description

The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership requested that the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) provide a scientific review of the 2017 Technical Addendum to the document, "Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity and Chlorophyll-a for the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries." This addendum was developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program's Criteria Assessment Protocol Workgroup, and provides refinements and clarifications to previously published Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria assessment procedures.

The Criteria Addendum Review Team was selected based on their expertise in estuarine dissolved oxygen, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), chlorophyll, water clarity, statistics and application of water quality criteria in the context of a total maximum daily load (TMDL). The team was asked to address questions regarding the overall appropriateness and justification of the approach taken, the clarity of the document in providing a complete set of guidance for assessing water quality standards attainment and the scientific rigor of the methods used, and to provide recommendations about potential future enhanced criteria-assessment procedures.

As a general comment, the Criteria Addendum Review Team notes that a clearly written and complete documentation of the water quality criteria is extremely critical, given that billions of dollars are being spent on the basis of their development. This report summarizes the team's major findings and recommendations.