Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee Publications
A Path Forward in Considering Future Environmental Scenarios in Chesapeake Bay Restoration Efforts
Publication date:STAC Workshop Report
The STAC Workshop, "CBP Climate Change Modeling III: Post-2025 decisions," convened May 2024 to refine and expand existing climate modeling efforts for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. This workshop, the third in a series over the past eight years, aimed to advance modeling frameworks to better assess climate change impacts, in preparation for the reconsideration of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Planning Targets in 2027
Understanding Genetics for Successful Conservation and Restoration of Resilient Chesapeake Bay Brook Trout Populations
Publication date:STAC Workshop Report
The STAC Workshop, "Understanding Genetics for Successful Conservation and Restoration of Resilient Chesapeake Bay Brook Trout Populations," convened September 2021 to bring together experts in the field of fish and Brook Trout genetics with fishery managers and practitioners to share general knowledge of fish genetics and recent scientific advances. The main objectives were to: 1. communicate the importance of genetic information for Brook Trout management and review key conservation genetics concepts, and 2. explore available genetics datasets and explain how they can be used to support management.
The State of the Science and Practice of Stream Restoration in the Chesapeake: Lessons Learned to Inform Better Implementation, Assessment, and Outcomes
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop that reviewed and distilled lessons learned from past stream corridor restoration projects to improve future restoration outcomes.
Using Carbon to Achieve Chesapeake Bay (and Watershed) Water Quality Goals and Climate Resiliency: The Science, Gaps, Implementation Activities and Opportunities
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to evaluate and translate biochar research for integration into Chesapeake Bay protocols.
Achieving Water Quality Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: A Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response (CESR)
Publication date:This report evaluates why progress toward the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load and water quality standards has been slower than expected and offers options for how progress can be accelerated.
Evaluating an Improved Systems Approach to Wetland Crediting: Consideration of Wetland Ecosystem Services
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to explore the wetland accounting system and provide insight on improved approaches to promote wetland projects.
Using Ecosystem Services to Increase Progress Toward, and Quantify the Benefits of Multiple CBP Outcomes
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to shape a framework for identifying impactful and durable ways to embed ecosystem services considerations in decision-making.
Using Local Monitoring Results to Inform the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model
Publication date:The workshop, “Using Local Monitoring Results to Inform the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model”, was held in March 2023 to provide insight on the scope of local water quality monitoring efforts within and outside of the Bay watershed that could be used to inform the CBWM. Scientists and managers developed recommendations that could be used by modelers for either calibration or knowledge generation to inform the Phase 7 version of the CBWM currently under development for a 2028 decision by the CBP, recommendations for how local monitoring efforts could be designed or altered to better inform the CBWM, and recommendations for how monitored trends could be used in management. The preliminary presentations for the workshop provided essential background information on the CBWM and data used to parameterize it. This information was the foundation for discussions on existing data gaps, the importance of current local monitoring networks, and best practices for developing future monitoring networks.
Best Management Practices to Minimize Impacts of Solar Farms on Landscape Hydrology and Water Quality
Publication date:As solar energy becomes a lower cost and more efficient source of renewable energy, major utility-scale solar panel installations, or solar farms, are being proposed and installed around the Mid-Atlantic region. These solar farms constitute a major land transformation. This transformation is particularly of interest because there can be substantial alteration of land characteristics in the development process, and solar farms also create a unique land cover with impervious surface over pervious surface, generating potential changes in hydrologic and water quality processes. There is currently wide variability in guidance and understanding of best practices relating to the land development and management of solar farms in the Chesapeake Bay region. Thus, a STAC-led workshop gathered speakers and participants from universities, industry, non-governmental organizations, and multiple levels of government across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to address the following questions in April 2023:
Improving Understanding and Coordination of Science Activities for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s. PFAS are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment and have the potential to have adverse human and ecological health effects. There are more than 12,000 unique compounds, making analysis and reporting difficult. A STAC workshop gathered speakers from Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions, federal agencies, and academic institutions, including representatives from across the Nation, to better understand the state of the science, improve science coordination, and propose approaches to improve our knowledge of PFAS. The workshop was designed to (1) summarize current understanding of sources, occurrence, and fate of PFAS, (2) identify current efforts and approaches to inform the potential effects on fish and wildlife, and their consumption by humans, (3) consider study designs, and comparable sampling and analysis methods, for a more coordinated PFAS science effort, (4) determine and prioritize knowledge gaps, and (5) provide actionable scientific recommendations for monitoring and research.
Rising Watershed and Bay Water Temperatures - Ecological Implications and Management Responses
Publication date:This workshop examined the drivers and effects of rising water temperatures and sought to determine what the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership might do to prevent, mitigate or adapt to adverse consequences.
Overcoming the Hurdle: Addressing Implementation of Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) Through a Social Science Lens
Publication date:The agricultural sector is a key part of the solution for achieving long-term water quality goals established by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership. Current levels of best management practice (BMP) adoption on agricultural lands are not sufficient to meet pollutant reduction goals across the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW). In this workshop, agricultural service providers across public and private sectors were invited to propose and discuss ideas on BMP adoption and implementation garnered from their own experiences.
Assessing the Water Quality, Habitat, and Social Benefits of Green Riprap
Publication date:Shoreline alterations in the Chesapeake Bay have led to a loss of native tidal and shallow water habitats throughout the waterways of the Bay. Efforts to reduce the proliferation of shoreline hardening through the use of Living Shorelines and similar restoration practices have slowed the loss of native habitats, but do not address areas that have already been hardened. Green Riprap is a low cost, simple restoration technique to improve the water quality, habitat, and aesthetics of shorelines previously hardened with rock revetments by planting marsh vegetation in the voids between riprap rocks. However, Green Riprap techniques are new to the Chesapeake Bay and before widespread use is encouraged, a synthesis of the science and identification of research gaps are needed. This workshop was developed to provide the foundation to evaluate the state of the science on Green Riprap and its potential for providing enhanced water quality, increased near shore biodiversity, and improved aesthetic functions of previously hardened tidal shorelines.
Incorporating Freshwater Mussels into the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Efforts
Publication date:Freshwater mussels were chosen as a focus for this workshop to consider ecosystem services, document biodiversity, outline intersections with Chesapeake Bay issues and to explore their potential to engage partners. The workshop brought diverse expertise together from across the watershed including mussel biologists, nutrient dynamics experts and water quality managers to provide recommendations which are summarized in this report.
Chesapeake Bay Program Climate Change Modeling 2.0
Publication date:The Chesapeake Bay Program Climate Change Modeling 2.0 workshop was held in late 2018 to give guidance and expert advice on the models and the assessment framework used to assess the effect of climate change on the TMDL. Scientists and managers developed recommendations that could be implemented to support assignment of any additional load reductions in 2021 and made recommendations on longer-term modeling goals for the partnership. Although a full workshop report is only now being published, several recommendations on near-term model revisions have already been implemented and have supported policy decisions made by the CBP Principals Staff Committee. The longer-term model revisions recommended here will be useful in guiding the partnership regarding future projections of climate change impacts on the attainment of the Bay TMDL and water quality standards.
View document [PDF, 932.7 KB] Chesapeake Bay Program Climate Change Modeling 2.0
Linking Soil and Watershed Health to In-Field and Edge-of-Field Water Management
Publication date:Improving soil health has gained traction within the farming community because of its importance to long-term crop production and watershed health. To date, management focuses on in-field crop management practices such as reducing tillage, following 4R nutrient stewardship guidelines, and maximizing vegetative cover throughout the year. Guidelines do not address agricultural water management, despite that soil moisture primarily drives underlying soil health processes. In January 2020, STAC partnered with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, West Virginia University’s Institute of Water Security and Science, The Nature Conservancy, and the Transforming Drainage partnership and convened experts to explore the importance of agricultural water management to achieving soil and watershed restoration goals.
Exploring Satellite Image Integration for the Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Program
Publication date:The workshop convened technical and management personnel to consider pathways to achieve the aforementioned goals. Acquiring CSI at no cost is an option under the NextView License agreement between the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and Maxar (previously DigitalGlobe, Inc). The NextView License was developed by the NGA to accommodate United States Government (USG) agencies, contractors, partners, and other entities that require CSI to support USG interests. The basic premise of the agreement is that any federal agency that requires satellite imagery from contracted commercial sources can request and obtain said imagery at no cost to the local agency. As 2017 updates to the Water Resource Development Act, which amends Section 117 of the Clean Water Act, called for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out an annual SAV survey in Chesapeake Bay. This makes it theoretically feasible for the EPA to now request and obtain the high-resolution CSI necessary for the annual SAV assessment.
Assessing the Environment in Outcome Units (AEIOU): Using Eutrophying Units for Management
Publication date:The Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) sets goals for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total sediment reduction by political jurisdiction and by river basin in order to restore aquatic habitat. However, using total nitrogen and phosphorus rather than specific species of these nutrients, can mask processes that ultimately determine restoration success in terms of supporting fish communities and human safety, among other outcomes. For example, in some areas of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the proportion of phosphorus entering in a bio-available dissolved form (ortho P) is increasing, despite or even as a side effect of management efforts. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the speciation of nutrients influences algal biomass and the extent of hypoxia, which are reflected in water quality standards. Yet nutrient species effects are not factored into targeting TMDL effort nor the crediting system that tracks progress of jurisdictions towards their goals.
Increasing Effectiveness and Reducing the Cost of Nonpoint Source Best Management Practice (BMP) Implementation: Is Targeting the Answer?
Publication date:As the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) passes the mid-point assessment, major point source discharges will have achieved (or nearly achieved) their final Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) waste load allocations. Jurisdictions, however, still need to achieve substantial nutrient and sediment reductions from agricultural and urban nonpoint sources (NPS). Based on current understanding and modeling, the CBP estimates that agriculture and urban NPS need to achieve an additional 35 million and 12 million pounds of reductions, 1.3 and 0.6 million pounds of P reductions, and 941 and 594 million pounds of sediment, respectively to meet TMDL goals. State and local governments are poised to spend hundreds of millions of additional dollars to meet these goals, primarily by installing agricultural and urban nonpoint source best management practices (BMPs). Thus, BMP implementation stands at the center of CBP efforts to meet TMDL requirements. Yet, water quality monitoring suggests that the link between BMP implementation and load reductions is tenuous. In a recent STAC review, Keisman et al (2018) state “current research suggests that the estimated effects of conservation practices have not been linked to water quality improvements in most streams.” The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model estimates substantial reductions in NPS loads, but monitoring data suggests little to no change in these loads between 1992-2012 (Keisman et al, 2018). A critical question is why? Potential explanatory factors include inadequate BMP coverage, poor implementation/maintenance, lag times between implementation and pollutant load reductions, pollutant transport and transformation processes that are incompletely understood, and inability to target BMPs to critical pollutant source areas. The purpose of this workshop was to make recommendations as to how the CBP can develop and integrate mechanisms to target BMPs to areas of the watershed producing disproportionate nutrient and sediment loads.
Integrating Science and Developing Approaches to Inform Management for Contaminants of Concern in Agricultural and Urban Settings
Publication date:A wide range of contaminants of agricultural, human, and industrial origin have degraded water quality, and pose a threat to the health of fish and wildlife populations, in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. A May 2019 STAC workshop brought together researchers and water quality managers working in urban and agricultural settings to synthesize the current knowledge on contaminants of concern and discuss opportunities for their reduction.
Understanding and Explaining 30 Years of Water Clarity Trends in the Chesapeake Bay’s Tidal Waters
Publication date:Water clarity is widely recognized as an important indicator of the health and trophic state of aquatic ecosystems and is a key management target given the limit it imposes on the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). A better understanding of the controls on water clarity variability may expand our understanding of SAV trends, while providing new insights into the interactions between eutrophication, sediment inputs, and the concentrations and composition of suspended solids. This workshop brought together experts from the multiple disciplines needed to synthesize the current state of the science on water clarity trends and the factors that affect them, and to identify priorities for future research. The group was also asked to address an explicit set of questions posed by the Chesapeake Bay Program in the original STAC workshop proposal. Those questions, along with the group’s responses and recommendations for future work, are summarized in this report.
Chesapeake Bay Program Modeling in 2025 and Beyond: A Proactive Visioning Workshop
Publication date:The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) has used its modeling system as a planning tool to inform strategic management decisions and adaptation toward Bay restoration since the 1980s. This modeling system has been continually updated with improvements and advancements intended to keep pace with emerging science. However, it has been more than a decade since the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) convened a dedicated workshop to discuss future directions for the suite of modeling tools used by the CBP. Given developments over the past twelve years (since the previous model visioning workshop), and the completion of the 2017 Mid-point Assessment of the EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load regulatory process, STAC agreed that 2018 was an appropriate time to convene a workshop aimed at formulating a vision for future CBP modeling to guide the partnership into the future (i.e., from 2025 and beyond).
Legacy Sediment, Riparian Corridors, and Total Maximum Daily Loads
Publication date:The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) sponsored and convened a workshop on Legacy Sediment in Annapolis, MD on April 24-25, 2017. This workshop was developed in response to a request from the Chesapeake Bay Commission (CBC) with the primary goal of reviewing our collective understanding of “legacy” sediment and its relative influence on habitat and water quality, both locally and across the Chesapeake Bay, as well as the relative merits of different management approaches. This is a complex topic with important implications for Chesapeake Bay and speakers were invited to ensure a broad and comprehensive assessment of the relevant issues. As articulated by CBC Executive Director Ann Swanson, “A STAC workshop, with presentations from various points of view and a free and rigorous scientific debate, would greatly assist policymakers in understanding how “legacy” sediments fit within a suite of management activities to reduce nutrient and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay.”
View document [PDF, 3.2 MB] Legacy Sediment, Riparian Corridors, and Total Maximum Daily Loads
Microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed: State of the Knowledge, Data Gaps, and Relationship to Management Goals
Publication date:This workshop report presents urgent recommendations to the Chesapeake Bay Program for addressing the threat of microplastics across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Establishing Multifunctional Riparian Buffers: How do we accelerate riparian buffer plantings across the Chesapeake Bay with the greatest economic, social and environmental impacts?
Publication date:This report provides a summary of the proceedings of a STAC-sponsored workshop that explored market-based approaches for multifunctional buffers to identify means of accelerating riparian buffer plantings in the Bay watershed. This report also outlines specific recommendations identified by participants at the two-day workshop convened November 13-14, 2018 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Revisiting Coastal Land-Water Interactions: The Triblet Connection
Publication date:This report provides a summary of the proceedings of a Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) sponsored workshop on targeting advanced best management practices to benefit shallow water resources and explore potential refinements to the current CBP model segmentation strategy. This report also outlines specific recommendations identified by participants at the 2-day workshop, held in Frederick, Maryland on May 23-24, 2018.
This workshop provided an opportunity to evaluate whether the “triblet” concept (natural channels draining to tributaries along the transition zone connecting uplands to coastal waters and functioning as bioreactors) provides a useful basis for informing watershed management and advancing coastal research. Participants were varied in expertise, including watershed hydrology, estuarine circulation, biogeochemistry, and behavioral-economics. A significant portion of the workshop was dedicated to sharing insights to understand the role of triblets as bioreactors affecting the exchange between upland and coastal waters. Participants collaborated to identify key information gaps and research opportunities to advance Bay restoration.
Lessons learned and major findings from the workshop focused on the science gaps, as well as improvements to the Bay Program’s modeling strategy.
View document [PDF, 2.9 MB] Revisiting Coastal Land-Water Interactions: The Triblet Connection
Factors Influencing the Headwaters, Nontidal, Tidal and Mainstem Fish Habitat Function
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to identify the necessary information and analytical approaches needed to assess the condition and vulnerability of fish habitat in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Integrating Recent Findings to Explain Water-Quality Change: Support for the Mid-Point Assessment and Beyond
Publication date:This workshop, hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), brought together water-quality managers and several groups of scientists working to synthesize management-relevant insights in their respective fields, in order to identify elements of research findings that could inform the development of Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) and future adaptive management.
Monitoring and Assessing Impacts of Changes in Weather Patterns and Extreme Events on BMP Siting and Design
Publication date:Consideration of BMP Performance Uncertainty in Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation
Publication date:Quantifying Ecosystem Services and Co-Benefits of Nutrient and Sediment Pollutant Reducing BMPs
Publication date:Cracking the WIP: Designing an Optimization Engine to Guide Efficient Bay Implementation
Publication date:Integrating and Leveraging Monitoring Networks to Support the Assessment of Outcomes in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement
Publication date:The Development of Climate Projections for Use in Chesapeake Bay Program Assessments
Publication date:A workshop entitled Development of Climate Projections for Use in Chesapeake Bay Program Assessments was organized to help the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) assess the applicability of available climate data, downscaling techniques, projections and scenarios to establish an approach for climate analysis in CBP models and assessments. The goal of this workshop was to assist the CBP with the selection process and formulate recommendations for future application of climate projections in assessments to be undertaken by the Partnership, including modeling efforts to support the 2017 Midpoint Assessment, as well as other programmatic climate change impact assessments.
Conowingo Reservoir Infill and Its Influence on Chesapeake Bay Water Quality
Publication date:Evaluating Proprietary BMPs: Is it Time for a State, Regional, or National Program?
Publication date:Re-plumbing the Chesapeake Watershed: Improving Roadside Ditch Management to Meet TMDL Water Quality Goals
Publication date:Exploring the Environmental Effects of Shale Gas Development in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Exploring Applications of Behavioral Economics Research to Environmental Policy-making in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Designing Sustainable Stream Restoration Projects within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Estimating Land Management Effects on Water Quality Status and Trends
Publication date:View document [PDF, 752.2 KB] Estimating Land Management Effects on Water Quality Status and Trends
The Peculiarities of Pervious Cover: A Research Synthesis on Allocating Pollutant Loads to Urban Land Uses in the Chesapeake Bay
Publication date:In My Backyard: An Innovative Look at the Advances of Onsite Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
Publication date:Multiple Models for Management in the Chesapeake Bay
Publication date:View document [PDF, 802.1 KB] Multiple Models for Management in the Chesapeake Bay
Designing Sustainable Coastal Habitats
Publication date:View document [PDF, 1.9 MB] Designing Sustainable Coastal Habitats
Critical Issues in Implementing Nutrient Trading Programs in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Incorporating Lag-Times Into the Chesapeake Bay Program
Publication date:View document [PDF, 1.3 MB] Incorporating Lag-Times Into the Chesapeake Bay Program
Real World Wastewater Technologies Workshop: Advancing the World We Live In – Exploring Cutting Edge Wastewater Treatment Technologies
Publication date:Research-Based Best Practices for Environmental Education
Publication date:View document [PDF, 1.0 MB] Research-Based Best Practices for Environmental Education
Assessing the Chesapeake Bay Forage Base: Existing Data and Research Priorities
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to address uncertainties around forage species and to recommend feasible approaches to improve our collective understanding of the Chesapeake Bay's forage base.
Chesapeake Bay Goal Line 2025: Opportunities for Enhancing Agricultural Concervation.
Publication date:The Role of Natural Landscape Features in the Fate and Transport of Nutrients and Sediment
Publication date:This report summarizes the proceedings of a workshop to consider whether there is a scientific basis for changing how the Chesapeake Bay Program's Watershed Model assigns nutrient and/or sediment loading rates of natural landscape features based on their ecological health/condition, management status and/or landscape position.
Using Multiple Models for Management in the Chesapeake Bay: A Shallow Water Pilot Project
Publication date:Evaluating the Validity of the Umbrella Criterion Concept for Chesapeake Bay Tidal Water Quality Assessment
Publication date:Adapting to Climate Change in the Chesapeake Bay: A STAC workshop to monitor progress in addressing climate change across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Integrating Social Science Research into Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Publication date:View document [PDF, 408.0 KB] Integrating Social Science Research into Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Chesapeake Bay Hydrodynamic Modeling: A Workshop Report
Publication date:View document [PDF, 1.6 MB] Chesapeake Bay Hydrodynamic Modeling: A Workshop Report
Exemplary Strategies to Protect and Restore Urban Watersheds: Preparing for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and Watershed Implementation Plans
Publication date:Tidal Sediments
Publication date:Developing a Protocol for Development and Review of Reduction Efficiencies for Best Management Practices: Test Case of Pasture Management
Publication date:Small Watershed Monitoring Designs
Publication date:View document [PDF, 295.2 KB] Small Watershed Monitoring Designs
Evaluation Framework for Water Quality Trading Programs in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Publication date:Atmospheric Deposition of Nitrogen
Publication date:View document [PDF, 44.1 KB] Atmospheric Deposition of Nitrogen
Habitat Suitability Models: State of the Art, Chesapeake Applications
Publication date:View document [PDF, 624.9 KB] Habitat Suitability Models: State of the Art, Chesapeake Applications
Establishing a Research Agenda for Assessing the Bioavailability of Wastewater Treatment Plant-Derived Effluent Organic Nitrogen in Treatment Systems and Receiving Waters
Publication date:Quantifying the Role of Wetlands in Achieving Nutrient and Sediment Reductions in Chesapeake Bay
Publication date:Thresholds in the Recovery of Eutrophic Coastal Ecosystems
Publication date:View document [PDF, 1.0 MB] Thresholds in the Recovery of Eutrophic Coastal Ecosystems