Water Quality Goal Implementation Team (GIT 3) Publications

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Comparison of Mid-Bay and Lateral Station Water Quality Data in the Chesapeake Bay Mainstem

Published on June 1, 1993

Seasonal median water quality values were compared between stations in mid-Bay and lateral regions in seven east-west transects in the mainstem Chesapeake Bay. Comparisons were made over seven years, 1985-1991, for April-October surface layer medians of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, dissoslved orthophosphate, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total suspended solida, chlorophyll a, Secchi depth, and salinity. Comparisons were also made using spring (March-May) and summer (June-September) medians of surface and bottom salinity and dissolved oxygen. Comparisons were made using difference plots of raw data, scatter plots of annual seasonal medians, nand the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test on annual seasonal medians. The graphical and statistical analyses confirmed each other. Correlation coefficients were also calculated between mid-Bay and lateral data series to estimate their degree of similarity over time, but could not be tested for statistical significance.

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Strengthening Verification of Best Management Practices Implemented in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Published on October 1, 2014

Stakeholder groups, communities and people across the 64,000 square foot Chesapeake Bay region must have confidence that there is strong science behind the Chesapeake Bay “pollution diet” (known as the Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL) and each jurisdiction’s strategy (called a Watershed Implementation Plan or WIP) for putting practices in place to meet nutrient and sediment reduction goals. In order to foster this confidence, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partners’ work must be open and transparent for all interested parties. We must also be fully responsive to calls by the Chesapeake Executive Council, CBP’s Citizens Advisory Committee, and Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, and groups such as the National Academy of Sciences and mandates under the federal Executive Order—all of which demand improvements in the transparency and scientific rigor of our efforts. While our attention must be given to the tracking and crediting of the diverse technologies, treatment techniques and best practices intended to reduce the flow of nutrients and sediments to our waters, we must also be vigilant in our efforts to verify that these practices, known as ‘best management practices” or BMPs, are working and continue to work properly. This document provides a detailed framework by which the Bay Program partners will build rigor and transparency for BMP verification up through the partnership and disseminate it through our many local partners who are ultimately responsible for the on-the-ground implementation of BMPs that will reduce the nutrient and sediment pollutants reaching local waters and the Bay.

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