Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Workgroup
The Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Workgroup guides managers, provides technical expertise and applies research to protect and restore underwater grassees in the Chesapeake Bay.
Meetings
Habitat GIT Fall 2025 Meeting: Day 1 of 2
Habitat GIT Fall 2025 Meeting: Day 2 of 2
SAV Workgroup Fall Meeting - December 2025
CANCELED: SAV Workgroup Summer Meeting - August 2025
SAV Workgroup Spring Meeting - May 2025
Habitat GIT Virtual Spring 2025 Meeting
About
The SAV Workgroup serves the broader Chesapeake Bay community by guiding managers on the protection and restoration of SAV. The workgroup carries out its mission by providing technical expertise and applying research findings to issues impacting SAV in the Bay.
Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Effort
The Chesapeake Bay Program uses a three-tiered hierarchical monitoring approach for SAV. To learn more about the effort, visit our SAV Monitoring Program webpage.
Projects
Shallow Water Habitat Sentinel Site Program Development Workshop
In ProgressThe SAV Workgroup is leading a GIT-funded project to develop a Chesapeake Bay Shallow Water Habitat Sentinel Site Program. This program will monitor climate impacts on the functional value of shallow water habitats in Chesapeake Bay as well as the effectiveness of management measures taken by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership beyond 2025. A scoping workshop to develop a Chesapeake Bay Shallow Water Habitat Sentinel Site Program was held September 17th and 18th.
Protecting Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Given Changing Hydrologic Conditions: Priority SAV Area Identification and Solutions Development
CompleteThis project, conducted by Tetra Tech, evaluates how best management practices (BMPs) implemented across the Chesapeake Bay watershed influence the health of submerged aquatic vegetation—a vital habitat that supports water quality, stabilizes sediment and provides refuge for fish and invertebrates.
Modeling the Past to Predict the Future: Forecasting the Relative Role of Climate Change and Habitat Management on Chesapeake Bay SAV
CompleteThis project modeled the impact of climate change on underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay.
Chesapeake Bay SAV Restoration Manual and Outreach Materials
CompleteThis project supported the development of a comprehensive resource for those interested in directly restoring submerged aquatic vegetation in the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Tributary Specific SAV Fact Sheets
CompleteThis synthesis of multiple long-term datasets determined the influence of human populations on the distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation and whether management actions implemented by the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership have benefited SAV habitat.
Publications
2024-2025 SAV Outcome Management Strategy
Publication date:This management strategy outlines approaches for achieving the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement's SAV Outcome.
View document [PDF, 519.6 KB] 2024-2025 SAV Outcome Management Strategy
2024-2025 SAV Action Plan
Publication date:This two-year workplan was developed as part of the 2024 Strategy Review System cycle.
2024-2025 SAV Outcome Review Document
Publication date:This document summarizes the status of the SAV Outcome, highlights achievements and challenges from the past two years, and offers recommendations for future efforts.
View document [PDF, 299.6 KB] 2024-2025 SAV Outcome Review Document
Chesapeake Bay SAV: A Third Technical Synthesis
Publication date:The third Chesapeake Bay SAV technical synthesis reviews advancements in our knowledge and understanding of submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, ecosystem dynamics as they relate to SAV habitat requirements, but also genetics, the effects of land-use and shoreline alterations on SAV, climate change impacts and ecosystem services and their potential monetary value.
View document [PDF, 2.7 MB] Chesapeake Bay SAV: A Third Technical Synthesis
Chesapeake Bay SAV: A Second Technical Synthesis
Publication date:The second Chesapeake Bay SAV technical synthesis provides an integrated approach for defining and testing the suitability of shallow water habitats in terms of the minimum light requirements for the survival of submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV.
View document [PDF, 9.8 MB] Chesapeake Bay SAV: A Second Technical Synthesis
Our Watershed Agreement Goals & Outcomes
Vital Habitats Goal
Our Members
- Brooke Landry (Chair)
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Brooke.Landry@maryland.gov - Hadijah (Dede) Lawal (Staffer)
Chesapeake Research Consortium lawal.dede@epa.gov - Rebecca Golden
ShoreRivers bgolden@shorerivers.org - Chris Adriance
District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment Christopher.adriance@dc.gov - Kayla Clauson
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Kayla.Clauson@delaware.gov - Bill Dennison
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science dennison@umces.edu - Katia Engelhardt
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science engelhardt@al.umces.edu - Megan Fitzgerald
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fitzgerald.megan@epa.gov - Carl Friedrichs
Virginia Institute of Marine Science carl.friedrichs@vims.edu - Cassie Gurbisz
St. Mary's College of Maryland cbgurbisz@smcm.edu - Alyson Hall
Virginia Institute of Marine Science achall@vims.edu - Lora Harris
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science harris@cbl.umces.edu - Victoria Hill
Old Dominion University vhill@odu.edu - Jessie Jarvis
University of North Carolina jessiecjarvis@gmail.com - Cindy Johnson
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality csjohnson@deq.virginia.gov - Mike Johnson
Virginia Marine Resources Commission mike.johnson@mrc.virginia.gov - Jonathan Lefcheck
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center jlefcheck@umces.edu - Mark Lewandowski
Maryland Department of Natural Resources mlewandowski@dnr.state.md.us - Mark Luckenbach
Virginia Institute of Marine Science luck@vims.edu - Peter McGowan
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) peter_c_mcgowan@fws.gov - Ken Moore
Virginia Institute of Marine Science moore@vims.edu - Bob Murphy
Tetra Tech Bob.Murphy@tetratech.com - Mike Naylor
Maryland Department of Natural Resources mike.naylor@maryland.gov - Maile Neel
University of Maryland mneel@umd.edu - Magdalene Ngeve
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science mngeve@umces.edu - Mike Norman
Anne Arundel Community College cmnorman@aacc.edu - David O'Brien
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) David.L.O'Brien@noaa.gov - Chris Patrick
Virginia Institute of Marine Science cpatrick@vims.edu - Erin Reilly
Virginia Institute of Marine Science emreilly@vims.edu - Tish Robertson
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality tlrobertson@deq.virginia.gov - Nancy Rybicki
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) nrybicki@usgs.gov - Amanda Shaver
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality amanda.shaver@deq.virginia.gov - Erin Shields
Virginia Institute of Marine Science eshields@vims.edu - Kelly Somers
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Somers.Kelly@epa.gov - Lorie Staver
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science lstaver@umces.edu - Becky Swerida
Maryland Department of Natural Resources rebecca.swerida@maryland.gov - Peter Tango
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ptango@chesapeakebay.net - Jonathan Watson
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) jonathan.watson@noaa.gov - Don Weller
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center wellerd@si.edu - Dave Wilcox
Virginia Institute of Marine Science dwilcox@vims.edu - Richard Zimmerman
Old Dominion University rzimmerman@odu.edu - Kaitlin Scowen
Maryland Department of Natural Resources kaitlin.scowen@maryland.gov - Erika Koontz
Maryland Department of Natural Resources erika.koontz@maryland.gov - Bill Morgante
Maryland Board of Public Works bill.morgante@maryland.gov - Cathy Wazniak
Maryland Department of Natural Resources cwazniak@dnr.state.md.us - Chris Jones
George Mason University christopherm.jones@maryland.gov - Julie Luecke
Chesapeake Bay Foundation jluecke@cbf.org - Jeff Coogan
Coastal Monitoring Alliance jcoogan@coastalmonitoringalliance.com - Jeni Keisman
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jkeisman@usgs.gov - Judy O'Neil
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science joneil@umces.edu - Lesley Baggett
AKRF lbaggett@akrf.com - Riley Kuehn
Arundel Rivers Federation riley@arundelrivers.org - Stephanie Hall
Maryland Department of Natural Resources stephanie.hall2@maryland.gov - Susan Lamont
Anne Arundel Community College srlamont@aacc.edu - Joe Morina
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Joseph.Morina@deq.virginia.gov - Anthony Timpano
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Anthony.Timpano@deq.virginia.gov - Woody Francis
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) woody.francis@nab02.usace.army.mil - Zack Hoisington
Annapolis Maritime Museum zhoisington@amaritime.org - Matt Robinson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) robinson.matthew@epa.gov