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Nutrient improvements in Chesapeake Bay: Direct effect of load reductions and implications for coastal management

Environmental Science & Technology
By: , , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05388

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Abstract

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not clearly materialized. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis, which allowed for identification of exactly when and where responses are happening. Results show that Chesapeake Bay total nitrogen and total phosphorus conditions are mostly improving after accounting for variation in freshwater flow. Almost all of these improving nutrient concentrations in the estuary can be explained by reductions in watershed loads entering through 16 rivers and 145 nearby point sources. These two major types of loads from multiple locations across the watershed are together necessary and responsible for improving estuarine nutrient conditions, a finding that is highly relevant to managing valuable estuarine resources worldwide.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Nutrient improvements in Chesapeake Bay: Direct effect of load reductions and implications for coastal management
Series title Environmental Science & Technology
DOI 10.1021/acs.est.1c05388
Volume 56
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher American Chemical Society
Contributing office(s) Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center
Description 11 p.
First page 260
Last page 270
Country United States
State Maryland, Virginia
Other Geospatial Chesapeake Bay
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