The Role of the U.S. Geological

Survey in Restoring the Nation's

Largest Estuary

T

he U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS), the science agency for

the Department of Interior

(DOI), has the critical role of providing

objective science to document and

understand ecosystem change in the

Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The

human population in the Bay watershed,

which grew from 8.1 million in 1950 to

almost 16 million in 2000, has resulted

in degraded water quality, loss of habitat, and declines in fish and bird populations. USGS scientists are leaders in

understanding cause and effect of

human activities and natural changes on

water quality and the health of the

ecosystem. The USGS interacts with

resource managers and policy makers to

use the science to adapt approaches for

implementation, and assess effectiveness

of, management actions for ecosystem

conservation, restoration, and sustainability.

Since the mid-1980s, the USGS has

been an active partner in the

Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), a multiagency partnership led by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, working to achieve the restoration goals set

forth in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. This agreement established over

100 restoration commitments to be

addressed by 2010. In 2005, which was

the mid-point of the agreement, there

was growing concern at all levels of government and by the public that ecological conditions in the Bay and its watershed had not significantly improved. The

slow rate of improvement, coupled with

the projected impact of human-population increase in the Bay watershed (fig.

1), implied that many desired ecological

conditions will not be achieved by 2010.

To address these challenges, the USGS

wrote a new science plan for 2006-

2011, and is synthesizing key findings to

highlight the accomplishments from science activities for 2000-2005.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS 2006-3046

2006
U.S. Geological Survey Science

Plan 

The revised Chesapeake Bay science

plan for 2006-2011 (Phillips, 2005) is

designed to provide integrated science

for effective ecosystem conservation

and restoration. After assessing needs

and priorities of the CBP and DOI partners, the USGS developed four science

themes based on its capabilities and

strengths: 

•Impact of human activities on land

use; 

•Factors affecting water quality and

quantity; 

•Ability of habitat to support fish

and bird populations; and

•Synthesis and forecasting to

improve ecosystem assessment, conservation, and restoration.

For each science theme, the USGS

established objectives (table 1) that will

be achieved through a combination of

monitoring, modeling, research, and

assessment to provide science that can

be used for more effective management

actions to address the impact of human

activities (fig. 2) on the ecosystem. To

meet the science theme objectives, the

USGS will: (a) provide an improved

understanding of the ecosystem to better

target implementation of current conservation and restoration strategies, (b)

assess ecosystem change to help evaluate the effectiveness of management

activities, (c) forecast the potential

impacts of increasing human population

and climate variability, and (d) synthesize

the findings and provide implications to

help policy makers and resource managers adapt improved approaches for

ecosystem conservation, restoration, and

sustainability. 

The USGS is focusing the majority

of its efforts on addressing the science

themes in the Bay watershed because (a)

most conservation and restoration activities will be implemented in the watershed, (b) understanding the function of

the different hydrologic settings (fig. 3)

and habitats in the watershed in processing nutrients and sediment will provide a

more cost-effective approach to implementing management actions, and (c)

land-use change in the watershed will

continue to be the greatest stress on the

health of biological communities in the

watershed and the Bay. Additionally, the

USGS is addressing the relation between

conditions in the watershed and impacts

to water quality and habitat in the nearshore areas of the estuary. 

2 U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake Bay Studies: Scientific Solutions for a Healthy Bay and Watershed
Implementing U.S. Geological

Survey Chesapeake Bay Studies 

The success of implementing projects to address the science themes is

achieved through collaboration between

multiple USGS National Programs,

Science Centers, and partners (fig. 4).

Projects are designed by scientists to

meet the objectives of the USGS

Chesapeake Bay science themes and

missions of the contributing USGS

National Programs. The efforts of multiple USGS scientists under each science

theme are closely coordinated through

the USGS Integrated Synthesis and

Forecasting Team, and with the staff of

USGS Regional offices and Science

Centers. Appropriate Federal, State,

local, and academic CBP partners work

with the USGS to jointly conduct monitoring, modeling, research, and assessment activities associated with each science theme. The USGS interacts with

resource managers and policy makers to

make informed decisions for conservation and restoration activities based on

USGS findings, and to consider future

strategies to promote an ecologically sustainable ecosystem.

References

Bachman, L.J., Lindsey, B.D., Brakebill,

J.W., and Powars, D.S., 1998,

Ground-water discharge and baseflow nitrate loads of nontidal

streams, and their relation to a

hydrogeomorphic classification of

the Chesapeake Bay watershed,

Middle Atlantic coast: U.S.

Geological Survey Water-Resources

Investigations Report 98-4059, 71 p.

Claggett, P.R., and Bisland, C., 2004,

Assessing the vulnerability of forests

and farmlands to development in

the Chesapeake Bay watershed, in

Proceedings of the IASTED

International Conference on

Environmental Modeling and

Simulation, November 22-24, 2004,

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Phillips, S.W., 2005, The U.S.

Geological Survey Chesapeake Bay

science plan, 2006-2011: U.S.

Geological Survey Open-File Report

2005-1440, 53 p.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP)

and the Integration and Analysis

Network (IAN) at the University of

Maryland Center for

Environmental Science, 2005,

Chesapeake Bay environmental

models, 4 p.

Woods, A.J., Omernik, J.O., and Brown,

D.D., 1999, Level III and IV ecoregions of Delaware, Maryland,

Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West

Virginia: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

National Health and Environmental

Effects Research Laboratory, 24 p.

U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake Bay Studies: Scientific Solutions for a Healthy Bay and Watershed 3

Presen Future

(Modified from CBP and IAN, 2005)

Figure 2. Conceptual diagram of present and potential future conditions of the Chesapeake Bay

ecosystem (from Phillips, 2005, modified from CBP and IAN, 2005). [The conceptual diagram shows

present and potential future conditions in the watershed and estuary. Future conditions of the

watershed will be affected by human-population increase and the associated impact on land use,

water quality, water availability, and habitat loss and fragmentation. All of these factors will continue

to have negative impacts on habitats and biological communities in both the watershed and the estuary

The degree to which water-quality and ecological conditions improve in the future will likely depend on

the degree of implementation and effectiveness of management actions. The USGS conducts an 

integrated scientific approach to provide better targeting of management actions to provide the 

maximum water-quality and ecological benefit to the Bay and its watershed.]

Future management actions would:

 Decrease sources and transport of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants

 Decrease nutrients from atmospheric deposition

 Decrease concentrations of nutrients from wastewater discharge

 Increase wetlands and forest habitats

 Control water withdrawal

 Promote sustainable harvests of fisheries

Result in improved ecological conditions:

 Improved oxygen concentrations

 Fewer algal blooms and improved water clarity

 Increased submerged aquatic vegetation

 Sustainable water availability

 Improved fishery and bird populations

 
Chesapeake Bay Program

A Watershed Partnership

USGS Fact Sheet FS 2006-3046

For further information contact:

Scott Phillips

USGS Chesapeake Bay Coordinator

(swphilli@usgs.gov)

or visit the USGS Chesapeake Bay

homepage on the World Wide Web at:

http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/