Environmental models are mathematical representations of the real world.
They are designed to estimate the effects of complex and varying environmental events and conditions. Environmental models are essential for simulating ecosystems that are either too large or too complex to isolate for experiments in the real world. Models allow us to simulate changes in our ecosystem due to changes in population, land use, or pollution management. These simulations, called scenarios, allow us to predict positive, or negative, changes within our ecosystem due to management actions such as improved sewage treatment, reduced fertilizer or manure application on agricultural land, or controlling urban sprawl. The models are crucial to the Bay Program goals of reducing nutrients and sediments delivered to the Bay.