The goal is to restore vegetation to parts of the bay where it formerly grew in abundance and supported wildlife populations. Degraded water quality and loss of submerged aquatic vegetation have led to a decline in the use of Chesapeake Bay by wintering waterfowl. In 1996, the USGS began the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Program to coordinate ongoing USGS work and support new studies that fill important gaps in existing environmental information. USGS studies have shown that about half of the water and nutrient load entering the bay travels through the ground-water system and that nutrients may take as long as 20 years from the time they enter the system until they reach rivers or the bay. A better understanding of the factors controlling nutrient movement and concentration will help resource managers effectively target the placement of nutrient-reduction measures and understand the delay between implementing these measures and observing improvements in water quality.
Tide gages show that rates of sea-level rise are twice the worldwide average.
One research goal is to understand sea-level rise as a natural ongoing process that continues to modify the bay and its resources. Data from sediment cores obtained in the bay and its tributaries to document sea-level history also can be used to measure the effects of human activities on natural systems. USGS mapping specialists have developed a new satellite image that shows land cover characteristics throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The USGS also is preparing detailed databases of the watershed that contain information about topography, hydrography, soils, subsurface geology, litho-chemistry, depth measurements, and shoreline changes. These databases are used by scientists who are assessing the natural and human factors that influence the water quality and biological integrity of the bay and its watershed.