The Chesapeake Bay watershed includes parts of six states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York) and Washington, D. C. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or drainage basin, encompasses six states: New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A watershed is a giant system of streams, streams, and rivers that flow into a common outlet, which in this case is Chesapeake Bay.
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It is home to more than 2,700 species of plants and animals and produces around 500 million pounds of seafood per year. The bay watershed covers parts of six states and Washington, D.C. The portion of New York's Chesapeake Bay watershed is comprised of the Susquehanna River watershed and the Chemung River watershed.
Together, these two watersheds form the northern headwaters of Chesapeake Bay and cover much of the southern level of New York. The Susquehanna River begins at Lake Otsego in Cooperstown, New York, and flows 444 miles south to the north end of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The Chemung River crosses the western part of the Southern Tier River and joins the Susquehanna River in northern Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River is the bay's largest tributary.
It provides nearly 50 percent of the fresh water that enters the bay, an average of 19 million gallons of water per minute. Excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediments throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed degrade the quality of the bay's water. The main sources of nutrients are wastewater, livestock manure, inorganic fertilizers and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Most of the sediments come from agriculture, streambank erosion, and construction.
The total maximum daily load defines the capacity of a body of water to absorb a contaminant and continue to meet water quality standards. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL sets limits on the amount of nutrients and sediments that can enter the bay and allow it to meet water quality objectives. Because the nutrients and sediments in the bay come from across the watershed, all six states and Washington, D.C. are participating in the work to meet the objectives described in the TMDL.
The Six States (and Washington), D, C. Each state also develops two-year goals, called milestones, that describe short-term steps toward the long-term goals described in the WIPs. Quality assurance and verification procedures provide confidence in the data that is reported to the EPA each year. The DEC has completed the last phase (Phase III) of the New York Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).
The DEC worked with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Upper Susquehanna Coalition (USC represents 17 New York counties and 4 Pennsylvania counties in the Chesapeake Bay watershed) and Cornell University to develop New York phase I, phase II and phase III watershed implementation plans. The following quality assurance project plans for point and diffuse sources of nutrients and sediments describe New York's procedures for collecting, reporting and verifying BMP information in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Program developed a quick reference guide on best management practices (PDF) that provides summary profiles of each BMP approved by the Chesapeake Bay Program in the watershed model. The DEC worked with the Upper Susquehanna Coalition to develop the Chesapeake Bay riverine buffer action strategy (PDF) for the Upper Susquehanna and Chemung watersheds.
The strategy includes current implementation opportunities, technical assistance and support needed to meet the watershed protection objectives included in the implementation plan for the watersheds. The purpose of this ArcGIS Dashboard is to provide stakeholders with a simple and direct platform to access data and information relevant to the TMDL for the Upper Susquehanna Basin and Chesapeake Bay in New York. Users can view the current implementation of the BMP, water quality trends, the locations of the latest state biological monitoring results, and the estimated nutrient and sediment loads reaching Chesapeake Bay. The Upper Susquehanna watershed progress guide (PDF) contains step-by-step instructions on how to use the dashboard.
Urban nutrient management plans (UNMP) help identify fertilization practices that allow for the most efficient use of nutrients by turf systems (turf, golf courses, athletic fields, etc.)). A UNMP designates the appropriate rates and timing of fertilizer application for lawns in a particular management area. For the Upper Susquehanna and Chemung watersheds, the DEC created a guidance document with recommendations from Cornell University to help develop the voluntary UNMP. The use of volunteer health workers supports New York State's nutrient runoff law.
For more information, see the Cornell Lawn Program and the Upper Susquehanna Coalition's urban nutrient management site. Conservationist is filled with informational articles, first-rate photographs, and impressive artwork. The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been heavily affected by natural forces such as erosion, tides, and a history of hurricanes and other storms. On average, the depth of the bay is 21 feet (6.4 m), including tributaries; more than 24 percent of the bay is less than 6 feet (2 m) deep.
The northern end of the Oligohaline Zone is north of Baltimore and the southern end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Chesapeake Bay and its vast watershed are home to many special places filled with rich history, natural wonders, beautiful landscapes, and hundreds and hundreds of opportunities to explore and enjoy. When the governors of Virginia (Chuck Robb, at the time), Pennsylvania and Maryland, together with the mayor of the District of Columbia, signed the 1983 Bay Agreement of the Environmental Protection Agency, they committed their jurisdictions to helping with efforts to clean up the bay. In September 1781, during the War of Independence, the British sank more than a dozen ships in the York River, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed covers more than 64,000 square miles and encompasses parts of six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the entire District from Columbia. This plan explains the steps Virginia localities can take to ensure cleaner rivers and streams and, ultimately, a cleaner Chesapeake Bay. If you live far from Chesapeake Bay, you may not feel identified with the importance of cleaning the bay. Chesapeake Bay is an estuary in the North Atlantic, which extends between the Delmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west.
Individual, population and ecosystem effects of hypoxia in a dominant benthic bivalve in the Bay of Chesapeake. State and local leaders, environmental organizations and community groups from across the region are collaborating through the Chesapeake Bay Program to make this happen. The European colonists who populated Chesapeake Bay in the late 17th and early 18th centuries brought industrial agricultural techniques with them. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which connects Virginia's east coast to its mainland (in the Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake metropolitan areas), is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long; it has trestle bridges and two two-mile-long (3.2 km) sections of tunnels that allow unimpeded transportation; the bridge is supported by four 5.25-acre (21,200 m) artificial islands.