The overarching water-quality goal stated in the Chesapeake Action Plan is to: “Achieve and maintain the water quality necessary to support the aquatic living resources of the Bay and its tributaries and to protect human health”.
The Chesapeake 2000 agreement had a commitment to: “correct nutrient- and sediment-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to remove the Bay and tidal portion of tributaries from the list of impaired waters under the Clean Water Act.”
Water-quality standards for dissolved oxygen, water clarity, and chlorophyll have been established for the Bay. The amount of nutrient and sediment reduction needed to meet the water-quality standards was determined and allocated to each State in the watershed and the District of Columbia. Each jurisdiction has developed river-specific cleanup strategies, known as tributary strategies, detailing activities that need to be implemented to reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment delivered to the Bay.
Actions are being implemented to reduce nutrient and sediment loads in each tributary strategy basin to improve water-quality conditions in the Chesapeake Bay. Click on the maps below to see 2008 Chesapeake Bay goals.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
