The USGS in partnership with the North Virginia Regional Commission conducted a workshop on:
Factors Affecting Water Quality Changes in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Implications for Restoration
Science and Tools for Prioritizing Local Restoration Activities and Communicating Bay Progress with the Public

The workshop, held on February 22, 2006, was requested by local governments to help them make more science-based decisions for implementing the tributary strategies to reduce nutrients and sediment in the Bay watershed. Twenty five attendees from local and State government agencies participated in the workshop. The agenda was organized to address some of the major factors affecting nutrient and sediment delivery and trends in the Bay watershed.

The USGS presentation included:

Introduction: Factors affecting water quality and relationship to the tributary strategies, Scott Phillips, Chesapeake Bay Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey

Trends in water quality – Interpreting and communicating water quality data, Doug Moyer, Hydrologist, USGS

Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus and watershed properties affecting their transport, John Brakebill, Geographer, USGS

The impact of groundwater on nitrogen delivery and ability to meet target water quality results, Scott Phillips, USGS

Addressing sediment sources and loadings, Allen Gellis, Hydrologist, USGS

Some of the USGS reports supporting the material in the presentations include:

Brakebill, John W., and Preston, Stephen D., 1999, Digital Data Used to Relate Nutrient Inputs to Water Quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Version 1.0 : U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-60

Gellis Allen C., Banks William S.L., Langland Michael J., and Martucci Sarah K., 2005, Summary of Suspended-Sediment Data for Streams Draining the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Water Years 1952–2002, Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5056

Langland M., Cronin, T. and Phillips, S.W, 2003, An executive summary of sediment processes in the Chesapeake Bay and watershed: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4123, 109 p.

Langland, M.J., Phillips, S.W., Raffensperger, J.P, and Moyer, D.L., 2003, Changes in Streamflow and Water Quality in Selected Nontidal Sites in the Chesapeake Bay Basin, 1985-2003: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5259.

Phillips, S.W. and Lindsey, B.D., 2003, The influence of ground water on nitrogen delivery to the Chesapeake Bay: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-091-03. 6p.

More information on water quality can be found on the USGS Chesapeake Bay WWW site at: http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/water.html.

The USGS will be conducting more workshops in the future and for further information please contact Scott Phillips, USGS Chesapeake Bay Coordinator, swphilli@usgs.gov

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