Chesapeake Bay - Indicator Details:

This map shows progress of each reporting region towards meeting the aquatic grasses restoration goal. Overall progress in 2009 was not as great as that of 2008. However, areas with good scores, including the Upper Bay, Upper Western Shore and Rappahannock Rivers remained steady or increased significantly. The Choptank, Patuxent and Patapsco and Back Rivers and Lower Western Shore region ranked the lowest in aquatic grass distribution 2009, though it should be noted that only the latter two declined from 2008. This assessment is based on aquatic grass survey data provided by VIMS. See http://www.vims.edu/bio/sav for more information.

This map shows the preliminary aquatic grass (submerged aquatic vegetation) distribution in 2009. While aquatic grasses fringe long sections of the shoreline, there are many areas of the Bay in which they no longer occur or have experienced a significant reduction in area. For example, aquatic grasses are absent in the West and Nanticoke Rivers and have very low coverage in many other areas. During 2009, the Mobjack Bay, Lower Eastern Shore (Tangier), Upper Eastern Shore, Mid Bay and Rappahannock Rivers experienced a significant increase in aquatic grasses distribution compared to 2008. Several regions recorded a decline in aquatic grass distribution, including the Lower Western Shore, Patapsco and Back, and Potomac Rivers. This assessment is based on aquatic grass survey data provided by VIMS. See http://www.vims.edu/bio/sav for more information.