Summer water quality and aquatic grass wrap-up

MASC newsletter #4The EcoCheck Project (NOAA-UMCES partnership) in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) and some of its partners has released the latest edition of the Chesapeake Update newsletter. This edition provides an overview of water quality and aquatic grass conditions over the summer of 2005. An explanation as to why these conditions occurred is provided – largely a combination of a wet spring followed by a dry, calm, and relatively warm summer. The observed conditions are compared to those forecast to occur before the summer, and explanations for any differences are provided. The main events this summer can be summarized as severe dissolved oxygen conditions, localized harmful algal blooms, and aquatic grasses flourish in the Northern Bay.