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IAN Press is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.
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You are browsing all 80 communication products for Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay
Focus Group Evaluation of Tributary Report Cards (Report) 
Publisher: OpinionWorks
The Chesapeake Bay Trust, West/Rhode Riverkeeper, and OpinionWorks have conducted an audience evaluation of tributary report cards, conducted through focus groups. This report provides the findings and recommendations that arise from this research. The report also serves as a best management guide for creating report cards that not only report on water quality, but also engage the public in the work of protecting the Bay and its tributaries.
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2011 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Report card) 
Prepared by EcoCheck and the Integration and Application Network
This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, determined using water quality and biotic indicators, declined slightly in 2011. The overall grade of D+ was a decrease for the second year in a row, down from a C- in 2010. Only two reporting regions, the Patapsco and Back Rivers, and the Lower Western Shore (MD), had improved grades in 2011. The highest-ranked region for the second year in a row was the Upper Bay, with a grade of C. For further details, visit the Report Card website.
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Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund (Newsletter)
The Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund was created in 2007 in an effort to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution to these bays. The Trust Fund has focused its financial resources on the implementation of effective non-point (i.e., diffuse) source pollution control projects in high priority watersheds. This newsletter details examples of projects supported by the Trust Fund including stream channel restorations, stormwater retrofits, and cover crops.
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Assessing the ecological and human health status of Baltimore's Inner Harbor (Poster)
Presented at the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation's Biennial Conference
Baltimore's Inner Harbor and its watershed is a highly urbanized area in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. This study assessed water quality and biotic parameters as ecological health indicators. Bacteria and trash were assessed as human health indicators. Most water quality indicators were either poor (D) or very poor (F) in the Inner Harbor. Bacteria and trash levels in the Inner Harbor were rated as poor (D). Middle Branch region: Bacteria levels were rated as fair but no water quality data available. The watershed health was better, with water quality indicators and bacteria scoring from good (B-) to poor (D). This study is a component of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore's Healthy Harbor Initiative, which includes a set of goals and implementation actions to make the Harbor swimmable and fishable by 2020.
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2011 Chesapeake Bay Dissolved Oxygen Forecast (Report)
For the past several years, Chesapeake Bay scientists have collaborated with EcoCheck to forecast summer dissolved oxygen conditions, based on flow and nutrient loading conditions through May. The 2011 anoxia forecast is supported through research at Johns Hopkins University, Old Dominion University, UMCES-Horn Point Lab, and the Chesapeake Bay Program. This forecast uses the same basis as previous anoxia forecasts—nitrogen loads—but adds other elements that may provide a better understanding of anoxia in the mainstem Bay. The forecast was divided into early summer and late summer predictions because for the past several years there has been a noticeable change in anoxic volume following wind events in late June and early July. The early summer anoxia forecast predicts moderate to poor conditions, based on nitrogen loads from January to April as well as high flow in May.
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2010 Trust Fund Water Quality Monitoring Strategy (Report)
This Monitoring Strategy was designed to identify nutrient reduction efficiencies of best management practices (BMPs) and provide information to determine what type of monitoring is needed by Trust Fund recipients to evaluate the effectiveness of BMP implementation. The main objective is to provide a comprehensive protocol that serves all water quality assessment needs when monitoring urban and agricultural non-point nutrient and sediment fluxes. The methods and results of several intensively monitored case studies indicate that BMP implementation can be highly effective at reducing nutrient and sediment fluxes to receiving waters.
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Chesapeake Bay Report Card 2010 (Report card)
Prepared by EcoCheck and the Integration and Application Network
This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2010 Chesapeake Bay health. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, assessed using water quality and biotic indicators, declined slightly in 2010. The overall grade decreased from a C in 2009 to C- in 2010. Only two reporting regions (James River and York River) had improved grades in 2010, three were unchanged, and nine declined. The highest-ranked region in previous years, the Upper Western Shore, decreased to fourth highest. The Upper Bay (C+) became the top-ranked region in 2010. For further details, visit the Report Card website.
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Blue Crab Status Report (Newsletter)
Blue crabs are one of the best-known and most celebrated symbols of the Chesapeake. Their populations in the Bay have hovered near historic lows for much of the last decade, but have recently begun to show signs of improvement. This newsletter reviews the current status of the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay as well as the management systems in place to monitor and protect this iconic species.
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Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay: A Retrospective (Newsletter)
Produced by EcoCheck (NOAA-UMCES partnership)
Nitrogen pollution has been a primary cause of a degraded Chesapeake Bay ecosystem for over a century. Since the Clean Water Act of 1972, Bay monitoring programs have measured the amount of nitrogen coming from human activities and on land (urban, suburban, rural, and industrial) and from natural cycling in the water column. This information is used to evaluate management actions for nutrient reduction. This newsletter summarizes monitoring data and describes nitrogen trends in both the non-tidal and tidal areas of the Chesapeake Bay.
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2010 Chesapeake Bay Forecast (Report)
This summer it is predicted that the anoxic condition (no dissolved oxygen) in the Bay's mainstem will be moderately poor, with the average anoxic volume forecast to be 0.8 ± 0.3 km3. Compared to the previous 25 summers, 2010 could have the 5thsmallest anoxic volume if this prediction holds true.
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"Writing crystallizes thought and thought produces action." Paul J. Meyer
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