Protect Local Waterways supports and informs decision-making by local government leaders across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, showing elected officials how their actions to protect and restore the environment can support education, economic development, public health and safety, and infrastructure. It was developed in coordination with the Local Government Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Executive Council and the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Local Leadership Workgroup.

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To facilitate watershed management, watershed models are often developed and used to assess the expected impact of scenarios of past and future management policies and practices and the impact of watershed conditions. However, the level of load reductions estimated using monitoring data often does not match with model predictions, leading to questions around the level of effort and investment being made in restoration activities and the reliability of the model.

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Coordination between the Chesapeake Bay Program and it's partners is integral to the improvement of the health of people and lands within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. IAN personnel spearhead this coordination and ensure communication channels are open and information is readily shared between partners.

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Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) scientists and managers rely on data collected by volunteers to study SAV and assess conservation and restoration needs. Although various citizen science initiatives currently survey SAV in the Chesapeake Bay, no standardized data collection protocol exists to ensure that all of these initiatives use the same methodology or collect the same data.

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The Chesapeake Bay Program and the U.S. Geologic Survey are compiling tributary basin summaries for 12 major tributaries or tributary groups in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. These summaries summarize the following information: (1) How tidal water quality changes over time; (2) How factors that drive those changes change over time; and (3) Current state of the science on connecting change in aquatic conditions to its drivers.

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Chesapeake Behavior Change helps organizations use Stewardship Index Survey data to create campaigns that will increase the number of residents taking on-the-ground actions to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. It also serves as a repository for behavior change campaigns. It was developed and is maintained in coordination with the Chesapeake Bay Program's Stewardship Workgroup.

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This project is aimed toward better understanding the current status and long-term trends of Chesapeake Bay in terms of its water quality standards attainment.

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Wetlands Work connects agricultural landowners with programs that fund wetland restoration and planners who can guide them through the restoration process. It was developed and is maintained in coordination with the Chesapeake Bay Program's Wetland Workgroup.

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The Chesapeake Bay Program, MD Department of Natural Resources, and VA Department of Environmental Quality collaborate annually to produce bay-wide summaries of water quality trends in the tidal waters. These annual estimates at more than 150 stations for nutrients, dissolved oxygen, Secchi depth, chlorophyll a and other parameters help gauge the health of the bay and identify changes due to management actions and climate.

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The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Inc. (Alliance) in partnership with the Izaak Walton League of America (League), the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Integration and Application Network (UMCES IAN) will provide technical, logistical, and outreach support for the integration of citizen-based and non-traditional monitoring networks into the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership.

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