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Nitrogen source tracing in the Choptank River Watershed (Page 1)

Nitrogen source tracing in the Choptank River Watershed

Simon Costanzo ·
30 May 2014

This project analyzed existing aquatic sediments, plants, and animals collected throughout the watershed to pinpoint key sources of nitrogen. As submerged aquatic vegetation has disappeared in regions heavily impacted by land-use activities, macroalgae and oysters were deployed and incubated in situ to help trace the origin of nitrogen inputs by identifying, delineating and mapping the relative influence of the varied urban and agricultural land uses in the watershed.

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Baltimore's Annual Healthy Harbor Report Card: 2013

Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, Heath Kelsey, Bill Dennison ·
28 May 2014

In 2013, Baltimore's streams, river and Harbor scored between 51% and 57%. While this is a failing score, it is an improvement over the 2012 scores, which ranged from 40% to 42%. These modest improvements show that we are headed in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Without significant infrastructure repair and environment restoration, areas dominated by urban and suburban development will continue to have poor water quality.

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2013 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Page 1)

2013 Chesapeake Bay Report Card

Caroline Donovan, Bill Dennison, Alexandra Fries, Tracey Saxby, Heath Kelsey ·
23 May 2014

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2013, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2013, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 45%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Fisheries indicators as well as trajectories of reporting region health are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card website.

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Lower Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter (Page 1)

Lower Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter

Bill Dennison, Heath Kelsey, Jane Thomas, Caroline Donovan, Brianne Walsh, Bill Nuttle ·
21 May 2014

The America's Watershed Initiative Report Card project continued with a regional workshop for the Lower Mississippi River Basin, held in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 25-26, 2014. At the workshop, stakeholders and experts from social, economic, and environmental sectors identified easily understood and transparent ways to measure status and trends for the Lower Mississippi River Basin in relation to six broad goals.

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2013 Mills Creek Report Card (Page 1)

2013 Mills Creek Report Card

20 March 2014

Mills Creek is a small tributary to Sandusky Bay on the south-central shore of Lake Erie. The Mills Creek watershed is largely developed by a combination of urban and agricultural land uses. Mills Creek is also part of a Karst geological region, which is characterized by a series of sinkholes and underground rivers flowing through cracks and cavities in the limestone bedrock.

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2013 Old Woman Creek Report Card (Page 1)

2013 Old Woman Creek Report Card

20 March 2014

Old Woman Creek, on the south-central shore of Lake Erie, is one of Ohio’s few remaining examples of a natural estuary and is designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and a Ohio State Nature Preserve. It is the only Great Lakes freshwater estuary in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and is managed cooperatively by NOAA and the ODNR.

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2013 Pipe Creek Report Card (Page 1)

2013 Pipe Creek Report Card

20 March 2014

Pipe Creek is a small tributary to Sandusky Bay on the south-central shore of Lake Erie. The Pipe Creek watershed is largely developed by a combination of urban and agricultural land uses. Pipe Creek is best known for its 97 acre State Wildlife Area located at the mouth of Pipe Creek, which was constructed in the early 1990s as a mitigation site for wetlands destroyed by development elsewhere.

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