Chesapeake Bay ecosystem health remains poor, but slightly improved in 2007

• Despite slightly clearer Bay waters in 2007, scientists remain concerned about the downward trajectory Bay water clarity has taken in many areas over past years. Cloudier waters hamper aquatic grasses and other life from thriving.
  
  

“These long term trends are disturbing. At best, we are only holding our own against population growth and development taking place throughout the Bay watershed,” added Dennison.

“The scientifically-rigorous report card reinforces the notion that conditions across the bay vary from creek to creek and river to river,” said University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Donald F. Boesch. “These local variations are a clarion call to Bay managers that targeting pollution reduction programs is critical to accelerating improvements in Bay health.”

Data used in the Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card is collected across the entire Maryland and Virginia portions of the Chesapeake Bay by several state and federal agencies as part of the Chesapeake Bay monitoring program. Report card production is supported by Eco-Check, a NOAA-UMCES partnership.

For more information about the 2007 Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card including region-specific data and downloadable graphics, visit www.eco-check.org/reportcard/chesapeake/.

Today’s Report Card was released in parallel with the Chesapeake Bay Program’s annual health and restoration assessment. The Bay Program report analyzes Bay health and restoration trends over the long-term, while the Report Card provides a geographic analysis of Bay health conditions in 2007.

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is the principal research institution for advanced environmental research and graduate studies within the University System of Maryland. UMCES researchers are helping improve our scientific understanding of Maryland, the region and the world through its three laboratories – Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, and Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge – and the Maryland Sea Grant College.