Integration of Modelling, Research and Monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay Program

The Chesapeake Bay’s 166,000km² watershed is in the eastern US and includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia (Figure 3.1). Throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed there are more than 100,000 streams and rivers that eventually flow into the Bay (USEPA, 2003a). Run-off and groundwater from the watershed flows into an estuary with a surface area of 12,000km² resulting in a land to water ratio of 14 to 1. This ratio is a key factor in explaining the significant influence the watershed has on Chesapeake Bay water quality. The nine major basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed are the Susquehanna, Potomac, Patuxent, Rappahannock, York and James Rivers and the Maryland Western Shore, Maryland Eastern Shore and Virginia Eastern Shore (Figure 3.1, Plate 1). Figure 3.1 Phase 5 study area showing major watersheds, rivers and geographic provinces https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781849773126/e8c693a2-9d09-4c64-a69d-74d791b28a98/content/fig3_1_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Note: See Plate 1 for a colour version.