4 main pollutants bacteria nutrients toxics and trash 1983 Chesapeake bay agreement goals policy direction protection restoration of bay support set goals and be accountable to public for process 1987 Chesapeake Bay agreement goal to achieve 40 reduction of N and P by 2000 not much progess by 2000 2010 Chesapeake bay foundation sues settles with EPA algae blooms TMDL plan invoking clean water act if any body of water is consider imparied not fishable or swimmable then it is assigned a TMDL harmful rapid increase or allulation in population of algae harms water quality and human and mammal life health reduces the amount of light penetrating water causing a negative effect on excess sediment ends in massive die offs which are then decomposed Causes oxygen in water to deplete and then results in a dead zone Anoxia no oxygen Bathymetry the contours of the estuary large and shallow Bay Bridge Chesapeake called one of the 7 engineering wonders of the modern world in the year it opened 1964 It is 4 mile span Bay Formation Bolide Meteor Impact Ice Age Drowned River Valley Bay is shallow Average 6m Bay size the bay is very large it is 64 000 mi 2 and the air shed is even larger Biological Nutrient Removal BNR using microorganisms to remove N and P from WW during treatment Chesapeake 2000 agreement by 2010 correct problems under clean water act Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Chesapeake Bay Agreement completed in 1829 A 300 mile shortcut for Balt bound ships sea level canal no locks 40 of shipping traffic in and out of Balt 1987 Nutrients Water quality 40 nitrogen phosphorus toxic pollutants governance living resources public access management of growth population and land use The chesapeake bay coastline is highly indented with many coves and small bays How does this characteristic contribute to the difficulty of restoring the bay the coves cause large shoreline which means a larger perimeter of the bay Since the perimeter is larger the land water interaction is maximized meaning more to take care of restore Chesapeake Bay Comission Policy leader in Chesapeake Bay restoration Tri State Legislative Comission Congression Liaison 21 members Chesapeake Bay Foundation Non profit non governmental environmental advocacy organization Chesapeake Bay Program 1983 Started by Maryland Virginia Washington DC Pennsylvania and the Environmental Protection Agency Circulation and Mixing precipitation tides winds coriolis clean water act TMDL swimmable fishable bay agreements climate change sea level rising warming water acidification more intense storms Coastal Plain Estatuary Consists of a river delta then estatuary Consumer Surplus Willingness to pay minus the cost of the good Diel Cycling Hypoxia occurs in shallow areas it is a daily rhythm nighttime oxygen consumption exceeds daytime production Dissolved oxygen low d o harms organisms we want in the bay and favors organisms we could do without Enhanced Nutrient Removal even better than BNR ENR Estatuary a partially enclose body of water and its surrounding coastal habitats where saltwater from the ocean mixes with fresh water from rivers or streams Estaturine Systems nitrogen tends to be the limiting nutrient Eutrophication an enrichment in nutrients increased nutrients causes excessive growth of phytoplankton and macroalgae preventing grazers from controlling growth causes large scale blooms which block sun light from Sub Aquatic Vegetation also causes new invasive species to spawn bacterial composition consumes oxygen Explain the proces of eutrophication Due to an increase in nutrients in the bay there is a increasing growth of phytoplankton and algae Once phytoplankton and algae die the bacterial decomposition begins whcih causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life due to oxygen It decreases water clarity in shallow waters and causes an increase in algae blooms Flush Fee funds ENR upgrades for states 66 major ww treatment plants that discharge into the bay Freshwater Systems phosphorus tends to be the limiting nutrient Geological classification the bay is coastal plain drowned river valley rising sea level the others include delta mouth of rivers tectonics earthquake bar built ocean currents barrier islands and sandbars and fjord glaciers long narrow valley with steep sides how long does it take to get from the bays mouth at the ocean to headwaters of the bay 12 hours how many states are inthe watershed 6 states and D C Maryland Virginia West Virginia Pennsylvania Delaware New York and D C Hypoxia less than 2 3ppm of dissolved oxygen Hypoxia Anoxia dead zone runoff P and N go into bay causes excess nutrients which stimulate algae blooms algae dies off sinks to bottom and decomposes Decomposition uses up dissolved oxygen in bay low levels of oxygen called hypoxia cause shellfish to die and fish crabs die or leave havitat cerating the dead zone hypoxia volumes have increased over the years identify the type of estuary the Coastal plain chesapeake bay is Impervious Surface reduction suggestions plant raingarden use permeable pavers plant rooftop gardens have fewer roads smaller buildings In 2009 Pres Obama did what declared cheasapeake a national treasure he established a bay federal leadership committee Directing EPA to fully use clean water act authorites Also Resore the living resources of the bay the goal is to restore 20 oyster tributaries by 2025 directing EPA to fully use its clean water act authorities In the last 20 years what have been some of the environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay Discuss four issues environmental issues include 1 air pollution because with more cars technology powerplants etc the more pollution is placed in the air 2 population growth many areas that were rural have become urban due to development and population growth 3 eutrophication because of an increase in nutrients in the bay there is a lack of oxygen which may cause a dead zone 4 climate change because of all our pollution issues global warming is causing climate change which has been shown to cause harm to the bay due to more acidity the limiting nutrients in estuaries are nitrogen The limiting nutrients in freshwater are phosphorous Mr Batiuk from EPA described the total maxiumum daily load TMDL as a pollution diet from chesapeake bay what is a TMDL and how is it a diet TMDL allocation for waterwaste 19 if N and 24 total P load It is a pollution diet that sets a max amount of polluntant N P and sediment that the water of the bay may