2012 Monitoring Plan
For the 2012 monitoring season that began in April, the Shallow Water Monitoring Program is set to continue in sixteen Chesapeake Bay segments, as well as in Maryland’s Coastal Bays. In addition, monitoring will expand into six new segments of the Chesapeake Bay. In total, MDDNR will have approximately 38 continuous monitors deployed throughout the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays with a third of these providing real-time data via cellular telemetry.

Continuous Monitoring, in which water quality data is collected every 15-minutes around the clock, will continue on the Bush and Sassafras Rivers and the Susquehanna Flats in the Upper Bay, the Corsica, Big Annemessex, and Manokin Rivers and Coastal Bays on the Eastern Shore, the Patapsco, West, and South Rivers and mainstem Bay near Sandy Point on the Lower Western Shore, as well as several sites in the mid- and lower-Potomac River. Continuous monitoring will also be expanded to sites in the Nanticoke and Pocomoke Rivers on the Lower Eastern Shore. MDDNR will also be continuing partnerships with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) for continuous monitoring stations in the Rhode, Bush, Patuxent, and Wicomico Rivers. Water Quality Mapping Cruises, which intensively map water quality in shallow and open waters, will continue in three segments of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Big Annemessex, Corsica, and Manokin Rivers) and will expand into six new segments (Nanticoke and Pocomoke Rivers).

A vertical profiler, which monitors water quality throughout the water column, will be deployed in the summer. MDDNR will also be continuing a partnership with the Dominion Foundation, Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland (CCA MD), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative (MARI), Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Observing System (CBOS), and Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail to maintain an open-water monitoring buoy over the Dominion Reef at the Gooses in the Chesapeake Bay. This buoy is a part of the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), which monitors current conditions and the health of local Bay waters, and are a part of the Captain John Smith Trail, the nation’s first national water trail covering 3,000 miles of the historic route Smith took in 1607-08.

Links
For more information concerning the history of and methods used in our monitoring program, please visit the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring and Project Overview webpages. For detailed, technical information concerning protocols, the Shallow Water Monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan is also available. Data for MDDNR's Water Quality Monitoring Program can be found on the Eyes on the Bay website and you can follow monitoring-related news via Twitter. MDDNR also provides updated maps of harmful algae blooms in Maryland's waters and satellite images of the Chesapeake Bay watershed on the web.

Water Chestnut Eradication - DNR Continues Eradication Efforts on the Bird and Sassafras Rivers
Water chestnut (Trapa natans) is an aquatic plant native to Asia characterized by a floating rosette of leaves around a central stem that is rooted in the bottom sediments. Originally introduced as an ornamental plant in North America, water chestnut is an invasive species known for its aggressive growth habits. One acre of water chestnut can produce enough seeds to cover 100 acres the following year. With four, hard half-inch spines that are sharp enough to penetrate shoe leather and large enough to keep people off of beaches, water chestnut seeds are major hazards to water contact recreation. Additionally, water chestnut can wipe out native bay grasses from some areas, prevents nearly all water use where it occurs, creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes and provides only marginal habitat to native fish and birds.

In 2012, the water chestnut harvest on the Sassafras River decreased to 26 bushels, down from 50 bushels the year before. A majority of the plants were found in Dyer and Woodland Creeks. Lloyds and Turners Creek, which have been infested with water chestnut since the early 90’s, have experienced a sharp decline. This year’s harvest was cut short due to an algal bloom of the cyanobacteria, Mycrocystis aeruginosa, which occurs annually in the river. Across the Bay, 12 bushels were removed from the Bird River, mostly from the small cove adjacent to Railroad Creek and the creeks near Days Cove. Personal watercraft and canoes were used to effectively remove the water chestnut there. With the help of volunteers, DNR has managed to control water chestnut on the Bird and Sassafras Rivers for the last several years without the need for chemical control.

Water chestnut seeds can remain viable in sediments for up to 12 years, requiring follow-up surveys each year. DNR will continue its annual survey to ensure the Bird and Sassafras remain free of this floating invasive species. If you have observed water chestnut in these or any other rivers in Maryland, please contact Mark Lewandowski at 410-260-8634 or email mlewandowski@dnr.state.md.us. Read the Water Chestnut Eradication Report.

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This page was updated on 09/18/2012.