Chesapeake Bay - Reporting Region Summary:

Scores & Conceptual Diagram

Bay Health Index

35%
D+

Potomac River: 2006

Mid-ranked grade: D+

Poor water clarity and chlorophyll a scores.
Very poor benthic and phytoplankton communities, but moderate aquatic grass score.

Index/Indicator	Score	Index/Indicator	Score
Chlorophyll a	31%	Aquatic grasses	54%
Dissolved oxygen	80%	Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity	12%
Water clarity	6%	Phytoplankton Index of Biotic Integrity	25%

Water Quality Index	39%	Biotic Index	31%

Excel Spreadsheet

Dynamic Conceptual Diagram

Editable Vector Diagram (SVG)

Maps

This indicator map is already zoomed to the area of this region. You can pan and zoom and also change to another indicator map.

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Trends Graph

This graph is dynamic, you can check and uncheck indicators ( checkboxes in legend), select year range ( click and drag), and export as an image (right click).

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Editable Vector Version (SVG)

Excel Spreadsheet

Region Info

The Potomac River watershed drains approximately 14,670 square miles of land, covering four states. Major bodies of water in the area include the Potomac, Anacostia, Cacapon, Monocacy, the North Branch, the South Branch, the Occoquan, and the Shenandoah Rivers. The Potomac River flows over 383 miles from Fairfax Stone, West Virginia to Point Lookout, Maryland. Major cities in the watershed include Washington, D.C, Bethesda, Cumberland, Frederick, Gettysburg and Alexandria. Forest is the major land use, followed by agriculture. The 2000 census population of the watershed was approximately 5.35 million. Washington, D.C. alone had 3.7 million people (2000 census). Based on information available at the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin website.

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Editable Vector Version (SVG)

Additional Info

Relevant Websites

Potomac Riverkeeper
Potomac Conservancy
Potomac River Association
Potomac Heritage Trail Association
Anacostia Watershed Society
St Mary's River Watershed
Maryland DNR - Tributary Strategies
Virginia Tributary Strategies
Chesapeake Bay Program - Tributary Strategies
National Estaurine Eutrophication Assessment database

The EcoCheck report card has three main sections: Overview, Region Summaries, and Indicators/Indices.

Click the next (>>) button above to get a guided tour of some of the key features of the report card card website.

This map shows the Health Index grades for all the reporting regions, but mousing over each region also provides a text summary and clicking will direct the user to the region summary page with more details about the health of that region.

The region rankings table provides an easy way to visualize the Water Quality Index (WQI), Biotic Index (BI), and overall Bay Health Index (BHI) for all regions. Once again, mousing over provides extra information - try it yourself and see what is displayed. Region names, and indicator icons also serve as navigation links.

The comparison graph allow users to compare the current report card to previous year's scores. Mousing over provides actual percentages and bars provide a direct link to the region's summary page.

Now you're at the region summary page for the Overall Bay. This page details the scores for all the individual indicators, as well as a dynamically generated conceptual diagram (please scroll down the page to view). Even this diagram has more information onmouseover, and has direct links to the detailed indicator pages. There is also a vector (SVG) version of the diagram available for download so you can edit this in your favorite illustration software.

The trends graph shows all the indicators and indices for the selected region since 1986. You can dynamically turn on and off each of the indicators to show only the data you are most interested in. Mousing over the graph shows percentage scores and you can zoom in for finer detail in certain time periods. There is also a fully editable vector (SVG) version of the graph available for download, along with an Excel spreadsheet of the data.

This is the threshold map for Chlorophyll a. This map is zoomable and panable and also available in fully editable vector (SVG) and JPG versions.

The trends graph on the indicator pages shows the indicator and indices data for each region since 1986. By default, only the Overall Bay region is displayed, but you can turn on as many of the other regions as you wish.

The watershed stream health page has several tabs, but the key one is the interactive Google maps version of the data.

Please wait while the map loads and then test out the ratings toggle options and the "zoom to area" functionality (click on the magnifying glass and then click and drag to select the are to zoom to).