Chesapeake Bay - Reporting Region Summary:

Scores & Conceptual Diagram

Bay Health Index

28%
D

Choptank River: 2008

Poor ecosystem health. Aquatic grasses have rapidly declined in recent years, from 3,900 hectares in 2002 to 218 hectares in 2008.

Water quality: Water clarity and chlorophyll a decreased in 2008 compared to 2007. Scores for both indicators can vary greatly between years.
Biotic indicators: While there has been a rapid decline in aquatic grass distribution in the past 6 years, there has been a slight recovery of phytoplankton community condition, increasing from 2% in 2004 to 18% in 2008. Benthic community condition tends to vary greatly between years, with the 2008 score of 15% as one of the lowest on record.

Index/Indicator	Score	Index/Indicator	Score
Chlorophyll a	21%	Aquatic grasses	4%
Dissolved oxygen	86%	Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity	15%
Water clarity	23%	Phytoplankton Index of Biotic Integrity	18%

Water Quality Index	43%	Biotic Index	12%

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 Choptank River watershed drains approximately 795 square miles. Counties included in the watershed include portions of Caroline, Dorchester, Queen Anne's, and Talbot. The Choptank River starts in Delaware and becomes tidal near Greensboro, Maryland. Some of the larger bodies of water include the Choptank, Little Choptank, and Tred Avon Rivers. Almost half of the land in the Choptank watershed is agricultural land, with a third being covered in forest. Cambridge is the largest city in the Choptank River watershed, with a population of 11,000. Other major cities and towns include Easton and Denton. The 2000 census population for the Maryland part of the watershed was 71,000. There are four major wastewater treatment plants in the watershed. Three of the four utilize Best Management Practices. (Based on MD DNR Tributary Strategy Report by Aadland et al., 2007 and updated 2000 land use classifications).

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Editable Vector Version (SVG)

Additional Info

Relevant Websites

Talbot Rivers Protection Association
Maryland DNR - Tributary Strategies
Choptank Trib Team
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).