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Browse History: Bay Health Index (2008) | Patuxent River (2008)

Detailed Report Cards

2008 Patuxent River Report Card

Chesapeake Bay - Reporting Region Summary:

Scores & Conceptual Diagram

Bay Health Index

23%
D-

Patuxent River: 2008

Very poor ecosystem health. Most health indicators remained consistently poor over the past 20 years. Benthic community condition has declined in the 2000s compared to the late 1990s.

Water quality: In 2008, the score was 29% and largely attributable to very poor water clarity and chlorophyll a conditions. The Water Quality Index has remained consistently poor, ranging between 24 and 40% over the past 20 years.
Biotic indicators: The aquatic grass and phytoplankton index scores in 2008 were very poor (12, and 11%, respectively), changing little from recent years. The benthic community score remains in poor condition since significant decline in 2000.

Index/Indicator	Score	Index/Indicator	Score
Chlorophyll a	19%	Aquatic grasses	12%
Dissolved oxygen	66%	Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity	28%
Water clarity	3%	Phytoplankton Index of Biotic Integrity	11%

Water Quality Index	29%	Biotic Index	17%

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 Patuxent River watershed drains approximately 900 square miles of land. This area includes portions of St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles, Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Howard, and Montgomery Counties. Three main streams drain into the upper Patuxent River: the Little Patuxent, which drains much of the newly urbanized area of Columbia; the Middle Patuxent, which drains agricultural lands in the northern part of its drainage and the outer suburban areas of Columbia in the southern part of its watershed; and the (upper) Patuxent River, which has remained primarily agricultural. Land use in the watershed is mainly forest, with significant urban and agriculture development. Two large metropolitan areas, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., border the Patuxent River, and the watershed has gone through significant suburban development in the past few decades. Columbia and Laurel have developed along the Interstate 95 corridor, which bisects the upper half of the watershed. The 2000 census population for the watershed was 18,000 people. (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

Detailed Report Card

2008 Patuxent River Report Card

Relevant Websites

Patuxent Riverkeeper
Maryland DNR - 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).