Nontidal Network Workgroup

Scope and Purpose

Manage Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) nontidal water quality monitoring networks and coordinate monitoring and assessment with additional networks to address the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

The CBP currently manages several water quality monitoring networks including a watershed network. Consistency of station operations across the watershed in the current 123 station network has its foundations in the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the State of Delaware, the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, the State of New York, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of West Virginia, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay Commission regarding cooperative efforts for monitoring and assessing water quality in the streams and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The networks are complex with multiple partners collecting data. There is additional monitoring and analysis that needs to be conducted to address the outcomes of the 2014 Bay Agreement, and its evolution beyond 2025. The Workgroup focuses on 1) sustaining long-term consistency in the network stations’ distribution and field, lab and analysis operations, 2) tracking data collection completeness each season on an annual basis, 3) sustaining data quality assurance and analysis methodology, 4) evaluating the utility of new sensor applications, 5) updating analysis methods, 6) synthesizing and reporting on nutrient and sediment loads and trends, 7) targeting management investments to improve return on investment with best management practices, 8) providing a platform to address network operational issues, 9) providing criteria and guidance to support network optimization, and 10) supporting the value of watershed monitoring in data driven decision making.