Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Workgroup

Modeling the past to predict the future: forecasting the relative role of climate change and habitat management on Chesapeake Bay SAV

This project, conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and supported by a diverse group of steering committee members, modeled the impact of climate change on Chesapeake Bay SAV. The final report, PNAS article, and link to an associated Shiny App that predicts Bay-wide SAV as well as salinity zone and segment-specific SAV, are hyperlinked below. This work was funded through the Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team (GIT) Funding Program.

Shiny App: https://vims-sav.shinyapps.io/testshinyrmd/#section-segments

• Final Report: Hensel et al. 2023 Modeling Climate Impacts on SAV in Chesapeake Bay [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Effort

The Chesapeake Bay Program is working towards a three-tiered hierarchical monitoring approach for SAV. To learn more about the effort, visit our webpages at:

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/what/programs/monitoring/sav-monitoring-program

Chesapeake Bay SAV Restoration Manual and Outreach Materials

The below resources, developed by Green Fin Studios in partnership with the SAV Workgroup, include a Chesapeake Bay SAV Restoration Manual and accompanying outreach materials. This work was funded through the Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team (GIT) Funding Program.

• SAV Restoration in Chesapeake Bay: A Guide to the Restoration of SAV in Chesapeake Bay and its Tidal Tributaries [PDF, 14.6 MB]
• SAV Restoration Quick Start Guide [PDF, 1.7 MB]
• SAV Restoration Fact Sheet [PDF, 5.2 MB]
• SAV Restoration Bookmark [PDF, 866.8 KB]
• SAV-ing the Sassafras River [PDF, 930.0 KB]

Tributary Specific SAV Fact Sheets

The Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Synthesis Project brought together experts from the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership specializing in SAV, water quality, and land-use research and management. The goal of the project was to conduct a synthesis of multiple long-term datasets to determine what role the growing human population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has played in influencing SAV distribution and abundance and if the sustained efforts and management actions implemented by the CBP partnership have benefited SAV habitat.

In response to interest from resource managers, local planners, and watershed organizations, the SAV Synthesis Project team conducted segment-specific reviews of SAV trends and progress towards restoration targets and created SAV fact-sheets for each segment. This local-scale segment review aims to provide a summary of information that may guide local planning and implementation of best management practices (BMPs) to encourage SAV recovery throughout the Bay.

The information provided in these fact sheets, along with accompanying data and information linked or referenced, should serve as references and guidance for resource managers and local planners in the identification and implementation of BMPs that benefit SAV recovery in their creeks, tributaries, or jurisdictional areas.

You can access the fact sheets here: https://gis.chesapeakebay.net/sav/

or on our CAST website here: https://cast.chesapeakebay.net/Home/TMDLTracking#SAVReportsSection

SAV Regulatory Review

The below resources, developed by the Chesapeake Legal Alliance in partnership with the SAV Workgroup, include a comprehensive regulatory review for Chesapeake Bay SAV and an accompanying searchable database for CB SAV statutes, regulations, and relevant policies. This work was funded through the Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team (GIT) Funding Program.

• Existing Chesapeake Bay Watershed Statutes and Regulations Affecting SAV 1 [PDF, 728.8 KB]
• CB SAV searchable SAV reg database [XLSX, 204.8 KB]