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Bay Health and Restoration Assessment

During the first quarter of each year, the Bay Program assembles an assessment of Chesapeake Bay health and restoration, which synthesizes the previous year's Bay ecosystem health, restoration efforts and factors impacting Bay and watershed health.

Learn more about our assessment process.

Assessment reports: 2007 | 2006 | 2005: Health / Restoration | 2004 | 2002 | 1999

2007 Annual Assessment
Bay Health

Bay Health

Although there are a number of smaller-scale success stories, the overall ecosystem health of the Chesapeake Bay remains degraded.

  • Water Quality: Most of the Bay’s waters are degraded. In 2007, we were 21 percent of the way toward meeting Bay water quality goals, a drop from 23 percent in 2006.
  • Habitats and Lower Food Web: The Bay’s critical habitats and food web continue to be at risk. Currently, the Bay’s habitats and lower food web are at 44 percent of desired levels, up from 40 percent in 2006.
  • Fish and Shellfish: Many of the Bay’s fish and shellfish populations are below historic levels. Currently, the Bay’s fish and shellfish are at 52% of desired levels, up from 48% in 2006.
Restoration and Protection Efforts

Restoration and Protection Efforts

There are many notable individual accomplishments relating to Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration; however, Bay Program partners need to accelerate the pace of water quality improvement efforts.

  • Reducing Pollution: Overall, based on available data, Bay Program scientists project that little more than half of the pollution reduction efforts needed to achieve the nutrient goals have been undertaken since 1985.
  • Restoring Habitats: Overall, habitat restoration efforts are collectively 48 percent to Program goals; up from 45 percent in 2006, however, there is concern about the overall quality of habitats that remain.
  • Managing Fisheries: Progress toward fisheries management goals ranges from 37-63 percent for the five key Bay fisheries, unchanged from 2006.
  • Protecting Watersheds: Overall, watershed protection efforts show good progress and are 71 percent of the way toward meeting current Program goals, up from 69 percent in 2006.
  • Fostering Stewardship: Overall the Program has reached 68 percent of its fostering stewardship goals, a rise of one percent from 2006.
Factors Impacting Bay Health

Factors Impacting Bay Health

The Chesapeake Bay is affected by multiple factors, ranging from population growth to climate variability, which will challenge the recovery of this important ecosystem.

  • Natural Factors: Total river flow to the Bay during the 2007 water year (October 2006-September 2007) was very close to the long-term average despite several months of extremes. Climate change and variability have caused water temperatures in the Bay to exhibit greater extremes during the 20th century than the previous 2,000 years. Sea-level rise related to climate change is contributing to the loss of vital coastal wetlands.
  • Pollutants: Pollutant loads continue to exceed target levels established to restore the Bay’s water quality.
  • Land Use: The human population in the Bay watershed is now growing by about 130,000 residents annually. The cumulative impact of centuries of population growth (currently nearly 17 million) and landscape changes has taken its toll.
  • Fisheries Pressures: Historic over-harvest, compounded by the impacts of poor water quality, disease and blocked access to historic spawning grounds, has resulted in low abundances of oysters, crabs and shad.
Watershed Health

Watershed Health

The presence and diversity of snails, mussels, insects and other freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate communities are good indicators of stream health because of their limited mobility and their known responses to environmental pollutants and stressors. Consequently, these communities are often used as indicators of the attainment or nonattainment of aquatic life uses protected by state water quality standards.

  • Health of Freshwater Streams and Rivers: Benthic macroinvertebrate communities in rivers and streams throughout the Bay watershed suffer with increases in pollution, sedimentation and decreasing oxygen levels.
Additional Assessments

Annual Health Assessments:

By River System:

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Last modified: 08/22/2008
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