Chesapeake Bay Program - A Watershed Partnership

Natural Factors

There are many natural, uncontrollable pressures on the Bay. High temperatures, strong storms and inconsistent freshwater flows from rivers can all impact water quality and aquatic life. These natural factors often work in combination with human-related pressures—for example, increased precipitation and river flow carrying more nutrients and sediment from the watershed—to stress the Bay.

Sections

Weather

Weather conditions, such as rain, wind, temperature and prolonged periods of extreme weather, can have wide-ranging effects on the Bay's habitats, water quality and fish and shellfish populations.

River Flow

Each day, billions of gallons of fresh water flow through thousands of streams and rivers that eventually empty into the Bay. That fresh water also carries polluted runoff from the Bay's 64,000-square-mile watershed.

Groundwater

Drops of rain that fall on the land do not always wash into the Bay or one of its tributaries right away. Instead, precipitation can seep through the soil and into groundwater: water that is stored underground.