"The Chesapeake Bay’s condition ticked upward in 2021 but not enough to raise its middling C grade in the latest report card from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

The Bay’s overall ecological health garnered a 50% score, up 5 points from 2020, as some things got better and others worse. The nutrient pollution that causes summertime dead zones in the Bay improved, but the water got murkier and contained more algae.

The Bay’s condition varied from one end of the estuary to another and even by tributary. As it has for years, the Lower Bay in Virginia had the best health relative to the rest of the estuary. Up the Bay, the Patapsco and Back rivers around Baltimore continued their decades-long run as the sickest tributaries, joined by Maryland’s Patuxent River."

Timothy B. Wheeler reports for the Bay Journal June 7, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Sample This: Disgruntled Residents Monitor Back River For Pollution" (Bay Journal) [3]

"Kandis Boyd, Federal Scientist And Manager, Tapped To Helm Chesapeake Bay Program" (Bay Journal) [4]