DELMARVA - The Chesapeake Bay's summer dead zone was the smallest on record, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program.
This Chesapeake Bay Program says that this record is mainly attributed to the combination of pollution reduction and below-average rainfall.
Data from the monitoring of the bay shows that the dead zone was the smallest it's been since monitoring began in 1985.
Dead zones are areas of deep bay waters that are often caused by polluted run-off, which causes low oxygen, or hypoxic, conditions at the bottom of the bay which limits the habitats for marine life.
“These results illustrate that nutrient input reductions can produce a significant improvement for fish, crab and oyster habitats and that we need to continue and advance our management efforts throughout the watershed," said Mark Trice, program chief of water quality informatics with MD DNR’s Resource Assessment Service.
According to reports from Maryland and Virginia, dissolved oxygen was better than average this year from May to August. The dead zone was larger than average in September, but reports showed no hypoxic conditions in October.
"This year's Chesapeake Bay dissolved oxygen conditions are the best on record, and it is encouraging news,” said Sec. Josh Kurtz of the MD DNR, who is also Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Principal Staff Committee.
“These results show that the ongoing work to reduce pollution across the Bay’s watershed is making the Chesapeake Bay a better place for fish, crabs, oysters, and other marine life. As we focus our cleanup efforts during the next decade, we can accelerate and build on this progress.”
Detailed reports from Virginia and Maryland can be found in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in their 2023 Chesapeake Bay Dead Zone Report Card, as well as the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in their 2023 Final Hypoxia Report.
