Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
8-1996
Abstract
The goal of this project was to develop a single, authoritative dataset of historical SA V coverages for the Chesapeake Bay. This is essential for the management of living resources and water quality in the Bay, and is required by the 1992 amendments to the 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement which states "the distribution and abundance of SA V as documented by Baywide and other aerial surveys will be used as an initial measure of progress in the restoration of living resources and water quality." A three-tiered strategy has been adopted to evaluate restoration efforts. The first tier (Tier I) requires restoration of all areas shown to support SAV by the aerial surveys of 1971, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, or 1990. Tier II requires restoration of all possible SA V habitat within one meter or less of water. Tier III requires restoration of all possible SAV habitat within two meters or less of water. This project has verified the quality of the existing historical SAV survey data, recreated Tier I based on the data, and put in place a spatial data management system that will facilitate the annual evaluation of restoration progress.
Description
Draft Report Submitted to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Funding
Funded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Grant CB993267-01-0)
Recommended Citation
Wilcox, D. J., Anderson, G. F., Orth, R. J., Nowak, J. F., Whiting, J., & Nagey, L. S. (1996) Chesapeake Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Data Management and Analysis Project Summary. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/reports/2912
