Coastal SEES (Track 2), Collaborative: Improving Chesapeake Bay water quality by creating sustainable coastal watersheds

沿海 SEES（轨道 2），协作：通过创建可持续的沿海流域来改善切萨皮克湾水质

• 批准号: 1325622
• 负责人: Jonathan Winsten
• 金额: $ 24.89万
• 依托单位: Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-10-01 至 2019-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1325622&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Coastal; SEES; Track; Collaborative; Improving

Coastal water quality is controlled by land uses in the surrounding watershed and is declining in many coastal regions. The land that drains toward estuaries contributes pollutants (primarily nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment) from fertilized lawns, septic systems, and sewage treatment plants. Water quality in the Choptank River and estuary, which flow into the Chesapeake Bay, is declining because of runoff from agriculture, but sewage disposal is also a contributing source of nutrients. Better management of cultivated and residential land is required to improve water quality, and many best management practices are employed to reduce pollutants. Although we know a great deal about how some individual Best Management Practices remove nutrients and other pollutants, best management practices have never been tested at the watershed scale to determine if they actually improve receiving water quality. This research will study the people and land management of four Choptank watersheds. The researchers will determine the attitudes towards adoption of best management practices, mechanisms of pollutant reduction in specific best management practices, and landscape water quality as a result of widespread implementation. Many government programs are committed to encouraging best management practices to improve water quality, but there is uncertainty whether commonly applied best management practices significantly reduce pollutant fluxes from watersheds to estuaries. The Choptank study will provide an important test of the effectiveness of best management practices at the watershed scale, the results of which can potentially be applied elsewhere. This project will involve education of residents, farmers, the media, and government officials, and will also involve scouts and 4-H organizations. The research has the potential to identify effective best management practices and to create sustainable, agricultural watersheds in the coastal zone.

沿海水质受到周围流域土地利用的控制，许多沿海地区的水质正在下降。流向河口的土地带来了来自施肥草坪、化粪池系统和污水处理厂的污染物（主要是氮、磷和沉积物）。由于农业径流，流入切萨皮克湾的乔普坦克河和河口的水质正在下降，但污水处理也是营养物质的一个来源。 为了改善水质，需要更好地管理耕地和住宅用地，并采用许多最佳管理实践来减少污染物。尽管我们对某些最佳管理实践如何去除营养物和其他污染物了解很多，但最佳管理实践从未在流域规模上进行过测试，以确定它们是否真正改善了受纳水质。这项研究将研究四个 Choptank 流域的人员和土地管理。研究人员将确定对采用最佳管理实践的态度、具体最佳管理实践中的污染物减少机制以及广泛实施后的景观水质。许多政府计划致力于鼓励最佳管理实践来改善水质，但普遍采用的最佳管理实践是否能显着减少从流域到河口的污染物通量尚不确定。 Choptank 研究将对流域范围内最佳管理实践的有效性进行重要测试，其结果可能会应用于其他地方。该项目将涉及对居民、农民、媒体和政府官员的教育，还将涉及童子军和​​ 4-H 组织。该研究有可能确定有效的最佳管理实践，并在沿海地区创建可持续的农业流域。