Chesapeake Bay Earns C+ Health Score, Highest In 20 Years

BALTIMORE, MD — The Chesapeake Bay improved to a "C+" on the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s annual report card which measures the overall health of the bay and surrounding watersheds. The grade is the bay's highest score in 20 years.

To determine this year's grade, researchers evaluated several ecological, societal, and economic indicators including total phosphorous, oxygen, and nitrogen in the water. Researchers also measured water quality and clarity, the health of aquatic grasses, and the condition of organisms living in the bay.

Watershed indicators also included the health of streams, the amount of protected lands in the watershed, and socioeconomic factors like heat vulnerability, walkability, and job growth.

The Chesapeake's Bay overall health score was 55 percent in 2023, according to this year's report, up 4 percent from the past year. This year's report was compiled using data from 2023.

Of the 15 regions of the Chesapeake Beake, 11 showed improved scores and five showed "significant improving trends," according to the report.

“There is still much to do, but this is a strong indicator of progress,” EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz said in a statement to Baltimore Banner.

The highest-scoring region was the Lower Bay at 70 percent, and the lowest-scoring was the

Patapsco and Back Rivers at 22 percent.

with 13-point increases, according to the report.

The Upper Western Shore was the only bay region with a large 10-point decrease (42 percent) due to its lower grades for total phosphorus, benthic community and aquatic grasses.

Overall, the Chesapeake Bay's dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and aquatic grasses scores all showed significant improvement.

See the Chesapeake Bay's full report card online.