How does changing water quality standards improve Chesapeake Bay water quality?
This effort is about adopting an innovative approach that will lead to new water quality standards tailored to the specific needs of plants and animals in all of the Bay’s different habitats. To be more protective in areas most critical to migratory fish, such as striped bass or rockfish, new standards will incorporate dissolved oxygen criteria that are higher than those currently in state standard. Science shows that rockfish, during the spring spawning season, need higher levels of oxygen than the current 5 mg/l. The new standards will reflect those needs and call for 6 mg/l during the spring season in areas critical to spawning rockfish. In the Bay’s deeper habitats, the new water quality criteria for oxygen are lower than those currently on the books, but higher than existing water quality conditions. The new criteria will remain protective of the species that reside in those areas, and new water quality standards – which better reflect natural conditions – offer a science-based ap
