Inland Bays Report gives water quality rated B-

OCEAN CITY, Md – The Maryland Coastal Bays Program report finds the waters in 2022 in the rivers and streams on the eastern shore are improving with dissolved oxygen levels in Chincoteague Bay, with the group giving the overall water-system a B- rating.

Officials behind the report say an improvement in water quality in the largest system, the Chincoteague Bay was able to offset detriments in other parts of the watershed to drive the improvement.

“We’re passing a little bit better than we have in the past. However, there are still issues that we have to deal with in the coastal bays. So, you know, we’re seeing a pattern of slight improvement,” said Coastal Bays Executive Director Kevin Smith.

Those behind the report say, that the dissolved oxygen is a good sign, but the report does lay out a worrying trend of increasing nutrient runoff, algae blooms, and a decline in underwater grasses crucial for crab, scallop, and clam life.

“There are some slight improvements in nutrients, but we haven’t really dealt with the major issues, to get sewage systems on Chincoteague Island down to the southern Intersecting Bay island that’s on a big sandbar is all on septic systems,” said UMD Environmental Science Researcher Bill Dennison, who helped present the report in Ocean City Tuesday.

The report says that is causing nutrient levels to rise, and causing algae blooms that threaten underwater grasses that are crucial to crabs and clams.

Those grasses are also under threat from higher temperatures.

“We’re starting to burn out our submerged aquatic vegetation, our seagrasses are getting cooked and those high temperatures are summer days,” Dennison said.

Researchers say bumping up the grade from a b minus to something better will call for major investment.

“We have been documenting that there are nutrient plumes and phytoplankton blooms offshore as a result of that nutrient discharge, and so those offshore nutrients can get re-entered through the inlet. So we really should upgrade the nutrient treatment of our sewage treatment plants in Ocean City,” Dennison said.