Recommendations for Chesapeake Bay-wide Indicators of Physical Stream Health
This project, “Scope of Work 12: Data Review and Development of Multi-Metric Stream Health Indicators,” is a continuation of work developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Stream Health Work Group (SHWG) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to better understand the drivers and stressors affecting stream health throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Currently, the Chesapeake basin-wide benthic macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity, or “Chessie BIBI,” is the sole indicator of stream health being used by the SHWG. For this project we interviewed experts, reviewed data, created a framework, provided a data inventory matrix, and made recommendations to help develop multi-metric stream health indicators for hydraulics and geomorphology (hydromorphology). The development of these additional indicators will address the significant science and management need to better understand and communicate how streams respond to management actions.