The task groups are functioning 

 as basic work groups in each of the 

 five study areas. The individual 

 task groups are composed of those 

 agencies interested in the study 

 problems assigned to it. Through 

 this mechanism it is intended that 

 constant liaison, work review, and 

 requisite agency interaction is main- 

 tained. 



A public participation program 

 has also been established so that the 

 views of the general public are in- 

 corporated in the study process. A 

 major component of this program is a 

 Citizens Advisory Committee composed 

 of members of the Citizens Program 

 for Chesapeake Bay--an umbrella 

 organization consisting of environ- 

 mental, industrial, and political 

 groups . 



STUDY METHODOLOGY 



In the Low Freshwater Inflow 

 Study, primary efforts have been pur- 

 posely focused on those parameters 

 directly related to salinity because 

 it was apparent early in the work 

 that there is not a sufficient data 

 base available to address many of the 

 other factors which may be affected 

 by changes in freshwater inflows. 

 One of these is the problem of de- 

 fining the mechanisms of biotic 

 transport--a phenomenon whereby many 

 of the non-swimming species are 

 transported to their place in the 

 estuary by currents. There is, how- 

 ever, only a minimal knowledge of the 

 current patterns of Chesapeake Bay. 

 Even more serious, there is little 

 understanding of how species movement 

 relates to these current patterns. 



Other areas where the data base 

 is apparently inadequate include the 

 interaction of individual species and 



families of species, and the rela- 

 tionship of freshwater inflows to 

 sediment patterns, the nutrient 

 budget, and temperature. Further 

 research is needed in all these areas 

 before there will be a sufficient 

 data base available to fully address 

 them in management oriented studies 

 such as the Corps of Engineers' Low 

 Freshwater Inflow Study. This is not 

 to imply that these factors are being 

 ignored, rather, they are being ad- 

 dressed only in the detail that is 

 consistent with the available data 

 base. 



Work on the Low Freshwater In- 

 flow Study is progressing in accord- 

 ance with the accepted interactive 

 planning process. This process in- 

 volves problem identification; the 

 assessment of social, economic, and 

 environmental impacts; the arraying 

 of alternative solutions; and the 

 formulation of a plan. As previously 

 indicated the primary focus of this 

 work is on the relationship between 

 freshwater inflows and salinities. 

 One of the reasons this type of study 

 has rarely been done in the past, 

 however, has been the difficulty of 

 accurately determining this rela- 

 tionship because it can be accom- 

 plished only with the aid of tools 

 which can simulate or reproduce the 

 complex three-dimensional estuarine 

 system. The Chesapeake Bay Model 

 does have this capability. In fact, 

 the only other way sufficient data to 

 conduct this study could be made 

 available would be to collect them 

 from the real Chesapeake Bay; a 

 nearly impossible undertaking. To do 

 this it would be necessary to wait 

 for a drought; and who knows when 

 this will occur? During the drought, 

 the data would have to be collected 

 almost continuously over at least a 

 three-year period. This costly 

 venture would require hundreds of 

 people, boats, and equipment. And 

 finally, there is no way presently 



121 



