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The Chesapeake Bay is America's largest estuary and one of the world’s most productive. The Bay is home to over 2,700 species. It draws water from over 150 rivers, streams, and creaks, receiving roughly 70,000 cubic feet of water every second. That water reflect ....

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.... Chesapeake Bay's decline was evident as early as the 1950s. In the late 1970s, state and federal scientists began an extensive study to determine the reasons for the Bay's decline. Three major problems were identified; excess nutrients from wastewater, agricultural lands, and developed land; sediment in runoff from farms, construction sites, and eroding lands; and possible elevated levels of toxic chemicals. Nitrogen and phosphorus are considered good things because they support the bottom of the food chain. But in recent years the Chesapeake Bay has been receiving too much of these nutrients. The excess nutrients have created large blooms of micros ....