The health of the Chesapeake Bay continued to improve in 2021, although the Upper Eastern Shore’s score declined slightly – a first for any region of the Bay’s watershed since 2014, according to a new report by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) on Monday.
The Bay’s overall health score improved slightly from 45% in 2020 to 50% in 2021, which the environmental center classifies as a C grade. That’s a larger increase than the Bay saw the previous year, from 44% in 2019.
Dissolved oxygen levels continue to be good for most of the Bay. Phosphorus levels are also good for much of the Bay’s regions, although some regions – including the Patapsco and Back rivers that flow through Baltimore City and nearby counties – scored very poorly.
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