Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool

CAST Newsletter: May 2025

Tips and information to facilitate environmental restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Did You Know?

Did you know the USGS Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Monitoring Network Loads and Trends storymap has been updated? The Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Monitoring Loads and Trends page shares the short-term water year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results and background information for the Chesapeake Bay Program's nontidal network (NTN). It provides primary findings for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment trends and examines results for river basins and individual sites. Find this, along with other Chesapeake Bay monitoring data, on CAST's Monitoring page.

CAST Webinars and Training

Upcoming Webinars

As communities across the Chesapeake Bay watershed face rising air and water temperatures, urban areas are especially vulnerable to the combined impacts of heat, flooding, and pollution. This webinar will explore how urban BMPs--such as tree planting, rain gardens, and infiltration practices--can support both climate resilience and water quality goals. We'll highlight findings from the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee's (STAC) Rising Temperatures workshop report, including how temperature affects watershed health and which BMPs offer key co-benefits for cooling and stormwater management. We'll also demonstrate how to identify these climate-smart practices in CAST and estimate their nutrient and sediment reduction potential, helping planners integrate climate and water quality solutions more effectively. Join us for a discussion on how local planning and BMP implementation can help communities adapt to a warmer future while continuing to make progress toward the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.

• Topic: Urban BMPs and Rising Temperatures
• Time: May 15, 2025 at noon EDT
• Join Zoom Meeting
• Meeting ID: 892 5008 0925
• One tap mobile +13126266799,,89250080925#

In-person trainings are available upon request.

Available Training Videos

March's CAST webinar focused on agricultural BMPs and the many ways they support ecosystem health. We talked about recent trends in nutrient applications and the role of a healthy ecosystem in supporting both water quality and agricultural production. We then highlighted common CAST practices that promote healthy soils, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, and pasture management. Throughout the session, we explored how these practices vary across different agricultural land uses and demonstrated how to use CAST tools and data to better understand their impact.

This, and other past training videos on topics ranging from buffers to targeting nutrient reductions, are available in the Learning section of CAST under 'Free Training Videos'. Amongst the variety of training content available, there are also short videos on topics like 'Where do I start,' under CAST 101 - Getting Started.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Success Story

Rappahannock Tribe aquires nearly 1,000 acres along its namesake river: The Rappahannock Tribe announced it acquired the largest amount of its ancestral lands to date with the transfer of nearly 1,000 acres from The Conservation Fund, to be preserved in perpetuity under easement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. Read more about this success story on the Virginia Mercury website.

Does your organization have a Chesapeake Bay Watershed success story you'd like to share? If you have a story you would like to see in the next CAST Newsletter, submit an article using the 'Contact Us' feature from any page of the CAST website.

Chesapeake Bay Program Deadlines

2024 Progress toward the Bay TMDL

The Chesapeake Bay Deadlines refer to the major jurisdictions' annual reporting of new BMPs implemented, and existing BMPs verified as functioning in the watershed. BMP implementation information is used to create annual progress scenarios using CAST and to make assessments and report out the estimated impacts of restoration efforts.

• Early May 2025: 2024 Progress finalized and released on CAST. Progress may be delayed due to unresolved issues surrounding the verification assessments.

Updates to CAST

New features:

All instances of the phrase "Climate Change" are updated to "Changing Environmental Conditions (CEC)."

A full list of changes is available on CAST's Upgrade History. The new CAST version is Phase 6 - 7.14.2.

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