Where is chesapeake bay located on a map

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Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. A watershed, also called a drainage basin or catchment, is an area drained by a river and its tributaries. Differing in size and shape, watersheds can encompass a small stream or span thousands of miles like the Mississippi River watershed.

Some of the region's most popular getaway destinations are along the Bay. There are thousands of tributaries that send fresh water into the Chesapeake Bay and offer a vital habitat to aquatic animals and plants. These creeks, streams, and rivers also provide people with public access points to enjoy outdoor recreation. The river is the fourth largest along the Atlantic Coast and has many creeks and streams that flow into it.

The Potomac offers many recreational opportunities around the Washington DC area and has multiple access points within the capital region. The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay that bisects the western shore of the State of Maryland north to south.

The River is home for more than species of fish, including bass, catfish, chain pickerel, and bluefish. The Patuxent Water Trail winds through seven counties in Maryland. The center rents kayaks and canoes and gives tours along the River Trail. The Rappahannock offers one of the most scenic and best-protected river corridors in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Friends of the Rappahannock is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and maintaining the water quality and scenic beauty of the river.

The York River is a mile estuary located east of Richmond that drains into the Chesapeake Bay towards the southeast, entering the bay approximately 5 miles east of Yorktown. The only crossing of the river is the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge, a swing-type drawbridge which carries U. Highway 17 between Yorktown and Gloucester Point. It is miles long, which makes it one of the longest rivers in America that begins and ends in the same state.

The Watershed is comprised of three sections. The James is home to one of the largest and busiest harbors in the world at Norfolk. The Susquehanna River Water Trail offers recreational activities including fishing, boating, birding, and hiking along scenic vistas.

The river is managed as a put-and-take trout fishery through nearly 10 miles of the Patapsco Valley State Park. Recreational opportunities include hiking, fishing, camping, canoeing, horseback, and mountain bike trails. The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. It is south of the Elk River and north of the Chester River.

The Sassafras River is home to many boats and four large marinas, all of which near Georgetown, Maryland. Running for 71 miles, it rises in Kent County, Delaware, runs through Caroline County, Maryland and forms much of the border between Talbot County, Maryland on the north, and Caroline County and Dorchester County on the east and south. The The tidal river course proceeds southwest into the Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay. The area of the watershed is about 64, square miles.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed is home to more than 18 million people. About , new people move into the Bay watershed each year.

There are nearly 1, local governments in the Bay watershed, including towns, cities, counties and townships. The Chesapeake Bay watershed contains three distinct geologic regions: the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont plateau and the Appalachian province. Approximately eight million acres of land in the Bay watershed are permanently protected from development. The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated watershed and ecosystem.

Approximately 51 billion gallons of water flow into the Bay each day from its freshwater tributaries. The Bay receives about half its water volume from the Atlantic Ocean in the form of saltwater. The other half freshwater drains into the Bay from the enormous 64,square-mile watershed.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed has major rivers and streams, but contains more than , smaller tributaries. There are more than public access points on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Flora and Fauna The Bay supports more than 3, species of plants and animals, including species of finfish, species of shellfish, over 2, plant species and more than 16 species of underwater grasses.

The Chesapeake region is home to at least 29 species of waterfowl. During the winter, the Bay supports 87 species of waterbirds. Of these wintering waterbirds, 14 species rely on the Bay to serve as habitat for more than ten percent of their continental populations.

The birds stop to feed and rest on the Bay during their annual migration along the Atlantic Migratory Bird Flyway. More than , Canada geese winter in and near the Bay.