Study Finds Some Water Quality Improvements In Choptank River The Chesapeake Bay has a long history of nutrient pollution resulting in degraded water quality. However, scientists from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Laboratory are reporting some improvements in the Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “The data presented here indicate that public and industrial investments in reductions of atmospheric emissions and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants have improved estuarine water quality in the Choptank,” said University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Professor Emeritus Tom Fisher. For the last 20 years, scientists have worked with farmers, wastewater treatment plant operators, government agencies, and water quality groups to encourage conservation efforts and to discern trends in water quality in the Choptank basin. In this study, scientists evaluated whether the total maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake—established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address degraded water quality— and other management practices to curb atmospheric deposition, clean up point sources for pollution such as waste water treatment plants, and reduce runoff from agriculture have led to improved water quality in streams and in the Choptank estuary.