Scientists predict moderate low-oxygen areas this summer Oxygen
levels in the Bay should recover from last year's dismal lows,
according to scientists who expect oxygen conditions in the
midrange of what's been observed over the last three decades.
The EcoCheck summer forecast calls for about 12 percent, or 6.4
cubic kilometers, of the Chesapeake to suffer from low oxygen,
or hypoxia, in July. That would be the 10th smallest hypoxic
area in the last 28 years if the projection holds true. Hypoxic
water is water with less than 2 parts per million of oxygen. But
the extreme weather that helped foul water quality last year —
especially the huge amount of nutrients flushed into the Bay by
Tropical Storm Lee in September — may also contribute to
problems this year. The hypoxia forecast is based on the amount
of nitrogen and freshwater flows entering from the Susquehanna
from January through May. In most years, nitrogen that enters
the Bay in late summer and fall is largely used up or flushed
out of the Chesapeake b