STUDY REGION

Our study area is the Mid-Atlantic Slope, encompassing three major drainage basins which extend from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean: the Delaware, the Susquehanna-Chesapeake, and the Albemarle-Pamlico. This area includes portions of eight states and the District of Columbia: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Aquatic resources in this region have been heavily impacted by urbanization, agricultural production, mining and other human activities. Although this degradation of waters has spawned both regulatory and non-regulatory responses, threats to life and health for both humans and other biota continue to be major issues of concern.

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Five major physiographic provinces are represented in the study area: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, the Ridge and Valley, and the Glaciated and Non-Glaciated Plateau. The region contains a mosaic of land cover types, including urban, agricultural, and forested areas.

Overview