The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides funding and technical assistance for the implementation of practices that enable people to conserve, maintain, or improve soil, water, and related natural resources. NRCS conservation practices, or best management practices, relate the conservation practices to conservation practice physical effects (CPPE). Physical effects are listed in the data and purpose and include effects such as nutrients and pesticides transported to surface and/or groundwater. The CPPE is published in the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide and is listed in the sources section. NRCS's CPPE includes a limited set of practices. All practices that do not have an NRCS-assigned CPPE were evaluated using NRCS practice standard criteria and required enhancements to determine the most comparable practice that with an assigned CPPE. The CPPE categories are ranked on a scale of -5 to +5. These rankings are categorical and indicate a range from substantial worsening (-5) to substantial improvement (+5) with zero indicating no effect. NRCS conservation practice data are available to USGS researchers via a data sharing agreement.

This metadata record documents 2 comma delimited tables representing output from the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The effect of best management practices (BMP) in 2014 in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBWS) is estimated through a series of model scenarios that isolate the effect of individual BMPs. Data include a table describing the series of isolation scenarios and the summarized output of all scenarios. Scenario output include the estimated nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment mass reductions for each BMP. Analysis of BMP implementation over time can provide insight to water quality restoration progress.

This metadata record documents 2 comma delimited tables representing output from the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The effect of best management practices (BMP) in 2014 in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBWS) is estimated through a series of model scenarios that isolate the effect of individual BMPs. Data include a table describing the series of isolation scenarios and the summarized output of all scenarios. Scenario output include the estimated nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment mass reductions for each BMP. Analysis of BMP implementation over time can provide insight to water quality restoration progress.

This metadata record documents a comma-delimited table representing scenario output from the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The annual effect of best management practices (BMP) on water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBWS) is estimated through a series of model scenarios. The model output data tables for each year from 1985 to 2014 are included with estimated mass of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. Each year has an output table for a “Progress” scenario, which is a model run with all BMPs active, and a “No Action” scenario, which is a model run with all BMPs deactivated. Model output is provided at the Watershed Model land-river segment scale.

This metadata record documents a comma-delimited table representing scenario output from the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The annual effect of best management practices (BMP) on water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBWS) is estimated through a series of model scenarios. The model output data tables for each year from 1985 to 2014 are included with estimated mass of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. Each year has an output table for a “Progress” scenario, which is a model run with all BMPs active, and a “No Action” scenario, which is a model run with all BMPs deactivated. Model output is provided at the Watershed Model land-river segment scale.

Through data sharing agreements with Federal and State agencies, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects time-series of environmental management practice data to inform studies that guide resource management decisions. These data include agricultural conservation practices, best management practices (BMPs), and pollution control strategies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This data release includes the relationships among the various management practice names that are used to harmonize the datasets from multiple state and federal agencies. This data release serves as a crosswalk among the Chesapeake Bay Program's Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool (CAST) model BMP names and the practice names submitted by states to the National Environmental Exchange Network (NEIEN), the Pennsylvania Practice Keeper system, the Virginia Agriculture Cost Share (VACS) program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs.

This metadata record documents 3 sets of comma delimited tables representing the amount of reported best management practice (BMP) implementation within the Chesapeake Bay watershed as well as output data from scenarios of the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The scenario data were used to estimate the effects of BMPs on water quality. The data are organized by three themes; 1) BMP implementation and definitions, 2) isolation scenarios, and 3) "Progress" and "No Action" scenarios.

This metadata record documents 3 sets of comma delimited tables representing the amount of reported best management practice (BMP) implementation within the Chesapeake Bay watershed as well as output data from scenarios of the Chesapeake Bay Program Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model. The scenario data were used to estimate the effects of BMPs on water quality. The data are organized by three themes; 1) BMP implementation and definitions, 2) isolation scenarios, and 3) "Progress" and "No Action" scenarios.

This metadata record documents 11 comma delimited tables representing the amount of reported best management practice (BMP) implementation for the years from 1985 to 2014 at three geographic scales: county or land-river modeling segment, River Input Monitoring (RIM) station drainage areas, and the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBWS). Data originated from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed jurisdictions including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, New York, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Data were reported to the Chesapeake Bay Program for an annual review of progress toward meeting nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction goals.

Each year from 2021 to 2024, teams from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) studied 30 streams with a targeted gradient of land use and conservation practices across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The four years of the study cover the following geographic areas and land use characteristics (generally referred to as typologies in associated data sets): Shenandoah Valley and Ridge pasture Delmarva row crop Pennsylvania and Maryland Piedmont mixed agriculture Maryland-Washington, DC-Virginia developed Piedmont The data here provide site names and basic identifiers that are commonly used in the many data releases associated with the larger study and serve as a key to match site ID with locations and data. Specific site location is limited to a HUC12 scale due to requests of privacy from landowners who granted access and permission.