Delmarva Drought helps the Bay



CAMBRIDGE, Md.- The recent drought Delmarva is experiencing is causing crops to die and farmers to struggle. But believe it or not, it is helping clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
"What's really helping the bay is the drought that we are having in a sense that we are not bringing in the sediments and nutrients from land because we don't have the runoff," said University of Maryland Environmental Sciences Vice President of Science Applications Bill Dennison.
Dennison believes the lack of rain and warm temperatures are contributing to the diminishing dead zones in the bay and its tributaries, which is good for all aquatic life.
"Fishing and crabbing are good and we are having a reasonably good summer to date," Dennison said. "We just hope we can continue it cause when it starts to get too warm, fishing and crabbing drops off."
Rodney Lindsay of Washington spent Tuesday on the Bill Burton Fishing Pier in Cambridge. He said there was not much biting but is glad this adverse weather is cleaning up the bay.
"That's going to be great, if it's going to help more fish to come that will be great. But as of right now, it's slow here...Guys down here are trying all kinds of bait, shrimp, bloodworms, crabs and the only thing they are catching is small ones," Lindsay said.
The concern for Dennison and other scientists now have is how high will the water temperatures reach. However, Dennison noted that storms will help mix up the bay and drop its temperature.
http://www.wboc.com/story/19047510/d...-helps-the-bay