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Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers

Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers is a program to provide volunteer scientists with an engaging and educational experience with submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) while also generating useful data for Bay scientists and managers. This is the first official SAV monitoring program for volunteer scientists developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Why is submerged aquatic vegetation important?

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)—also known as underwater grass—plays an essential role in the Bay ecosystem and provides us with a number of ecosystem services.

Some of the benefits of SAV include:

• Providing food and habitat for aquatic animals and waterfowl
• Absorbing and filtering nutrients and sediments from the water column
• Sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change
• Buffering pH and neutralizing acidic conditions
• Oxygenating the water column
• Protecting shorelines from erosion
• Improving water clarity

Why monitor submerged aquatic vegetation?

SAV is sensitive to both positive and negative changes in water quality, and scientists and mangers often look at the status of SAV as an indicator of overall Chesapeake Bay health. Because SAV is such an important component of the Bay ecosystem, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) and its partners have remained committed to its restoration since the CBP was first established in 1983. Each year since 1984, scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have partnered with the CBP to map SAV throughout the Bay and its tributaries from aerial imagery. This information has directly informed policy and management decisions that have led to one of the largest resurgences of SAV in the world.

Despite this significant success in protecting and restoring the Bay’s SAV, we have more work to do to meet our ultimate restoration target. The aerial survey provides useful information on the location and density of SAV beds throughout the Bay, but it does not provide local-scale data on SAV species diversity or habitat conditions. For this reason, scientists have asked volunteers for help collecting more widespread, coordinated, and detailed SAV data, which could inform new, targeted restoration efforts and management decisions that help us reach our SAV restoration target sooner.

How can I be a Chesapeake Bay SAV Watcher?

The Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers program welcomes anyone, but we differentiate data by the volunteer’s expertise. There are three expertise levels. Each level is aimed at a different user group and represents a different level of monitoring intensity.

1. Level 1 is designed for people who want to contribute SAV observations while they’re on the water, but have not received any formal training.
2. Level 2 is more complex and is designed for volunteer scientists who want to monitor SAV as members of organized groups, such as with a Riverkeeper or other local watershed organization. If you aren’t currently part of an organized group but want to be, check out your local Riverkeeper program to find out if they have an SAV Watchers program in your area. Level 2 volunteers have attended a Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers training event or have received training from a certified SAV Watchers Trainer. These volunteers should have more confidence in their ability to identify SAV and follow the SAV Watchers monitoring protocol than Level 1 volunteers.
3. Level 3 is for certified SAV Watchers Trainers who lead organized groups, such as those with Riverkeepers or other local watershed organizations. Certified SAV Watchers Trainers are volunteers that have been tested on their knowledge in order to become proficient at SAV identification and the SAV Watchers monitoring protocol. Trainers should feel confident enough in their skills to teach others.

Observers without Training

Level 1 participants who would like to contribute to the Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers program without training should use the ArcGIS Survey123 mobile app or website to upload photos of the SAV they observe while out on the water.  Observers without training only need to fill out the required questions on the survey form.

For each photo, volunteers identify, if possible, the SAV species present at their monitoring location and share the GPS coordinates of the site. Observations appear in and are stored online within an ArcGIS Online Map. It is important for level 1 participants to include pictures with their submissions so that SAV Watchers program leads can verify the species identification.

Observers with Training

Level 2 and 3 participants in the SAV Watchers Program monitor a wide variety of parameters related to SAV growth, diversity, and the surrounding habitat. Trained participants that collect more in depth data record their observations in the ArcGIS Survey 123 app OR on printed datasheets which are later entered into the ArcGIS Survey online and are shared with scientists for incorporation into the VIMS interactive map of SAV in the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteer Monitor Resources

To learn more about the Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers program, visit the Resources and Tutorials lists located on this page. Among them, you’ll find the following:

• Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers guides:The Guide to Submitting Observations includes all the instructions you’ll need to start making SAV observations using ArcGIS Survey123. The Methods Manual is much more expansive with several SAV monitoring resources including background information on SAV, guides for how to select sampling sites and take high-quality photos, and an SAV species key.
• Datasheets:There is a printable datasheet available for trained volunteers, as well as a larger print version. The ArcGIS Survey is formatted to ensure easy transfer of observations made on datasheets to a digital format.
• Tutorials:The tutorials are a series of informational and training videos that will show you how to measure each parameter listed in the monitoring program.
• Field Guide: The pocket-sized field guide has all of the information you’ll need to start monitoring SAV while being conveniently small enough to stick in your pocket or attach to your life jacket.

Have questions?

Contact Brooke Landry by email at brooke.landry@maryland.gov or by phone (410) 260-8629. For updates on the program sign up to the email newsletter here.