Land use and its relation to nutrient concentrations and loading via streams is an important issue in coastal lagoons and embayments worldwide including the Maryland coastal bays system, USA. As in many coastal areas around the globe, declining water quality in the bays is the result of nutrient inputs from the surrounding watershed. In this study, the sources of the nutrient inputs were examined. Monthly concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), ammonium (NH4 +), nitrate (NO3 -), phosphate (PO4 -3), and total phosphorus (TP) were measured in six streams in the St. Martin River basin from July 2006 to January 2008. Current land use information for the basins of each stream was also compiled. Several significant correlations...
