What Irene Giveth, Lee Taketh Away

One of the few "blessings" of Tropical Storm Irene was that the strong winds mixed the Bay, and ended the annual occurrence of anoxic water in the Bay early.  Now we find that the massive amounts of nutrients, sediment and freshwater entering the Bay as a result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee have fueled another outbreak of anoxia:

The director of the University of Maryland's Horn Point laboratory says heavy rains from Tropical Storm Lee are causing low-oxygen areas in the Chesapeake Bay.

Laboratory director Mike Roman returned to the Cambridge lab Wednesday after eight days aboard the University of Delaware's research vessel Hugh Sharp. Roman told The Star Democrat of Easton (http://bit.ly/nagyir) that researchers found low-oxygen levels and dead water from north of the Bay Bridge to south of the Patuxent River.

While the storm and flooding stirred bay waters, flushing out a dead zone that had grown over the summer, it also brought debris, pollutants and nutrients that can fuel oxygen-robbing algae blooms.

The one thing I've learned you can count on is that every years is different from the last one...