Using Geo-Information Systems in Assessing Water Quality in the Mid-Atlantic Region Agricultural Watershed of Maryland

The applications of agricultural fertilizers, manure and pesticides continue to degrade the quality of streams in different areas of the country including the mid-Atlantic region of Mary land, USA. This paper adopts geo-information systems based method and primary data to assess the status of water quality. Emphasis is on the issues, factors, current efforts and a case study to demonstrate the trend and future line of actions. The results point to a decline in water quality and other environmental resources in the study area. Land use practices threatening the quality of agricultural watersheds were also spatially detected in the area using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Aside from the current efforts of the state agencies anchored in management, conservation and monitoring of impaired water bodies. The paper offered some recommendations and framework for dealing with the problems. These lines of action ranged from the need to strengthen current policy on land use to the development of reg ional agro geo-in fo systems.


Introduction
This paper adopts geo-information systems based method and primary data to assess the status of water quality trends in an agricultural watershed in the Maryland area of the Mid-Atlantic region. Emphasis is on the issues, current efforts, factors, and a case study to demonstrate the trend and future line of actions. The applications of geo-information system can be helpful in detecting land use practices that threaten the quality of agricultural watersheds [1]. It has the potentials to enhance the design of viable frameworks for the efficient management of water resources in stressed environments with the latest advances in spatial technologies [2,3,4]. In the literature, the v ital ro les of riparian buffers within agricultural watersheds in protecting biodiversity are h ighlighted in nu merous studies [5]. However, in the M id-Atlantic region of the state of Maryland where agriculture ranks as a leading industry and a major user of land, water quality issues from the sector continue to be a major problem.
In the study area, the Chesapeake Bay watershed and other riv er systems in th e state are th reaten ed b y v arious anthropogenic stressors [6]. Pesticides as an essential part of those stressors that are occasionally ignored pose enormous danger to the health of stream habitat species and the local communit ies [7]. While nutrient overloading duly garner mu ch o f th e interes t no w, cu rrent stud ies ind icate th at pesticide residues are not only found all through the Chesapeake watershed, but they surpass permissible levels set under water quality standards. In the Bay, where agriculture stands as a key source of pesticide and nutrient pollution of streams [8], the continuous discharge of surplus nutrients into the estuary constitutes a major hazard to the surrounding ecology. Accordingly, the Chesapeake Bay, one of the nation's precious river systems has now become the site of degradation due to the rapid pace of contamination occurring in the area [9].
Elsewhere Vadas [10] identified groundwater nitrogen and phosphorous levels on a profoundly discarded poultry-grain farm on Mary land's lower Eastern Shore along the Chesapeake Bay. In a similar work, Hall [6] designed an ecological risk assessment approach to illustrate the menace of copper and cadmiu m exposure in the Chesapeake Bay. To deal with these problems in other water bodies such as the Patuxent River, The US Geolog ical Survey (USGS) and the Maryland Depart ment of Natural Resources have partnered since 1985 to gauge nutrient level and suspended loads from non-tidal streams in the Patu xent River Basin [11]. Because of the benefits of such initiatives, in the assessment of farm related water quality issues, natural resources managers and agencies are using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to manage various land uses in a watershed [12]. In realizing these benefits, several scholars have been channelling their GIS data management expertise towards the calibration of watershed and water quality models for the past several years [13].
Nu merous studies exist in the literature with focus on watershed protection using GIS. In implementing a framework for modelling the impact of land use practices and protection alternatives on nitrate pollution of groundwater in agricultural watershed, Almasri and Kaluarach ichi [14] adopted GIS to identify the spatial dispersion of ground nitrogen sources and the corresponding loadings in the state of Washington. Further use of spatial technologies involves a study by Russell[15] that examined the role o f GIS in select ing sites for riparian restoration based on hydrology and land use in San Lu is Rey River watershed in Californ ia. While in other studies, Liu [16] developed a GIS interface that integrates soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) and riparian ecosystem management model (REMM ) for estimating water quality benefits of riparian buffers in agricultural watersheds in southern Ontario Canada. Maillard [17] co mb ined a cartographic modelling tool using GIS and statistics to measure the strength of the relationship between water quality, land use, and distance fro m stream on a large watershed in South Eastern Brazil. Other related studies worthy of mention are those of Prakesh [4] and Davies [3] both authors emphasized water management and GIS analysis of land use composition and catchment areas on a landscape respectively.
Turning to the trends at the national level in the United States, it is worth mentioning that the applications of agricultural fertilizers, manure and pesticides continue to degrade the quality of streams in different areas of the country. In some areas, nutrient concentrations are not only at elevated levels in agricu ltural areas, but pesticides especially herbicides remain widespread in agricultural watershed areas. Convinced that higher levels of these substances are harmfu l to hu mans and biodiversity, a USGS work on various agricultural watersheds in the country in the last decade ranked urban and agricultural point source chemical pollution to be major issues. Water quality conditions and the health of aquatic environments as the study indicates are predicated on different variables such as land use, the use of chemicals, management practices, population density and watershed development. Another element of the USGS work touches on concerns about large presence of nitrates and phosphorus in surface water at levels that contribute to too much algae. Notwithstanding the elevated levels of nitrate in shallow ground water adjacent to farmlands, pesticides are widespread and detectable in over 95% of rivers sampled. At the same time, herbicides especially, atrazine and its breakdown product desethylattrazine exist in higher concentrations in agricultural streams than in met ropolitan waters [18]. For more information, see the work of De winner [2]; Min [19]); Nelson [20]; and Nengwong [21].
Concerned about the effects, Luo [22] notes that sediment load fro m agricultural watersheds constitutes a threat to the quality of downstream waters in many areas. In the process, the risks of accumu lation of sedimentation in watersheds are becoming pro minent with disturbances in the hydrology and soil productivity with some impacts on the economic and environmental profile of water systems. The t ransportation of nutrients into watersheds results in altered hydrological conditions and pollution that threaten fisheries and other liv ing organisms. Realizing the perils Chambers [23] notes that non-point sources of nitrogen and phosphorous remains major causes of eutrophication of surface waters in agricultural watersheds. Elsewhere, Qiu [24] opines that agricultural runoff remains a major pollution source threatening water quality in streams, lakes and public drinking water reservoirs. In an investigation of the combined effects of best management practices on water quality, Knight [25] shows that success comes not only fro m cultural BM Ps, but fro m structural measures as well. For related studies see the work of Kyle [26]; Peng [27]; and Knight [25].
The problems are further co mpounded by the role of several socio-economic factors and the lack of access to spatially referenced info rmation showing the mounting threats to stressed watersheds. This can be evidenced by looking at the way different variab les such as the prevailing land use types and host of other elements largely associated with the problem in various locations are rarely captured spatially. Notwithstanding the meagre efforts through policy initiat ives and watershed management approaches in dealing with the issues, knowledge of the dangers posed by water quality degradation and declines in b iodiversity demands a geo based assessment of management pract ices within agricultural watersheds. For an efficient agro-watershed management in the M id-Atlantic reg ion of Mary land, a geospatial system anchored in GIS needs to be developed. Such a system has the potential to provide managers spatially referenced data with opportunities to locate stressors and changes threatening agro-watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland [1]. When used properly, GIS can perform the ro le of an integrating support tool to store, analyze and manage spatial info rmation on hydrological models in order to furn ish rational means for strengthening decision making [2]. This paper uses geo information systems based method and primary data to assess the status of water quality in an agricultural watershed in the Maryland area of the Mid-Atlantic region. There is a focus on the problems, the present initiatives to curb the problems, an environ mental change case study to capture the trends, socio-economic elements fuelling the issues and some policy recommendations. The paper has five objectives. The first aim is to contribute to the literature on geo-information systems while the second objective is to device a support tool for decision makers. The th ird one focuses on the development of novel method for identifying water quality stressors in an agricultural watershed. The fourth objective is to provide a viable framework for efficient management of water resources using the latest advances in geospatial informat ion systems. The fifth objective is to analy ze the watershed trends in the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland.

Study Area
The study area of Maryland is situated on the Atlantic coast of the Southern region of the United States. From the Census data in 2007, Maryland ranked as the richest state in the United States, with a median household income of US$65,144. During the fiscal year 2004, The Bureau of Economic Analysis put Maryland's gross state product (GSP) at $228 b illion. Two counties in the state, Howard and Montgomery are ran ked as the third and seventh richest counties in the country.
In 2006, Maryland's population stood at 5,615,727. This represents an increase of 0.5%, fro m the previous year. Much of the population of Maryland is concentrated along the central region, within the Baltimo re-Washington Metropolitan Area, wh ile the Eastern shore, along with the southern and western counties of Maryland are a bit more rural and sparsely populated [28].  Over the years, the state's population rose by over 37% while the size of built up areas designed to house the residents accelerated at the rate of 124%. Th is enormous rate of increase and the consequences have profound impact on the ecology and the welfare o f cit izens. Co mpounding the matter is the state's projected population figure of 6,446,400 at a rate of over 20% in 2030. Should the present growth patterns persist, ecological features such as the Chesapeake Bay watershed displayed in Figures 2 and 3 will experience unprecedented conversion of over 3,500 square miles of forested landscape, wetlands, and agricultural land areas to development [29]. Because growth induced ecological stress are destined to escalate across time, decision makers, must have the geospatial capability to match the problems and stem the tide o f ecolog ical degradation of stream corridors spurred by human activit ies in the region.
To a great extent, most of the state's stream corridors operate as part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the only exception being a section at Garret County that flo ws into the Youghiogheny River on the other side of the Mississippi River watershed. The Bay is not only ranked as the largest freshwater estuary in the world, but also as the largest physical feature in Maryland. Fo rm the map in Figure 2 in which the Chesapeake Bay closely splits the state, into two parts. The counties that are situated along the east side of the bay are grouped together as the Eastern Shore. See Figure 2 for more info rmation on other watersheds in the state. In the field of ag ricu lture, the Chesapeake supplies the state of Mary land its huge cash crop of b lue crabs, the southern and eastern portion of the state on the other hand are quite active in tobacco farming. Furthermore, the state boosts of a major food-production industry with greater part of that dedicated to commercial fishing operating in the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coast of the state. There are also large areas of fertile agricultural land within the coastal and Pied mont reg ions of the state known for dairy farming. In the adjacent large city, specialty farming made up horticulture crops like corn, to matoes and others are in great number. By and large, Maryland's food-processing sector has enormous significance in the economy of the state. In 2004, when agriculture generated more than $1.7 billion for farmers, the state contained about 12,100 farms, with an average of 169 acres while the total land in farms were estimated at 2,05 million acres; representing about one third of the entire land areas [30]. The measure of the pace at wh ich agriculture impacts the watersheds in the study area can be manifested from the number of nu isance complaints in four major areas such as air, water, soil, animal and other elements associated with agriculture (Table 1).
Latest studies on the region show that these complaints have risen over the years [29]. In 2005 alone, when 94 agriculture related co mplaints were received sediment, accounted for 28 percent of those cases while another 47% was attributed to, manure [30]. Between 1990-2000 the monetary expenditures for fertilizer in the state rose by 41.9% [31].
With such level of spending, it is not surprising that numerous types of selected pesticides are detectable in ground water in many parts of Maryland Coastal Plain.  Table 2. They are used in the fight against the encroachment of weeds in mostly corn, soya bean and small grain farms. The herbicides which enco mpass glyphosate, metolach lor and atrazine are used in abundance along the Eastern Shore where agriculture remains the leading user of land [32]. Because well managed agricultural land performs essential ecosystem functions such as erosion control, sediment filtration, carbon sequestration and habitat for wildlife [8]. Mapping the stressors and their impacts on agricultural watersheds using GIS technology is vital for the wellbeing of the ecosystem.

Methods Used
This paper applies geo information systems based method and primary data to assess the status of water quality in an agricultural watershed in the Maryland area of the Mid-Atlantic region. The study stresses a mix scale approach involving the use of descriptive statistics, regression, correlation analysis and geospatial technologies of GIS in processing data provided through government sources and data bases from other organizat ions. For the purposes of analysis, the regression component of the methods is presented in section 3.5 with the correlat ion values. Although the analysis yielded several other statistical residues but those dimensions with acceptable correlation values were retained. Th is technique was chosen after carefully scrutinizing a range of other possible solutions. It is capable of producing a solution on related elements that can be interpreted very easily and as such, it is better suited for the type of analysis required in the paper. The raw spatial data made up of maps and other kinds of dig ital information used in the research came fro m the United States Geological Surveys (USGS) data procurement unit, United States Depart ment of Agriculture, (USDA) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) the Govern ment of Mary land and the Un ited States Census and other organizations such as the University of Maryland On line data unit.

Step 1: Data Acquisition
The first step involves the identification of the variables needed to assess the temporal spatial aspects of change influencing water quality trends on agricultural watersheds within counties at the state level. The spatial units of analysis consisted of the counties located in the state of Maryland ( Table 3). The variab les encompasses socio-economic and environmental data, including land cover elements (of the amount of farmland, fert ilized areas, number of impaired watersheds, impaired watersheds due to nutrient flow) population, percentages of change for farmland, percentages of change for population, percentage of change for fert ilized areas, sales fro m agriculture and the percentage of change, etc. This process continued with the design of data matrices covering the various periods from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and beyond. In addition, to the design stage, access to databases and abstracts that are presently availab le within the Federal and state archives in the state of Maryland and the USGS, the USDA, US EPA and host of other entities quickened the search process. The spatial data on state of Maryland used in the study cover regions and watersheds in the area fro m the separate periods of 1970 through 2005.

Step 2: Geo Spatial Data Acquisition and Processing
For the study area of Mid-Atlantic Region of Mary land, mu lti-temporal spatial data made up of shape files and maps were obtained for the study. The data that were assembled for Maryland cover the various counties of Anne Arundel, Caro line, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's Somerset, Talbot, Worchester, as well as the metro area counties of Montgomery, Prince George's, and Balt imore. There were also sizable informat ion covering other counties along the Chesapeake Bay region, the Maryland East shore and other watersheds in the state with a focus on socio-economic and ecological data, shape files, paper and d igital maps between 1970 to 2005. A ll the spatial and temporal data were run through available A RCVIEW and SPSS data processing soft wares. The outputs consist of texts, tables and maps as well as matrices. The p rocessed data displayed under different legends makes ecological and stream habitat variab les like water appear as shades of common colors wh ile the other socio-economic and ecological variables were d istinguished in different colors as well. Furthermore, the output was visually co mpared with the t rends evidenced in the area to see the changes across time and space along the tributaries of the major agricultural watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland. The remain ing procedure involves spatial analysis and output (maps-tables-text) covering the study period using ARCVIEW GIS. This process helped show the extent of temporal-spatial evolution of ecological change induced by agriculture and development activities. It provided opportunities to undertake the sequential mappings of the nature of stressors impacting the water quality in the streams of the Mid-Atlantic Region of Maryland.
The idea behind th is approach stems fro m the advantages of carrying out precise delineation and assessment of water quality trends along agricultural watersheds using geospatial informat ion systems in the region. Accordingly, the analysis of water quality trends in agricultural watershed using GIS to capture ongoing disturbances not only improves our knowledge of the scale of changes occurring in these systems, but it provides a framework for evaluating ecosystem decline and the mechanisms for restoration. Considering the usefulness of geo information system in detecting land use practices that threaten the quality of agricultural watersheds, it has enormous potentials in the design of frameworks best suited for the management of water resources in stressed environments. For a brief discussion, of the efforts to deal with water quality problems in the area see Appendix A.

Environmental Anal ysis
This part of the paper p resents the results of descriptive statistics and temporal-spatial analysis of environmental change with GIS, regression and correlation analysis on a set of indicators associated with stream quality decline already outlined in the methodology. It consists of the snapshot of ecological variables of fert ilized areas, impaired water areas, farmland, etc., and socio-economic elements from population to agricultural sales in the region. Later, it highlights the factors fuelling the problems in the study area.  (Table 3).

Fertilized Acreages of Agricultural Land
While so me of the counties not examined here fully posted modest and high gains in the use of fertilizers. The overall use of fertilizers point to a mix of gains and declines over the years for the individual counties but when tallied for the entire state in terms of the percentage of change, the use of fertilizer varied fro m -2.86% in 1987-1992 to -4.95 during 1997-2002. During that period, Queen Anne's county use of fertilizer grew at a rate of 22.15% in 1987-1992 until it dropped to -4.1% between 1992-1997and-11. 35% during 1997-2002. At Caroline county, the use of fertilizers grew most of the time at a rate o f 12.92%, 3.68% and 10.08% while in the county of Carol where fertilizer use fell to -10.81, -9.9 % during 1987-1992 and 1997-2002 respectively, the growth rate in 1992-1997 rose by 30.31%. In the county of Frederick, the use of fertilizer rose to 10.01% in 1987-1992 and fell to -3.19% in 1992-1997 and grew further again by 5.46 % in 1997 to 2002. In spite of fertilizer acreage declines of -4.85% and -13.07 % between 1987-1992, 1992-1997 at Talbot county, there were still sizable gro wth of 11.90% fertilizer applications in the county (Table 3).  On the other environmental variab les, regarding the amount of impaired water bodies attributed to agriculture, as Table 4 shows, 16

Farm Land
The informat ion as indicated in Table 5 (Table 5).

The Summary of the Regression Anal ysis
To buttress the relationships between the different variables, with emphasis on the correlation values, the regression analysis was carried out on the data from Maryland coastal counties (16). The results on the matrix presented in Table 6 indicate the impaired waters are positively related to fertilized acres, farmland and population.
As was mentioned before, most of the coastal counties have 2 or more nu mber of impaired waters in 1998 and they continued to have at least 1 impaired water areas till 2004. This is due to the flo w of nutrients fro m the adjacent farmland areas. The population variable also shows an increasing trend in almost all the counties fro m 1980s-2000.

Spati al Analysis
The acreages of land treated with fert ilizers presented in blue appeared quite enormous and visible in every scale fro m 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002. A lso, note how fertilizer treatment exceeding 100,000-400,000 acres remained v isibly concentrated in different parts of the state most of the time (Figures 4 -6).  (Figures 7-9). Hav ing said that, it is evident that the Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies are still threatened by fertilizer nutrient flows.      Despite the changes that occurred over the years in the size of agricultural land use, note that the South East portion of the state adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay had large clusters of farmland areas depicted in dark green measuring mo re than 100,000 acres in the periods of 1997, to 2002 (Figures 10-12). In a similar vein, large spatial concentration of counties with significant agricultural sales exceeding $100,000 represented in red appear much p ronounced in south east Maryland. This was quite common within areas adjacent to the coast and lower part of the state between 1992, 1997 and 2002 (Figures 13-15). In 1970 a few clusters of large cities shown in dark brown co lor with high concentration of population levels of 300,001-700,000 appeared gradually in the central and northwest area o f the state along the urban corridors between 1970 and 1980. W ith the growth phases of 1990 and 2000, came population increases that spilled to other counties adjacent to lower or coastal areas of the state (Figures 16-18). Fro m the land cover map in Figure 19

Socio-economic Factors That Influence Water Quality
The extent and nature of environmental change leading to water quality threats and degradation in the study area did not occur in a vacuum. Several socio-economic elements that played a role in the process are highlighted in this section of the paper. Region A gricultural Watershed of M aryland

Demography and Urban Growth
The study area boosts of some of the largest urbanized areas such as the Washington-Baltimo re metro areas. The area has been experiencing one of the most extensive forms of urbanization brought about by rapid pace of economic development. In the process, the population of the state in nearly four decades moved fro m an init ial estimate of 3,016,640 in 1970, to 3,430,200 in 1980. In the remaining decades, it grew fro m 4,044,739 in 1990 to 4,645, 332 in 2000 (Table 7). Of these periods, large population concentration of over half a million was quite notable in 3 major urban centers. Among those counties, Balt imore had a population of 621,107 in 1970, 655,615 by 1980, 692,134 (Table 7).

Economic Devel opment and Agricultural Acti vi ties
The economic buoyancy of the state and its counties has already been described on the study area section and as a result, I do not intend to rehash some of the economic factors in this section. There is no doubt the pressures unleashed fro m economic develop ment has a bearing on the factors threatening water quality in the state. Other economic elements of environmental change likely to impact the quality of streams in the area can be evidenced from the pace of agricultural sales in the region. The volu me of farm sales in the study area seemed quite significant among the 17 counties under analysis. In looking at the table generally, notice that the percentages of change from agro-sales stayed on the rise in 13 out of 16 counties between 1992-1997 wh ile 11 counties in 1997-2002 faced severe declines. The only counties that experienced losses in the first years of 1992-1997 were the counties of Anne Arundel at -99.88%, Prince Georges with -14 % as well as So merset whose sales declined by -6.17%. Conversely, the gains fro m sales in farm p roducts in 1997-2002 rose in Balt imore County by 21.45%, 9.71 % in Caro line county, 16.18 % in Cecil, 1.79% in Dorchester and 31.07% at So merset (Table 8). Notwithstanding the gains fro m farm sales, the externalit ies fro m agriculture in the form of nutrient flo w into watersheds threaten biodiversity habitats.

Discussion
The results not only reveal that the study area experienced some changes across time and space but the estuarine environments and stream quality along the watersheds are threatened by agricultural nutrients run-off and stressors unleashed by current land use activities and other elements. In light of that, the adjoining natural areas along the counties under analysis such as watersheds remain under stress [1]. Over all, the analysis in the literature on the study area and the result of the data analysis point to signs of growing incidence of pollution involving extensive use of pesticides, fertilizer applications and the impairment of water bodies. The presence of large geographic d iffusion of fert ilizer applications along the counties in the agricultural watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic region exposes the water systems to a great danger [38]. This is similar to the experiences of Savannah River Basin of Georg ia as shown in a previous study by Merem and Twu masi in 2008 [1]. Judging fro m the trend, the increase in human settlement as indicated by population growth and the stress from large urban centers and the level of agricultural intensification needed to support large met ro areas triggered the loss of arable farmland around the surrounding ecology of the agricultural watersheds [37].
Increased agricultural land use activity known to precipitate large use of agrochemicals like herb icides, pesticides and other type of nutrients as the analysis showed, grew to a great extent at very significant rates especially in much of the state counties. The temporal d istribution fro m 1987-2002, indicates that the state of Maryland had millions of acres of agricu ltural under fertilizer applicat ions. At the county level, about eight areas were actively involved in widespread spraying of fert ilizer on hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land that exceeded those of the other counties. With this development, not only were many o f the study area's agricultural water bodies in the counties grossly impaired fro m nutrient flow, but in those circumstances indicators like agricu ltural activ ities likely to spur pollution through fertilizer application, pesticide use, and herbicides were quite v isible in the counties [37,38].
With population exceeding over ½ a million in three core counties (Balt imore, Montgomery, Prince George's county areas), it is evident that some of the urban counties and those along the costal and agricultural watersheds have very high concentration of human populations likely to exert pressure on the estuarine habitats and the quality of water resources in the agricultural watersheds. In a state bustling with growth, demands for novel development p rograms in the form o f new structures and infrastructure designs likely to create mo re access to previously protected surface water areas occur at the expense of the surrounding ecology of the region. At the same time, socio-economic indicators of agricultural sales, farmland loss and population as a measure of the intensity of land use activities and transactions centered on sprawl seemed quite pronounced. Large volu me of revenues from high agriculture sales and boom in fert ilizer and agrochemical use and infrastructure to serve a timing population can put some added stress on the sensitive watersheds as run off fro m agriculture and other land uses ooze into watersheds already stressed beyond their capacities. All these point to the growing role of socio-economic and human factors fueled by develop ment in orchestrating the threats by stressors to water quality in agricultural watersheds. To buttress the linkages between some of the variables, a correlation analysis confirmed a d irect relationship between impaired water surfaces and increase in fertilizer acres, farmland use in the region and population growth. Similar conclusions were also reached on pollution trends in Southern Mississippi Region [39].
The environmental change analysis using GIS in the area identified a cluster of counties where land use activities involving agricultural farming and the widespread applications of fert ilizers threatening the environment and stream habitat quality remained visible [1]. Fro m the spatial and temporal analysis, the fresh water ecosystem appears threatened by the growing numbers in the impairment of water bodies in certain areas and widespread use of fertilizers during farming activ ities [38]. In fact, the geographic dispersal of nutrient flow sites seem fully concentrated along watersheds such as the Chesapeake Bay and the tributaries of other river systems within the environment due to intense development and human settlements activities.
In light of this finding, the pract ical applications of a mix scale approach involving GIS, connected to descriptive statistics and correlation analysis stand as a contribution to the literature pertain ing to GIS [37,38,39,40]. In tracking the extent to which human activ ities involving land use impact water quality on agricultural watersheds in coastal environments of the Mid -Atlantic Region of the State Maryland, the study expanded our understanding of novel tools for identifying water quality stressors. Notwithstanding previous efforts to remedy the problems of the impacts of human activit ies on water quality along the Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies, geospatial technology of GIS as demonstrated in this project has been quite effective in ensuring the mapping of change related informat ion on the agricultural watersheds within a spatially referenced system. As an effective tool for resource management, integrated data analysis using GIS modelling, facilitated the analysis of spatial distribution of stressors fuelling water quality decline and agricultural watershed change [1,38]. Such spatial informat ion technology is of g reat importance for decision making process in Maryland as managers tackle those problems threatening the water quality within the agricultural watersheds of the state [38].

Conclusions
In this section, we provide a summary of the conclusion with some reco mmendations. To deal with the problems identified in this research, this portion of the paper offers Region A gricultural Watershed of M aryland four abbreviated recommendations anchored in continuous assessment and the protection of the state's agricultural watersheds. The recommendations for minimizing the problems range fro m the need to strengthen land use policy, water quality mon itoring, the design of spatial information systems and the support for watershed planning framework. See Appendix B for a detailed h ighlight of the recommendations and the organizational chart outlin ing the framework.
Fro m the onset of the paper, the literature rightfully identified the threats pesticides and agrochemicals pose to water quality. Using geospatial technology of GIS, the paper shows that human-activities and land use lead to the degradation of agricultural watersheds. The results of geo-based analysis in the reg ion point to declines in water quality and other environmental resources in the study area.
The assessment of water quality trends and the elements inhibit ing it on agricultural watersheds of the Mid-Atlantic region of Mary land using GIS not only enhances our understanding of the scale of changes occurring in these environmental systems, but it provides a framework for assessing watershed ecosystem decline and the mechanisms for mitigation. Nonetheless, in the last decades large levels of nutrient loads in agricultural watersheds triggered by farming and human activit ies continue to erode the environment and life support systems along the Mid-Atlantic region of the state of Maryland. The results not only reveal that the study area experienced some significant changes in its watershed environments, but the water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay and host of others within the shores of Maryland are under serious stress. Over all, the results point to threats to water quality, growing incidence of pollution, impairment of water bodies, and increase in hu man settlement, and agricultural intensification. Several ecological change indicators made up of fertilizer applications, number of impaired watersheds, the use of farmlands and nutrient flo w were quite pronounced especially in areas adjacent to watersheds. Other aspects of the results show that socio-economic factors of population and income fro m agricu ltural sales, grew in so me of the areas. The pressure unleashed from these variables as the analysis showed, puts enormous strain on water quality along the agricultural watersheds.
The environmental change analysis in the area using GIS identified a cluster of several land cover type in the form of agricultural areas under use, size of land under fertilizer use, impaired water areas and the diffusion of socio-economic indicators (stress sources) in affected areas. Accordingly, spatial technology of GIS as demonstrated in this paper has been quite effective in ensuring the sequential mapping of stress factors along the estuarine environments in the Mid-Atlantic region of State of Maryland. Being a valuable device for resource management, integrated data analysis through GIS quickened the assessment of geographic diffusion of the variab les inhibit ing water quality on the watersheds and change involving land use, population pressure and elements of pollution threatening riparian corridors. To mit igate the problems, the paper provided four recommendations ranging from policy to the adoption of watershed approach in planning. The expectation is that the recommendations listed here would help minimize the issues facing the study area. In conclusion, geospatial information technology adopted in the study has great potentials in assisting policy makers in the state assess the elements inhibit ing water quality along the agricultural watersheds in the Mid Atlantic State of Mary land. Adopting such an approach offers planners the much needed informat ion for tracking the geographic diffusion of stressors in a watershed environment.
At a time when govern ments are grappling with the problems posed by the widespread degradation of watersheds, the study helps us imp rove water resource management in three ways. Firstly, it displays spatial location of stressors and management practices that inhib it water quality not previously known by managers and stakeholders whose land use activities trigger the problem. Secondly, managers and land users can benefit fro m the design of a viable tool that not only enhances education and best management practices but also the acquisition of knowledge in dealing with threats to water quality within agricultural watersheds. Thirdly, it can provide a comprehensive framework that other programs elsewhere can utilize to coordinate activities on individual watershed issues. These benefits will only increase with the applications of geospatial informat ion systems in the assessment of water quality within stressed agricultural watersheds in the years ahead. Much of the findings and observations herein are consistent with others in the literature such as those by Merem and Twu masi, Winner, Prakash, Ryan, Hall, Borbor and McConnell [1,2,4,5,6,7,8].  [30]. Sediment loads long term average annual point source for Maryland's 8 digit watersheds were measured using the Chesapeake Bay Phase 5 CBP P5 model edge of stream (EOS). Watershed Conservation Due to the threats from watershed pollution, there are widespread efforts to protect each of the Maryland's 10 main stream basins and to recommend pollution prevention measures. The idea behind it centers on addressing water quality problems peculiar to each watershed in order to ensure water quality improvement in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2005, the various tributary panels upgraded their implementation strategies as a preamble to fulfilling conditions stipulated in the water quality objectives outlined in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement at a price tag of $10 billion by 2010 [31]. In 2004, two Maryland counties were amongst 202 watersheds across the nation that benefited from a notable conservation program designed to remunerate farmers for their long-standing conservation efforts. The eligible watersheds comprised of Chester, that is made up of T albot, Queen Anne's, Kent and Cecil counties. Others include Manocacy county Watershed that encompasses portions of Frederick, Carroll and Montgomery Counties [33]. Data Monitoring The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) carried out the Maryland Biological stream Survey (MBSS) between 1995 through 2004, to generate significant data concerning the status of the state's water bodies. The MBSS was developed to obtain a quick overview of the river systems. The intent was to spot those areas, under the most excellent and distressed conditions. The belief was that it would help identify the underlying factors influencing the biological status of the streams for the purposes of watershed restoration and protection. The exercise relied on random selections of 300 stream segments in the state with the measurement of biochemical and physical parameters at every segment based upon uniform technique [34,35]. Policy Initiative Considering the ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay and the stream corridor impairment, The Maryland Water Improvement Quality Act of 1998 was put into place to address these concerns. With the water quality regulation focused on limiting nutrient emission from agriculture, state farmers are required to apply nutrients in accordance with nutrient management plans. Other problems like poultry litter and manure have also received the attention of regulators [36]. Additional regulatory requirements as stipulated in the federal Clean Water Action Plan demands a much broader appraisal of watersheds across the state. This process attracted the presence of broad segment of stakeholders representing local, state and federal and non-public sector entities. From the policy initiatives, The Lower Eastern shore was chosen as a pilot area for the implementation of the State's first Clean Water Action Plan with major emphasis on coordination of ongoing restoration and conservation activities [33]. Region A gricultural Watershed of M aryland

Reco mmendations and Strategies
St rengthen Current Policy On Land Use Much of the threats to water quality posed by the nutrient flow into water bodies of the Mid-Atlantic region of the state of Maryland do not operate in a vacuum. It starts from the type of land use regulations currently in place in the area [1]. While this does not in any way diminish the capacity of environmental and resources policy in dealing with the problems, it is clear that land use policies in place and zoning law have major weaknesses that undermine the ability to manage the sprawling growth in the area and the stressors unleashed from farming activities. Policy makers can deal with the problem by tightening the current regulations through stiffer sanctions and enforcement. They can achieve this task by using command and control mechanisms in order to effectively enforce minimum distances of agricultural activities from riparian and stream corridors. The proposed policy should require a certification process with a mandatory training and recertification examinations for agro-chemical applicators in the farm sector. This will go a long way in minimizing the threats to water quality on agricultural watersheds.
Promote Water Quality Monitoring Part of the mandate of resources managers and planners is to enhance the quality of life and ecosystem preservation on agricultural watersheds with emphasis on the detection of threats and the minimization of pollution through water quality monitoring. Promoting water quality monitoring in those settings demands periodic assessment of the state of water resources in heavily farmed water bodies. It provides opportunities to track fertilizer and pesticides use, the level of concentration in nutrient loads, toxic levels and the response of the agro-ecosystem to the exposure [38]. Because the watersheds under threat serve as the life blood of communities, it is imperative that the state initiate water quality monitoring program so that pollution outbreak resulting from fertilizer and pesticides use can be fully tracked at the source. This will enable early containment before irreversible damage is done to watersheds in the Mid-Atlantic region of the state of Maryland.
Develop Regional Agro Geo Spatial Information System The current conditions of agricultural watersheds in the state demands an unhindered access by decision makers to a regional geospatial ecological information system. Such an integrated geographic based system should be developed under a comprehensive framework in order to ensure the design and analysis of spatially referenced data on different socio-economic and ecological indicators associated with water quality decline and farming activities under different timeframes [1]. Developing spatial data infrastructure of that type for monitoring the scale of environment-human interface on watersheds will help quicken current capability of resource managers in predicting areas along the water bodies under critical conditions. It will also be an indispensable device for crafting appropriate responses to the threats posed by nutrient flow from agricultural watersheds in the state of Maryland.
Encourage Watershed Approach In Planning The longevity of aquatic environments share close linkages with the conditions of adjoining watershed's terrestrial ecosystems and the planning approach [38]. Yet society do not fully understand how stressors from human activities, such as land use activities from agricultural development, nutrient flow, pesticides and herbicides and other types of agricultural chemicals affect natural processes in the st ate's watersheds [38]. Under this setting, agricultural watersheds including the Chesapeake Bay and host of the other water bodies in the Mid Atlantic State of Mary land as the basic units of land and surface water in the Maryland area merit continuous protection. Watershed approach with natural features as the basic units should be encouraged because of the constancy. This approach supports research that cuts across disciplines with potentials for applying the principles of watershed restoration planning for the common good of communities at risk. The emphasis should be on the integration of ecological-socio-economic studies by taking into account the human factors associated with agricultural watershed degradation along a large area.